ZEKE: old school ballers

isah thomas

In high school, Thomas was an All-American guard on Gene Pingatore's first team at St. Joseph Catholic High School in Westchester, Illinois. Later, Thomas played for Indiana University and was named to the 1980 Olympic team, although the U.S. boycotted that year's games in Moscow in protest of the invasion of Afghanistan by the Soviet Union. He earned All-Big Ten honors in 1980, becoming the first freshman in conference history to accomplish the feat. In 1981, during his sophomore season at Indiana, Thomas was an All-American, averaging 16 points and 5.8 assists a game as he led the Hoosiers to a 26-9 national championship season. In the title game at Philadelphia, he scored a game-high 23 points in Indiana's 63-50 victory over the University of North Carolina, and was named NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player. Thomas left Indiana early to enter the National Basketball Association draft in 1981. He earned a bachelor's degree from IU in criminal justice several years later, as he promised his mother in writing that he would when he left college early to enter the NBA Draft.

In the 1981 NBA Draft, the Detroit Pistons chose Thomas and signed him to a four-year $1.6 million contract. With their rookie point guard averaging 17 points and 7.8 assists, the Pistons improved by 18 games, from 21-61 in the 1980-81 NBA season to 39-43 in the 1981-82 NBA season. Thomas made the All-Rookie team after starting for the East in the 1982 NBA All-Star Game.

In 1983, Thomas averaged 22.9 points, which would be his career high, and made the All-NBA second-team. The following year, under new coach Chuck Daly, he averaged 21.3 points and 11.1 assists and was voted first-team after leading the Pistons to a 49-33 record, the franchise's first winning season in seven years.

In the opening round of the 1984 NBA Playoffs, Isiah Thomas and the Pistons faced off against Bernard King and the New York Knicks. In the pivotal fifth game, Isiah Thomas was having a subpar performance, while Bernard King was having an excellent game. However, in the 4th quarter, Isiah 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.

Thomas recorded 1,123 assists (13.9 average) in 1985, breaking the NBA record of 1,099 set by Detroit's Kevin Porter in 1979, and was named all-league first team.

In the 1985 playoffs, Thomas led his team to the conference semi-finals against the vaunted Boston Celtics. Detroit pushed the defending champion Celtics to a six game series, and although Boston would prevail, Detroit's surprise performance promised that a rivalry had begun. In 1987 Thomas led the now famous "Bad Boys" tough Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals, the farthest the team had advanced since moving from Fort Wayne, against the Celtics. After pushing the defending champions to a 2-2 tie, the Pistons were on the verge of winning Game 5 at the Boston Garden with seconds remaining. After a Celtics' turnover, Isiah Thomas attempted to quickly inbound the ball and missed Coach Daly's timeout signal from the bench. Larry Bird stole the inbound pass and passed it to Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup. While the Pistons would win Game 6 in Detroit, they would lose the series in a tough Game 7 back in Boston.

Motivated by their loss to the Celtics, the 1988 Pistons fine-tuned their "bad boy" style and avenged their two previous playoff losses to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals, defeating them in six games and advancing to the NBA Finals for the first time since the franchise moved to Detroit.

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. 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' best known and most 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 that contest, a 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 controversial foul called on Bill Laimbeer, referred to by many Piston supporters, and Laimbeer himself, as a "phantom foul." 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, along with fellow Bad Boys teammates Joe Dumars, Rick Mahorn, Vinnie "the Microwave" Johnson, Dennis Rodman, and Bill Laimbeer, Thomas guided his team to a then-franchise-record 63-19 record. The Pistons steamrolled through the playoffs and defeated Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls in the Conference Finals, to setup up an NBA Finals rematch with the Lakers. This time the Pistons came out victorious in a four-game sweep to win their first NBA championship. The Pistons would again win their division in the 1990, and advance past Jordan's Bulls, in what was now a heated rivalry, to defend their title in the finals against the Portland Trail Blazers. Isiah Thomas had a brilliant series in leading the Pistons to a 4-1 series win. 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, a 6-1, 182 pound point guard, ranks as one of the 50 greatest players of all-time. From 1981 to 1994 Thomas had an exceptional career with the Detroit Pistons. He was a 12-time NBA All-Star, winning the game's MVP award twice in 1984 and 1986. 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 dazzling dribbling ability as well as his uncanny ability to drive to the basket and score on much bigger players. His coach, Chuck Daly, once said that if he were six inches taller he would have been the greatest player of all time. Isiah Thomas has his number 11 retired by the Detroit Pistons and is easily considered the greatest Piston of all time. Another little realized fact is that Isiah Thomas is the only player, (other than his teammates), to have a winning record in the playoffs against fellow NBA legends, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan.