Isiah Lord Thomas III, known as "Zeke", is an American former professional basketball player and coach who is an analyst for NBA TV.
68 Facts About Isiah Thomas
2.
Isiah Thomas played his entire professional career for the Detroit Pistons of the National Basketball Association.
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Isiah Thomas played college basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers, leading them to the 1981 NCAA championship as a sophomore and declaring for the NBA draft.
4.
Isiah Thomas was later the men's basketball coach for the Florida International University Golden Panthers for three seasons from 2009 to 2012.
5.
In early May 2015, amidst controversy, Isiah Thomas was named president and part owner of the Knicks' WNBA sister team, the New York Liberty, subsequent to the re-hiring of Isiah Thomas's former Pistons teammate, Bill Laimbeer, as the team's coach.
6.
The youngest of nine children, Isiah Thomas was born on April 30,1961, in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in the city's West Side.
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Isiah Thomas started playing basketball at age three and would dribble and shoot baskets as the halftime entertainment at Catholic Youth Organization games.
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Isiah Thomas attended Our Lady of Sorrows School and St Joseph High School in Westchester, which was a 90-minute commute from his home.
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Isiah Thomas was recruited to play college basketball for Bob Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers.
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Nevertheless, Isiah Thomas's mother chose Knight and Indiana because she felt that getting away to Bloomington would be good for her son, as would Knight's discipline.
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At the 1979 Pan American Games in Puerto Rico, Knight got so mad at Isiah Thomas he threatened to put him on a plane home.
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Isiah Thomas quickly proved his skills as a player and became a favorite with both Knight and Indiana fans.
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Isiah Thomas responded so well that, as the season unfolded, Knight and Isiah Thomas grew as friends.
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Isiah Thomas started for the Eastern Conference in the 1982 NBA All-Star Game and made the All-Rookie Team.
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Detroit tied the Celtics at two games apiece, but its hope of winning Game 5 at Boston Garden was dashed by Larry Bird with just seconds remaining: Isiah Thomas attempted to quickly inbound the ball, Bird stole the pass and hit Dennis Johnson for the game-winning layup.
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One of Isiah Thomas's most inspiring and self-defining moments came in Game 6.
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Isiah Thomas was voted NBA Finals Most Valuable Player of the 1990 NBA Finals after averaging 27.6 points, 7.0 assists, and 5.2 rebounds per game.
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Isiah Thomas was selected to the 1980 Olympic US basketball team, but like all American athletes, he was not able to play in Moscow due to the Olympics boycott.
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Isiah Thomas led the US in assists with 37 and averaged 9.7 points per game.
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In 2007, Isiah Thomas received one of 461 Congressional Gold Medals created especially for the spurned athletes.
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Isiah Thomas is the founding Chairman and CEO of Isiah International LLC, a holding company with a diverse portfolio of business ventures and investments.
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Isiah Thomas was one of the founding members of the advisory board for Marquis Jet Partners and a partner of Dale and Thomas Popcorn.
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Isiah Thomas often speaks to students and professionals around the country about his business experiences.
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Isiah Thomas has served as CEO and Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of One World Products, a cannabis company based in the US with cultivation and processing facilities in Colombia.
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Isiah Thomas worked a three-man booth with Costas and Doug Collins.
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Isiah Thomas became the owner of the Continental Basketball Association from 1998 to 2000.
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Isiah Thomas founded Enlighten Sports Inc, a full-service web development group specializing in sports marketing, in 1999.
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Isiah Thomas foresaw that streaming video would be the future of news and entertainment.
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In 1998, Isiah Thomas founded a company serving consumers, retailers, and corporations with online gift certificates and other i-commerce products.
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From 2000 to 2003, Isiah Thomas coached the Indiana Pacers, succeeding Larry Bird, who previously coached the Pacers to the Eastern Conference title.
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Isiah Thomas attempted to bring up young talents such as Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, Al Harrington, and Jeff Foster.
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Isiah Thomas was ultimately unsuccessful with the Knicks roster and fanbase.
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Isiah Thomas traded away several future draft picks to Chicago in a deal for Eddy Curry including what turned out to be two lottery picks in talent-rich drafts, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Joakim Noah.
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Isiah Thomas was not fined or suspended; NBA Commissioner David Stern said that he relied only on "definitive information" when handing out punishments.
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Isiah Thomas compounded the Knicks' salary-cap problems by signing fringe players such as Jerome James and Jared Jeffries to full mid-level exception contracts.
36.
Walsh did not comment definitively on whether Isiah Thomas would be retained in any capacity.
37.
One night after the Knicks tied a franchise record of 59 losses and ended their season, news broke that in talks with Walsh the week before, Isiah Thomas had been told he would not return as Knicks head coach the following season.
38.
On December 19,2012, NBA TV announced that Isiah Thomas would begin work on December 21,2012, as a member of the studio analyst panel.
39.
Isiah Thomas was relieved of his duties on February 21,2019, after James Dolan sold the Liberty to Joseph Tsai.
40.
In 2016, Thomas announced that he was the exclusive United States importer of the Cheurlin Champagne brand through ISIAH Imports, a subsidiary of ISIAH International, LLC Cheurlin Champagne made its debut in the United States at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia.
41.
Since 2017, Isiah Thomas has been a regular panelist during NBA on TNT's Monday coverage Players Only, which features only former NBA players as studio analysts, play-by-play announcers, and color analysts for games.
42.
Isiah Thomas finished his college degree at Indiana University during the Pistons' off-seasons and received his Master's in Education from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Education in 2013.
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At UC Berkeley, Isiah Thomas studied the connection between education and sports, specifically how American society makes education accessible to black male college athletes.
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When he was a Piston, in 1987 Isiah Thomas organized the "No Crime Day" in Detroit.
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Isiah Thomas even had the help of Detroit Mayor Coleman Young to call for a moratorium on crime in the summer of 1986.
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Isiah Thomas is shown dressed in a Sam Spade type outfit while reading a detective novel.
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Isiah Thomas founded Mary's Court, a foundation that supports economically disadvantaged parents and children in the communities of Garfield Park and Lawndale on the West Side of Chicago.
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In July 2012, Isiah Thomas joined The Black Men's Roundtable in Florida along with other national and local black leaders to discuss issues that directly affect black males.
49.
In September 2012, Isiah Thomas co-hosted the Ballin' for Peace Tournament at St Sabina Church in Chicago.
50.
Isiah Thomas joined with Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Quentin Richardson, Zach Randolph, the Chicago Bears' J'Marcus Webb, pastor Father Michael Pfleger, and others to produce this event, in order to reduce gang violence through communication and basketball.
51.
Isiah Thomas stressed the value of education for those in poverty.
52.
Isiah Thomas's father was an army veteran wounded in the Battle of Saipan.
53.
Isiah Thomas later attended trade school, eventually becoming the first black supervisor at International Harvester in Chicago.
54.
Isiah Thomas grew up in the heart of Chicago's West Side ghetto.
55.
Isiah Thomas was a basketball prodigy from age three and was tutored by his older brothers, some of whom were good players in their own right.
56.
Isiah Thomas met his future wife, Lynn Kendall, the daughter of a Secret Service agent and a nurse, in the early 1980s while they were both attending Indiana University.
57.
Isiah Thomas has a third son from an earlier liaison, Marc Dones, born in 1986.
58.
Isiah Thomas was involved in allegations about gambling, outlined in the 1997 book Money Players.
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On October 24,2008, Isiah Thomas was taken to White Plains Hospital Center near his New York City area home after accidentally taking an overdose of Lunesta, a form of sleep medication.
60.
Isiah Thomas has ridiculed the idea that he masterminded the supposed freeze-out as "ludicrous", pointing out that he was a relatively young player on a team that included Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Moses Malone.
61.
In 1987, following a playoff loss to the Boston Celtics, Isiah Thomas was asked if he agreed with Dennis Rodman's comments that Larry Bird was overrated because he was white; Isiah Thomas agreed that if Bird were black he "would be just another good guy" instead of being portrayed as the league's best player.
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Isiah Thomas later said he was joking and just supporting his teammate.
63.
In 1992, Isiah Thomas was passed over for the Dream Team apparently because of his strained relationship with Jordan.
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Isiah Thomas was selected as the Most Outstanding Player of the 1981 Final Four and the Most Valuable Player of the 1990 NBA Finals.
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Isiah Thomas was a consensus first-team All-American in 1980 and a 12-time NBA All-Star.
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When Isiah Thomas retired as a player in 1994, he ranked third in NBA history with 9,061 assists and fifth in league history with 1,861 steals.
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In 1996, Isiah Thomas was named to the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, selected upon the 50th anniversary of the founding of the NBA.
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Isiah Thomas has been inducted into the following halls of fame:.