Isiah Thomas

Did You Know?

• Thomas was selected to the 1980 Olympic U.S. basketball team but could not play due to the Olympics boycott; he led the U.S. in assists during the replacement 'Gold Medal Series'.
• His mother Mary was the subject of an Emmy award-winning television film in 1989, A Mother's Courage: The Mary Thomas Story.
• Thomas's father, Isiah Thomas II, was an army veteran wounded in the Battle of Saipan and later became the first black supervisor at International Harvester in Chicago.

Professional career

The Detroit Pistons selected Thomas with the second overall pick in the 1981 NBA draft and signed him to a four-year, $1.6 million contract. He wore a No. 11 jersey because his favorite youth basketball player, Sammy Puckett, had also done so. Thomas started for the Eastern Conference in the 1982 NBA All-Star Game and made the All-Rookie Team. On December 13, 1983, he scored 47 points and recorded 17 assists during a 186–184 triple overtime win over the Denver Nuggets.

In the opening round of the 1984 NBA playoffs, Thomas scored 16 points in 94 seconds to force a fifth game into overtime against the New York Knicks, but he fouled out and the Knicks won. In the 1985 playoffs, the Pistons lost to the Boston Celtics in the conference semifinals. In the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals, the Pistons tied the Celtics at two games apiece, but in Game 5 at Boston Garden, Larry Bird stole Thomas's inbound pass and set up the game-winning layup.

In 1988, the Pistons defeated the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals and advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time in 32 years; many Celtics players walked off without shaking hands, though Kevin McHale was seen shaking hands with Thomas. The Pistons faced the Los Angeles Lakers, and before the series Thomas and Magic Johnson exchanged a courtside kiss on the cheek. Detroit took a 3–2 series lead back to Los Angeles for Game 6.

Coaching and executive career

After retiring as a player, Isiah Thomas joined the expansion Toronto Raptors in 1994 as a part-owner and executive vice president. He left in 1998 following a disagreement with new management about the team's direction and his role. While he was there, the Raptors drafted Damon Stoudamire, Marcus Camby, and high schooler Tracy McGrady. On July 20, 2000, Thomas became head coach of the Indiana Pacers, taking over from Larry Bird, who had led the team to the Eastern Conference finals.

Thomas focused on developing younger players like Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington, and Jeff Foster, but the Pacers struggled to maintain their elite status during the shift from a veteran squad to a less experienced one. In his first two seasons, the Pacers lost in the first round to the Philadelphia 76ers and New Jersey Nets, both eventual NBA Finals teams. In his final season, Thomas posted a 48-34 record and coached the Eastern Conference All-Stars in 2003.

Despite being the third seed, the Pacers were again eliminated in the first round, this time by the sixth-seeded Boston Celtics. Some observers blamed Thomas's lack of coaching experience for the team's struggles, given its mix of young talent like O'Neal, Brad Miller, Ron Artest, Harrington, and Tinsley, along with veteran Reggie Miller. That summer, Bird returned as president of basketball operations and fired Thomas on August 27, 2003, replacing him with Rick Carlisle.

On December 22, 2003, Thomas became president of basketball operations for the New York Knicks. His tenure was a failure; by the end of the 2005-06 season, the Knicks had the league's highest payroll and the second-worst record. He traded multiple future draft picks to Chicago for Eddy Curry, including two lottery picks in strong draft years. In January 2006, former Knicks executive Anucha Browne Sanders sued the Madison Square Garden Company, alleging Thomas sexually harassed her and that she was fired for complaining. The case was settled for $11.5 million.

Other ventures

During his playing career, Thomas invested in ventures through his private investment company, Isiah Investments, LLC. His primary investment was a large chain of printing franchises, American Speedy Printing Centers Inc., which he helped lead out of bankruptcy to profitability. Thomas is the founding chairman and CEO of Isiah International LLC, a holding company whose primary businesses include Gre3n Waste Removal, Re3 Recycling, and Eleven Capital Group.

In 1998, he founded a company that served consumers, retailers, and corporations with online gift certificates and other i-commerce products, and it had a partnership with the NBA store. In April 1999, Thomas became the first African-American elected to the board of governors of the Chicago Stock Exchange, serving until 2002. He has been involved in real estate projects through Isiah Real Estate, including a $300 million development deal for a mixed-use complex at the Illinois Medical District Commission.

Thomas was a founding member of the advisory board for Marquis Jet Partners and a partner of Dale and Thomas Popcorn. He purchased the Continental Basketball Association for $10 million in 1999. He has also served as CEO and executive chairman of One World Products, a cannabis company with facilities in Colombia.

Philanthropic work

Isiah Thomas first made a mark off the court in 1987, when he organized "No Crime Day" in Detroit alongside Mayor Coleman Young, asking for a halt to crime. He later founded Mary's Court, a foundation named after his mother that helps low-income parents and children on Chicago's West Side. The foundation partners with Kids off the Block to serve Thanksgiving meals to local families. While at Florida International University, Thomas and Mary's Court gave $50,000 to the school's First Generation Scholarship and put together a sold-out charity game during the NBA lockout that featured LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

A street on Chicago's West Side was renamed in honor of his mother. The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boys & Girls Club of Chicago gave Thomas its King Legacy Award. In July 2012, he joined The Black Men's Roundtable in Florida to talk about issues affecting black men. In 2011, Thomas and Father Michael Pfleger started the Peace League, an annual community basketball league in Chicago.

The following year, they co-hosted the Ballin' for Peace Tournament at St. Sabina Church to reduce gang violence through dialogue and basketball. The Peace League later added GED classes, job training, and internships, and the Auburn-Gresham neighborhood saw a major drop in violence. The tournament expanded to New York City during the 2015 NBA All-Star Weekend. In March 2013, Children Uniting Nations gave Thomas and Mary's Court a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Every year, Mary's Court holds a Holiday Toy Giveaway, providing gifts, clothes, and school supplies to hundreds of Chicago children.