Isiah Thomas played college ball at Indiana for Bobby Knight. After his freshman year he was selected to play for the US Olympic team, but the US boycotted the Moscow games. As a sophomore, Thomas won the NCAA tournament with Indiana, then was drafted by the Pistons before his junior year in college. Isiah Thomas would eventually finish his degree six years later on Mother's Day, to keep a promise to his mom. Thomas was selected to the All-Rookie team and named Rookie of the Year by the Sporting News. Isiah Thomas was the key ingredient in the Detroit Pistons championship teams of the late eighties and early nineties, serving as the team's captain. In 1988, the Pistons lost to the Lakers in a 7 games series. The Pistons finally won their first title in 1989, beating the Lakers, and they backed it up with another win in 199, beating Portland. Isiah Thomas was the NBA Finals MVP that second year, in 1990. They were unseated by the Chicago Bulls in 1991 on their way to 3 consecutive NBA champioships. He was an all-star point guard who had a friendly rivalry with Magic, and a not so friendly rivalry with Michael. Teamed in the backcourt with Joe Dumars, Thomas was part of one of the best backcourts of his era. Isiah was also indisputably the best point guard in the eastern conference when he played the game, being selected to 12 straight NBA All-Star Teams. He started he AS game when he was a rookie, becoming a fan favorite immediately. He won the AS Game MVP twice over his sensational (1984 and 1986) and fan-pleasing career. Thomas was also disputably the best PG in the game, but Magic and Stockton would challenge him for that title...and Magic would probably win. Magic had one key advantage over Isiah...Thomas was barely six feet while Johnson towered over opposing point guards at 6-9.
Isiah Thomas was one of 4 players to amass over 9,000 lifetime assists, along with career leader John Stockton, Magic Johnson and Oscar Robertson. Thomas also briefly held the record for the highest single season average for assists per game with 13.9 in 1984-85. Stockton beat that record averaging 14.5 in 1989-90. One of Detroit's "Bad Boys", he is the Pistons career leader in assists (9,061), steals (1,861), games played (979) and points (18,822). Isiah Thomas was a 3 time All-NBA First Teamer. Thomas retired from playing in 1994, but shortly thereafter he took over the helm of the Toronto Raptors as the VP of Basketball Operations and part owner. Isiah hopes to use his on court smarts and savvy in the front office and help the expansion team to live up to his own winning reputation. He sold his stock in the team and was selected to be the Pacers head coach, to succeed Larry Bird starting with the 2000-2001 season. He was also elected to the Basketball Hall of Fame along with the class of 2000.