Isiah Thomas

thumb|Isiah Thomas Isiah Lord Thomas (born April 30, 1961), also known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player who is a current analyst for NBA TV and Fox Sports. He played his entire professional career for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Widely regarded as one of the greatest point guards of all time, Thomas was a two-time NBA champion, an NBA Finals MVP recipient, a five-time All-NBA Team member, a 12-time NBA All-Star with two All-Star Game MVP awards and the 1985 NBA assist leader. He was named to the NBA's 50th and 75th anniversary teams, and inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000. From 2000 to 2012 he coached the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks, and FIU. Quotes I hope you understand when I say this, I feel like I’m everybody’s brother or cousin or family relative and I’m grateful. It wasn’t tough at all. The city and people and mainly, you know, the music industry embraced me right away. You know, meeting Coleman Young, you know, right away. My adolescence was spent in Chicago; my whole adult life was in Detroit. We did a lot of work together. And [it started with] my mother, [Mary Thomas] actually, when I first got to Detroit, when she found that I was going to Detroit. She was the first one who was like, you know, you have to meet Coleman Young. She was the one that reached out to the mayor’s office and made the introduction. And now it’s like, I just can’t walk into the mayor’s office. My mom was gangster like that. So, Coleman, and you know, Aretha were like the two that really adopted me and took me in and the work that we started doing in Detroit. And, you know, we did No Crime Day together. Big sis, you know, friend, confidant, you know, everything. I think we represent it, you know, the struggle and the triumph of Detroit. We had our ups and downs. But we also had a team that really represented not only Detroit, but all of Michigan. … We were the first team that put 50 to 60,000 people in the arena. I know, they like to give [Larry] Bird and Magic [Johnson] credit for moving the game forward. But when you go back and you look, you know, the highest-rated games and the highest attended games, Pistons versus [Boston] Celtics, Pistons versus [Los Angeles] Lakers, Pistons vs. [Chicago] Bulls. NBA legend Isiah Thomas talks Detroit basketball and politics, June 09 2022 External links Category:Basketball players from the United States Category:1961 births Category:Basketball coaches from the United States Category:Sports executives and administrators Category:People from Chicago Category:African Americans Category:Living people Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni