Isiah Lord Thomas

Isiah Lord Thomas III

Detroit Pistons Player (1981 – 1994)

Isiah Thomas was born in Chicago, Illinois and attended St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois leading St. Joseph to the state finals in his junior year. He was considered one of the top prospects in the country and signed to play for coach Bob Knight at Indiana University. He helped lead the Hoosiers to two Big Ten Championships as well as the 1981 NCAA Championship while earning first-team All-American honors. Thomas was selected by the Detroit Pistons with the second overall pick of the 1981 NBA Draft. He spent his entire 14-year NBA career with the Pistons and was a key member of the “Bad Boys” that went on to dominate the Eastern Conference in the late 1980’s while winning back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. He was a 12-time All-Star, two-time All-Star MVP, three-time All-NBA First-team. When he retired he was the Pistons leader in points, steals, games played and assists, his number 11 was retired by the Pistons. He went on to coach for five seasons with the Pacers and the Knicks. Isiah Thomas was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2005, the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000 and was inducted into the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame in 1998.