This cover story, by Jay Mariotti, first appeared in Feb. 20, 1982, issue of The

Posted by seestyle on August 8th, 2022

This cover story, by Jay Mariotti, first appeared in Feb. 20, 1982, i sue of The Sporting News, under the headline "ISIAH: Pistons' Sparkplug Has Had a Bumpy Rookie Year," just past the midpoint of the Detroit icon's first NBA season. At only 20, Thomas did, in fact, have a lot to learn and learn he did. Two seasons later, the Pistons were in the playoffs. Six years later they were in the NBA Finals and in 1989, with Thomas at the helm, Detroit so-called "Bad Boys" won the first of back-to-back NBA titles. DETROIT The date was July 31, 1981. Isiah Thomas, a 20-year-old guard from Indiana University, had just signed a four-year, .6 Bobby Wagner Jersey million contract to play basketball for the Detroit Pistons. It should have been a moment of great joy and accomplishment for a perky young man who had risen from the Chicago ghetto.But there he was, standing behind a podium in his gray pinstripes, telling reporters in a serious and philosophical tone that he felt like one big piece of raw meat."I really believe this is all crazy, Thomas said. "I can't see how a price can be placed on your life. When you go in and negotiate and ask for 0,000 a year, you're selling yourself. And there Justin Britt Jersey 's no way you can tell me I'm worth only 0,000 a year when I sell myself. There's just no way. I think I'm worth much more. I don't care if they pay me million a year. I'm worth much more than that."It's a good feeling about being signed," he conceded, "but there's a bad feeling about it, too, when you think of this money busine s when you wake up at night and think you're worth only so much money to play basketball. I don't want to be known as Isiah Thomas, the basketball player. I want to be known as Isiah Thomas, the person."In an economically depre sed city like Detroit, his remarks seemed presumptuous and out of line. It seemed appalling to the unemployed that a 20-year-old kid with two years of college (Thomas applied for the National Basketball A sociation draft after leading Indiana to the NCAA championship in his sophomore season) who just happens to play a pretty good game of basketball could snicker at an annual salary of 0,000. There were a flood of calls to Detroit-area sports talk shows and letters to newspapers.The public could not understand why Isiah Thomas was speaking out in such a controversial manner.It would soon find out this was commonplace.TSN ARCHIVES: The rookie season of Isiah Lord Thomas Ill has not been as triumphant as what appears on the surface. Sure, the fans voted him to a starting berth in the NBA All-Star Game. Sure, he has helped lift the Pistons, one of the saddest and most inept franchises in profe sional sports, from a seemingly inescapable rut. Sure, he has been called a future Hall of Famer by no le s an authority than Bill Ru sell.But Thomas also has encountered many obstacles in the frenzied and often frazzled world of profe sional basketball. He has expre sed confusion about his role in Coach Scotty Robertson's offense. He has had trouble adjusting to the plane-to-hotel-to-arena-to-plane rigors of NBA travel. He mi sed five games with a sprained ankle. He has chewed out a member of the Pistons' statistics crew for not crediting him with more a sists. He subtly criticized the Pistons for trading D.K. Metcalf Jersey his buddy, forward Gregory Kelser, to Seattle. He has asked reporters not to be "so negative" about the team."Isiah is a very emotional and sensitive guy who will not hesitate to say what's on his mind," said Dr. Charles Tucker, a practicing psychologist and former semipro basketball player who advises Thomas and several other NBA players. "He can be temperamental, too, and that's why I tell him to talk things out with me before going public with them. Sometimes you can get into trouble by saying things in public. A lot of times it's best to get them out of your system by talking to a friend."Rookies are going to have their ups and downs. It's the nature of the league. I tell Isiah this, and sometimes he doesn't understand why he can't beat it all. He just can't let it get him down."Thomas, as insightful and poised as anyone his age, said, "Sometimes I do let things get me down that I should be able to shake off. I hope maturity will take care of that."Still, with all of the hardships he has endured, Gary Jennings Jr. Jersey Thomas continues to smile. The smile makes Isiah Thomas. It will earn him thousands of dollars in endorsements before his career is finished. It will earn him more All-Star berths, more applause, more adulation.The word is charisma. And it is very important not only to the Pistons, but to the image of the NBA."Every time I see him," said an admiring Larry O'Brien, the NBA commi sioner, "I feel proud to be sitting where I am. I look forward to watching him play in this league for many seasons to come."The seasons will get easier for Isiah Thomas. This one, unfortunately for him, has resembled a yo-yo. Up. Down. Up. Down. So much tumult. Like a soap opera, of sorts.Act IThomas' pro debut took place in a cozy gymnasium in Spring Arbor, Mich. There, the Indiana Pacers rolled to a 129-99 exhibition victory over the sloppy Pistons. Thomas was 4-for-13 from the field and committed eight turnovers. The next day, a headline in a Detroit newspaper read: "Same Old Pistons."The club went K.J. Wright Jersey on to lose three of its remaining five exhibitions. Although he scored 26 points in a victory over Cleveland and in a lo s to Los Angeles, Thomas was committing turnovers at an alarming rate. Defensively, he was not impre sing Robertson, a stickler for tenacity.A day after the New Castle Disaster, an appropriate term for a 20-point Pistons lo s to the Pacers in a high school gym in eastern Indiana, Robertson arranged a meeting with Thomas.TSN ARCHIVES: "Now that our exhibition season is over, I want to analyze how you've done," said the coach."Well," replied Thomas, "I think I have to get a little better on defense.Robertson: "That's not how I would say it."Thomas: "How would you say it?"Robertson: "You have to become much better and much more consistent on defense. I saw you play (Ronnie) Lester and (Ricky) Sobers against Chicago and thought you looked excellent. Then I watched you play Indiana the next night and thought you looked terrible."The coach repeated his doubts about Thomas a day before the Pistons' regular-season opener against Milwaukee."He's just a rookie, and he's still got to learn in what is the toughest basketball league in the world. For him to be the player he can be, it might take him 20 games, a half a year or maybe even a whole year. I can relate his progre s to the length of time it takes a quarterback to develop in pro football. He is like a quarterback because he must read the other team and, on the offensive end, he has the ball in his hands all of the time."Offensively. I want Isiah to be mentally and physically stronger, simply because all of the defensive attention will be focused on him. He's got a good NBA body, Tre Flowers Jersey but he has