Legends of the Court - Isiah Thomas
** Elected to Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.**
Isiah Lord Thomas III (born April 30, 1961, in Chicago, Illinois) is a retired American professional basketball player in the NBA, and is currently the head coach and president of basketball operations for the NBA's New York Knicks. He was also referred to by the nicknames Zeke, Cuts (for the numerous cuts over his eyelids), The Baby-faced Assassin, Coach, The Smiling Assassin, and Tuss. During the NBA's 50th anniversary, he was named one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.
NBA playing career
In the 1981 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons chose Thomas and signed him to a steep four-year $1.6 million contract. Thomas made the All-Rookie team and started for the Eastern Conference in the 1982 All-Star Game.
In the opening round of the 1984 NBA Playoffs, Thomas and the Pistons faced off against Bernard King and the New York Knicks. In the pivotal fifth game, Thomas was having a subpar performance, while Bernard King was having an excellent game. However, in the 4th quarter, Thomas scored 16 points in one minute and 33 seconds to force the game into overtime. King and the Knicks, however, held on to win in overtime.
In the 1985 NBA Playoffs, Thomas and his team went to the conference semi-finals against the 15 time NBA champion Boston Celtics led by Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and Dennis Johnson. Detroit couldn't shake the Celtics in their six game series, eventually losing.
In the 1987 NBA Playoffs, Thomas and the Pistons went to the Eastern Conference Finals and faced the now 16-time NBA Championship winning Boston Celtics. It was the farthest the team had advanced since moving from Fort Wayne when they were the Zollner-Pistons. The Pistons were able to tie the Celtics at two games a piece. Detroit's hopes of winning Game 5 and the series were shattered at the Boston Garden with seconds remaining: Thomas attempted to quickly inbound the ball, Larry Bird stole the inbound pass and passed it to Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup.
In 1988 the Pistons' first trip to the Finals saw them face the Los Angeles Lakers, who were led by Magic Johnson, James Worthy, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. During one of the finals games Detroit was hosting, Thomas threw the basketball at Magic Johnson out of frustration. An altercation followed but was broken up and nothing more became of the incident and Detroit prevailed. After taking a 3-2 series lead back to Los Angeles, Detroit appeared poised to win their first NBA title in Game 6.
One of Thomas' positive self-defining performances came in Game 6. Although he badly twisted his ankle in the game, Thomas continued to play. While hobbling and in obvious pain, Isiah was still able to score 25 points in a single quarter of the contest, an NBA finals record. However, the Lakers won the game 103-102 on a pair of last minute free throws by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar following a foul called on Bill Laimbeer. With Isiah Thomas unable to compete at full strength the Lakers were able to take advantage and narrowly clinched their second consecutive title in Game 7, 108-105.
In the 1988-89 season, Thomas, along with fellow teammates Adrian Dantley, Joe Dumars, Rick Mahorn, Vinnie Johnson, Dennis Rodman, James Edwards, John Salley, Bill Laimbeer, and Mark Aguirre, guided his team to a then-franchise record 63-19 record. Detroit played well through the playoffs. With Boston's injuries still persisting, the Pistons defeated Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the Conference Finals, to set up an NBA Finals rematch with the Lakers. Thomas and the Pistons then won their first of back-to-back championships when they defeated the Lakers in a 4-game sweep. The following year, Thomas was voted NBA Finals Most Valuable Player of the 1990 after averaging 27.6 points per game, 7.0 assists per game, and 5.2 rebounds per game in the series. Thomas tore his Achilles' tendon in April 1994 and decided to end his career as a player the following month in May.
Thomas, a 6-1, 185-pound point guard, ranks as one of the best players of all-time. He was named to the All-NBA First team three times and is the Pistons' all-time leader in points, steals, games played and assists. Thomas ranks fourth in NBA history in assists (9,061, 9.3 apg) and ranks ninth in NBA history in steals (1,861). Thomas was known for his dribbling ability as well as his uncanny ability to drive to the basket and score. His number 11 was retired by the Detroit Pistons.
Post-NBA career
Toronto Raptors
After retiring Thomas became part owner and Executive Vice President for the expansion Toronto Raptors in 1994. In 1998, he left the organization after a dispute with new management which resulted from accusations that he gave NCAA basketball players tickets and other merchandise and inappropriate conduct with team staff. Even though the latter allegation was not thoroughly investigated, it seemed suspicious because of prior instances when Thomas played for the Detroit Pistons. To his credit, over his 4-year tenure with the team, Thomas drafted Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby and high-schooler Tracy McGrady.
Broadcasting
After leaving the Raptors, Thomas became a television commentator (first as the lead game analyst with play-by-play man Bob Costas and then as part of the studio team) for NBA on NBC. Thomas' sometimes clumsy, monotone vocal delivery eventually led NBC to add Bill Walton as a secondary analyst to help compensate for Isiah's deficiencies as a commentator during game broadcasts. Thomas also worked a three man booth with Costas and Doug Collins.
CBA
Thomas became the owner of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA) from 1998 to 2000. After his purchase of the CBA, the league was forced into bankruptcy and folded. Many CBA managers blamed Thomas for the league's failure, citing mismanagement and out-of-control spending on his part. Many such managers publicly declared that Thomas ran the league into the ground, possibly on purpose to eliminate the non-NBA-owned minor league in order to make room for the NBA-owned NBDL. The last paycheck was never paid to many of the teams, such as the Quad City Thunder.
Indiana Pacers
From 2000 to 2003, Thomas coached the Indiana Pacers, succeeding Larry Bird, who previously coached the Pacers to the NBA Eastern Conference title. Thomas attempted to bring up young talents such as Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington, and Jeff Foster. Unfortunately Thomas was unable to continue to build on the accomplishments of his predecessor. In his first two seasons with the Pacers, the team was eliminated in the first round by the Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Nets who did happen to go to the NBA Finals in those years.
In his last year with the Pacers, Thomas guided the Pacers to a 48-34 record in the regular season and coached the East squad at the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. The game was also Michael Jordan's final All-Star game. Thomas was criticized for overplaying Jordan during the game as an attempt to make up for their past feud. As the third seed, the Pacers were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the sixth-seed Boston Celtics. With blossoming talents such as Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Al Harrington and Jamaal Tinsley, along with the veteran leadership of Reggie Miller, the perception existed that the Pacers' unfulfilled potential stemmed from Isiah Thomas' inexperience as a coach. In the off-season, Larry Bird returned to the Pacers as President of Basketball Operations, and his first act was to replace Thomas with Rick Carlisle.
Hall of Fame
In 2000, Thomas was elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame, in his initial year of eligibility.
New York Knicks
On December 22, 2003, the New York Knicks hired Thomas to be president of basketball operations. He immediately changed the face of the franchise by trading for a number of high-priced stars. However, despite a very high payroll, the team performed poorly, finishing last in the Atlantic Division in 2005. To address this, Thomas has made even more trades, sometimes cutting or trading away players he had paid a high price for in trades.
Thomas has been largely unsuccessful with the Knicks roster and fanbase so far. At the end of the 2005-06 season, the Knicks had the highest payroll in the NBA, yet earned the second-worst record in the NBA, and traded away several future draft picks, including the number 2 overall pick in 2006. To make matters worse, the 2005 signing of career backup Jerome James to a 5-year $30 million free-agent contract was seen as a questionable move, even more so as he averaged only 2.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in 22 games.
On June 22, 2006, the New York Knicks fired coach Larry Brown, and Thomas replaced him. Team owner James Dolan said that he would give Thomas one year to turn around the Knicks and make them a better franchise or he would be fired.
On December 16, 2006, his team became embroiled in a vicious brawl with the Denver Nuggets, which Thomas was alleged to instigate by ordering his players to commit a hard foul in the paint. He received no fine nor suspension; NBA Commissioner David Stern was quoted as relying only on "definitive information" when handing out punishments.
On March 12, 2007, the New York Knicks re-signed Thomas to an undisclosed "multi year" contract 9 months after Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan forewarned Thomas that the Knicks needed to show "evident progress" or he'd be out of a job. After Thomas was granted the extension, the Knicks abruptly fell from playoff contention with a dismal finish to the season.
On April 3, 2007 Thomas was fined for insulting the officials and saying that Stephon Marbury doesn't get the same respect as any other player in the NBA.
Thomas traded away multiple lottery first round picks, including a first rounder in the 2007 NBA Draft to Chicago in a deal for Eddy Curry. The result of the draft lottery was that the traded pick ended up being the ninth overall pick in a widely regarded talent-rich draft. As part of the trade, the Knicks got the Bulls' 2007 first-round pick, which ended up being #23 overall.
On Draft Day 2007, Thomas made another trade by acquiring Zach Randolph, Fred Jones, and Dan Dickau from the Portland Trail Blazers for Steve Francis and Channing Frye.
Thomas continues to remain the most maligned GM in Knicks history, with constant calls for his firing by angry fans upset over the team's struggles.
Despite the constant criticism that he has recieved from Knicks fans, Thomas maintains that he has no intention of leaving until he has turned the team around. On January 3, 2008 he predicted that he would lead the Knicks to a championship, and he stated that his goal was to leave behind a "championship legacy" with the Knicks, just as he had done for the Detroit Pistons. This prediction was met with widespread skepticism from NBA fans, as the Knicks have a combined record of 41-71 with Isiah coaching the team earning Thomas the nickname losing Isiah.
Other
Thomas, a self-proclaimed fan of popcorn who has served as the official spokesperson for National Popcorn Poppin' Month, is a partner in the New York-based gourmet-popcorn chain Dale and Thomas Popcorn. It was known as "Popcorn, Indiana", prior to his investment. The company currently has thirteen stores, plus online and mail-order operations.
Thomas also appeared in the noted basketball documentary Hoop Dreams, and in an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
Thomas had donated money to 2000 presidential election campaigns of Democratic Party candidates Al Gore and Bill Bradley.
Career NBA statistics
Games played: 979
Games started: 971
Minutes per game: 36.3
Points scored: 18,822
Assists: 9,061
Rebounds: 3,478
Steals: 1,861
Points per game: 19.2
Assists per game: 9.3
Rebounds per game: 3.6
Steals per game: 1.9
Field goal percentage: .452
Free throw percentage: .759
Three-point percentage: .290
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