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Fans at the game say they hear it snap in the upper decks. Isiah hobbles off the court with an expression of unbearable pain on his face. Pistons fans are crushed.
Perhaps no other game better demonstrates what Isiah Thomas was all about: Winning. Throughout his entire 13-year career, “Zeke” as he was known, brought pride and intensity back to Detroit’s professional basketball franchise after nearly 30 years of frustration. And behind his flashy, boyish grin burned the fire of one of the fiercest competitors the Pistons and the game of basketball has ever seen. Isiah Thomas was the first face of Pistons championship basketball.
The Early Years
Born April 30, 1961, Isiah Lord Thomas III was the youngest of nine children. Growing up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in West Chicago, the Thomas’ faced tremendous hardships amidst the backdrop of drugs and gangs. To escape the dangers of the streets, Isiah began to take refuge on the basketball court. The courts of Chicago hardened Thomas’ game and his personality.
Thomas told ESPN.com, “In Chicago we had to take the ball to the hole. You couldn’t stand outside and shoot jumpshots because the wind was blowing too hard. And if you missed a jumpshot, you might get beat up, so you definitely had to perfect your dribbling skills and get to the basket.”
When the battles carried over off the court, Thomas always had the fierce love and protection of his mother Mary. Mary Thomas went to great lengths to guard Isiah from the hazards of their neighborhood. On one occasion, Mrs. Thomas used a sawed-off shotgun to ward off a couple of thugs from her front porch.
With basketball skills beyond his years, Thomas quickly became a playground legend and the talk around Chicago. As a fourth-grader, Isiah played on a basketball team with seventh and eighth graders. As his game continued to develop, Thomas used basketball to get a scholarship to attend high school. After being turned down by the city’s top Catholic league team, who didn’t like the fact that Isiah was only 5-foot-6 at the time, Thomas decided to attend St. Joseph’s High School where he was given a full scholarship.
St. Joseph’s was a Catholic high school that had built a solid basketball foundation under Coach Gene Pingatore. Thomas made the 90-minute trip every school day from his home in inner-city Chicago to attend the suburban St. Joseph’s in Westchester, Illinois. As a junior, Thomas was voted All-State and led St. Joseph’s to a runner-up finish in the Class AA State basketball tournament. In Thomas’ senior season, the entire country started to take note of his basketball genius. Isiah was selected as a consensus Prep All-America along with being All-State for a second straight year. Thomas’ final season ended prematurely when De La Salle knocked off St. Joseph’s on a 30-foot prayer at the buzzer to win the sectional title. The loss would be one of the toughest of Isiah’s storied career.
Isiah was an honor roll student and after his senior year, he qualified for scholarships to many premiere universities. Thomas ended up choosing Indiana University because he said it was close to home and he liked Head Coach Bobby Knight, whose tough demeanor and strict discipline reminded him a lot of his mother. Before heading off to college, Thomas was picked to be a member of the United States’ basketball team for the Pan-Am Games in 1979. Coached by Knight, Isiah scored 21 points in the championship game and led his team to a gold-medal. It would be the first of many post-high school honors Isiah would win.
Becoming A Star
At Indiana, Thomas’ ability didn’t waver. Isiah averaged 14.6 PPG and 5.5 APG in his first season as the point guard. Thomas was named First Team All-Big Ten, becoming the first freshman in the history of the conference to be recognized with such a distinction. During the summer hiatus, Thomas was a member of the USA Basketball Team picked for the 1980 Summer Olympics. Unfortunately, President Jimmy Carter boycotted the Moscow Games, protesting the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan, and Isiah and the rest of the U.S.team, which was favored to win the gold medal, stayed home.
Returning to Indiana for his sophomore season, Thomas was the marquee player and expected to lead Indiana to the Promised Land - an NCAA Championship. Isiah didn’t disappoint, averaging 16.0 PPG and 5.8 APG while leading Indiana to the 1981 Championship. His numbers garnered him a First Team All-Big Ten spot for a second straight year, as well as being voted an All-American. In the title match-up against North Carolina, Isiah scored a game-high 23 points in Indiana’s 63-50 victory and was named Final Four MVP. Three weeks later, Isiah would declare himself eligible for the 1981 NBA Draft. Isiah lead Indiana to a 47-17 record during his two seasons, dishing off an Indiana University season record 197 assists in 1981.
Only a sophomore, Isiah turned professional to help out his family. In a conversation with the Chicago Sun-Times early in his career, Thomas recalled coming home to visit his family from a road trip with IU: “When I got there, no one was there. There was no heat or electricity. There was no hot water. I went to light a fire, but there was no wood. I just kept putting paper on the fireplace. It was pretty grim.” Examples like these left Thomas no choice but to leave school early, take the NBA money and support his family.
The Face of the Franchise
Drafted second overall in the first round by the Pistons in 1981, the diminutive 6’1’’ point guard signed a four-year $1.6 million deal. He was an instant millionaire and able to take care of his mother and siblings. He was also expected to take care of the Pistons franchise and pull them out of a nearly 30-year NBA Championship drought.
In his rookie campaign, Isiah averaged 17.0 PPG and 7.8 APG earning him a spot on the NBA All-Rookie Team and on the Eastern Conference All-Star Team. By the end of the 1981-82 season, Isiah would lead the Pistons to an 18-game improvement, a third place finish in the Central Division and a record of 39-43. Thomas quickly proved he belonged in the NBA
In 1983, Thomas’ game soared to new heights with the hiring of Head Coach Chuck Daly. Thomas became the focal point and team captain during Daly’s tenure. He also became the face of the Pistons. Isiah’s leadership was never more evident than when he scored 16 straight points in 94 seconds in a 1984 playoff game against the New York Knicks. Thomas would continue to make a name for himself with All-Star MVP awards in 1984 and 1986, but his first real taste of team success wouldn’t come until the mid 1980s, when the Detroit Pistons became the “Bad Boys” of the NBA.
Isiah was the unquestioned leader of the Bad Boys, whose identity was characterized by their physical and aggressive play on both ends of the court. Pistons GM Jack McCloskey had added a host of talented players to surround Isiah: Bill Laimbeer, Rick Mahorn, John Salley, Joe Dumars, James Edwards, Vinnie Johnson and Dennis Rodman and in 1988, after amassing a regular season record of 54-28 the Pistons won the Central Division title and battled through the first three rounds of the playoffs for their first –ever NBA Final appearance.
Isiah took the Pistons into the 1988 NBA Finals to meet his good friend Magic Johnson and the LA Lakers. The Pistons would eventually lose in seven games to Los Angeles but not before gaining the respect and admiration of the Lakers mostly on the back of Isiah and his gutty Game Six and Game Seven performances. On ESPN’s SportsCentury Pat Riley spoke about Isiah, saying, “He’d cut your heart out to win.” Graphic admiration for one of the games’ toughest competitors.
In the 1988-89 season, Thomas and the Pistons roared to a 63-19 record, the best in the NBA. In a late season trade, Thomas would be teamed up with his close friend and fellow Chicagoan, Mark Aguirre, a scoring machine from the Dallas Mavericks. Isiah averaged 18.2 PPG and 8.3 APG in the regular season, helping the Pistons gain home-court advantage throughout the entire playoffs. Quickly dispatching Milwaukee, Boston and Chicago in the Eastern Conference (losing only two games in the three series), Thomas and the Pistons would have another meeting with Magic and the Lakers in the 1989 NBA Finals. Continuing their domination and playing like a team on a mission, the Pistons dominated the series, sweeping the severely injured Lakers squad for the Pistons first title in their history. Fittingly enough in Game Four, Isiah would have the basketball in his hands as the final seconds ticked down before throwing the ball up in the air in celebration. Ironically, it was Joe Dumars, Isiah’s backcourt mate who would be named Finals MVP. The 1989 championship would be the first of two that Thomas would win.
In 1989-90 Isiah would have another remarkable season. He averaged 18.4 PPG leading the Pistons to an amazing 25-1 record during the stretch run. The Pistons finished the regular season with a 59-23 record and would again march into the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons defeated the Chicago Bulls with Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Phil Jackson who proved harder to beat this time, in seven games. The Pistons advanced to meet the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1990 NBA Finals where once again Isiah played a starring and this time MVP-worthy role. Isiah averaged 27.6 PPG and 7.0 APG, winning the Finals MVP and back-to-back NBA championships.
The next couple of years in the 90s would be difficult for Thomas. The Pistons never made it back to the NBA Finals and in 1991-92 the Pistons bowed out to New York in the first round of the playoffs. Chuck Daly left as head coach and Thomas was left out of the selection for the original Dream Team that went on to play in the 1992 Summer Olympics. The 1992-93 season was a low point for Thomas where he averaged only 14.8 PPG and the Pistons missed the playoffs for the first time since 1983. The Pistons would completely slip down the Eastern Conference totem pole in the 1993-94 season, Isiah’s last in the NBA. Thomas played in only 58 games because of a hyperextended knee, a broken rib and a strained arch. Against Orlando in the last game of the 1993-94 season, Isiah tore his Achilles tendon. His spectacular 13-year career was over. Ironically, the injury also forced Isiah to miss playing in the World Championships on Dream Team II. An Olympic gold medal was never in the cards.
Thomas finished his career leading the Pistons in all-time career points (18,022), assists (9,061) and steals (1,861).
The After Life
Life after playing for the Pistons would still include basketball for Thomas, his wife Lynn and his two children Joshua and Lauren. Isiah had prepared himself for his post-NBA days by acting as president of the NBA’s Players’ Association the last six years of his career. In 1994-95, Isiah became the part owner and executive vice president of the expansion Toronto Raptors. In his tenure with the Raptors he acquired stars like Damon Stoudamire and Tracey McGrady. In 1997, he failed to buy a controlling interest in the team and left the organization.
Next Isiah joined NBC as a basketball analyst, adding his knowledge and insight of the game he loved, to the network’s telecasts. The broadcast career didn’t last long and in 1998, Isiah jumped at the chance to become owner of the CBA (Continental Basketball Association) for a reported $10 million. Thomas’ vision, similar to the Major League Baseball system, had CBA teams becoming minor league affiliates for NBA teams. However, after only two seasons at the helm of the league, Isiah would leave the CBA in 2000 to become head coach of the Indiana Pacers. During his tenure in Indiana, Isiah developed superstars Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley and amassed an overall record of 131-115. Isiah took the Pacers to the playoffs in each of his three years but was fired in 2003 by Pacers president Larry Bird. Sometimes, a rivalry never dies.
On December 22, 2003, Thomas was named president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks. Shortly after his arrival, Thomas made three major personnel changes: acquiring Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway from the Phoenix Suns, picking up Nazr Mohammed from Atlanta and releasing Clarence Weatherspoon. In the summer of 2005, Thomas made one of the boldest moves of his career, ironically against his former team. Thomas hired former Pistons Head Coach Larry Brown and caused a stir in Detroit similar to the one when he scored his 25 points in the third quarter of the 1988 NBA Finals. Pat Riley’s words were ringing in many Pistons fans ears, “He’d cut your heart out to win.” Conclusion
Isiah Thomas, a 2000 inductee into the Naismith Hall of Fame was arguably, one of the best point guards in NBA history. His unbridled will and unmatched desire carried him to championship heights. Thomas brought winning basketball back to Detroit during a time when the Pistons desperately needed a face for their organization. He remains the most recognized Pistons player of all time. Love him or hate him, you could make a pretty good argument that Isiah Thomas is the greatest Pistons player in franchise history.
Isiah Thomas returns to The Palace of Auburn Hills on December 2, with his new team (Knicks) and his new coach (Brown) to be honored by the team and organization that he did so much for.
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