Some people consider Isiah Thomas to be a buffoon these days. Other people would consider describing Thomas as such to be too kind. Whatever you think of him now though, for whatever reason, there’s no denying what he was a player. Fearless. Tough. Unfreakingbelieveable. Hall of Famer. World Champion.
Standing 6’1″ tall, Thomas is also the last point guard to lead his team in scoring while winning an NBA Championship. That happened so long ago that a collection of younger fans think he was just that guy who used to kick it with Steph Marbury in New York until things got weird. Or even that one old player who coached basketball for Florida International. Which is a shame, because he was so much more than that. So much more. And he also thinks what Derrick Rose is now, is kinda like that guy he was way back when he was that guy too.
In a conversation with ESPN.com, Isiah talked about D-Rose and winning big in the NBA as a little guy:
“I’ve got a lot of scars but I’ve also got the rings,” he said. “Had I not won a championship, I would consider my career a total bust, a total failure. I would venture to say if you ask all the point guards in the league that question, Chris Paul probably thinks that way and Derrick thinks that way.
“It’s different for small guys. There’s no way around it. Either you’re going to pay the price, sacrifice and win or you’re going to pile up great statistics and you’ll never win. And Derrick’s choice seems to be he wants to win a championship and I admire him for taking that path because he can have a very long career and play forever, have great numbers and never win. But I have to give Thibodeau a lot of credit for allowing Derrick for taking this courageous path he’s choosing to take.”
I’m sure Thomas didn’t mean to off-handedly call the careers of Karl Malone, John Stockton, Charles Barkley, and all those other guys total busts and complete failures while paying his respects to Rose. But even if he did, which he didn’t, he earned that right. Because while he’s most certainly a lot of things, he’s also a champion.
“When I came into the league, everyone wanted a big point guard like Magic Johnson,” he said. “If you looked across the league, there was Magic, Chicago got Reggie Theus, Milwaukee got Paul Pressey, everybody had a 6-8, 6-9 point guard and the small guys like myself were thought to be extinct.
“But I like to say when I came in, everybody wanted a point guard like Magic and when I went out, everyone wanted a point guard like Isiah.”
Can Rose be that next little guy to lead his team in scoring past the NBA’s giants on the biggest stage though?
Yeah, he’s got to beat LeBron [James], but I had to beat Michael. A lot. Can he beat Kobe? Well, I had to beat Magic. So yeah, you have to do it. Or you can take the easy way out and not accept the challenge. I admire him for taking it. He has to beat Dwight Howard. He and Thibs can be saying ‘We don’t have enough,’ or ‘I’m too small.’ But I’m down with the little guy saying ‘Hey, Charles Barkley, I’m kicking your a**.’ “
Isiah Thomas everyone. Nobody ever questioned his approach, just like nobody questions D-Rose’s either.
