Isiah Thomas: Aretha Franklin took care of her favorite Bad Boy
Isaiah Thomas speaks during the funeral for the late Aretha Franklin
at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit on Friday, August 31, 2018.
RYAN GARZA, DETROIT FREE PRESS
MARYANN STRUMAN | Detroit Free Press
For NBA great and former Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas, Aretha Franklin was like a surrogate mom.
He was introduced to her by his own mom, Mary Thomas, in 1981 when he first joined the Pistons at age 20, Thomas said Friday, recalling his relationship with the Queen of Soul at her homegoing service at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit.
His mother and Franklin "somehow connected through music."
"In the 60s and 70s, my mom would sit in the windowsill humming the words, I say a little prayer for you," Thomas recalled. "My father had just lost his job, so the music, I say a little prayer for you, meant a lot to us in the household.
"Aretha found a way to comfort us all during those troubling times."
The Franklins were the first family he met after arriving in Detroit and helped him at a time when he was "naive" about the world.
"I didn’t know how to pay my bills. I didn’t know how to pay a phone bill, I didn't know how to pay an electric bill. I knew nothing and this family took care of me," Thomas said.
He said she had a great love for sports.
"She loved the Detroit Pistons and I know I was her favorite Bad Boy," said Thomas, who captained the Pistons in their 1989 championship season.
He said there was nothing more inspiring than seeing his mom in the stands next to Franklin, watching the game.
They remained close after the 2010 death of his mother.
He said Franklin had a profound effect on everyone and through her music "found a way to help this nation soothe and deal with its troubled past.”
Thomas said he found it remarkable that everywhere he went since Franklin death on Aug. 16, her music is everywhere — spontaneous singing in restaurants, hotels, walking down the street.
Aretha Franklin's funeral was held Friday in Detroit,
the Queen of Soul's hometown.
View |171 Photos
"There are very few people who come along to shift the consciousness of the world," he said.
Thomas said Franklin helped teach him how to use his celebrity to shape the world, especially the vision of Detroit.
"Aretha sat me down with Mayor Coleman Young. Adopted me. Kept asking me what do you want to do? What are you going to say about Detroit? And they taught me about Detroit and they gave me the courage to speak on race, class and gender while I was a champion," he recalled.
"I'm gonna miss you Aretha. Gonna miss our phone calls, I'm gonna miss your words of wisdom. ...The world is gonna miss you. I want you to know I love you, the world loves you and most importantly, Detroit loves you."
View |43 Photos
Ariana Grande, Jennifer Hudson among celebrities at Aretha Franklin funeral
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