Oh, Isiah!
Let me preface this by saying that I loved Isiah Thomas the basketball player. Zeke led the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. I was lucky enough to work at The Palace and see nearly every home game of both seasons, and it was a truly magical time. That was back before the NBA sucked, which is a different story altogether.
Even while working at the Palace, I heard grumblings that Isiah was kind of, well, a jerk. Most of us chose not to believe it. He was an icon, a hero to the city of Detroit, and he was nice to his Mama. He did commercials for Detroit Edison that told kids not to do anything stupid around electricity. Everyone loved him.
Isiah Thomas the executive, however, is another story. A few years ago, Isiah bought the Continental Basketball Association, and everyone cheered him. He was the CBA's savior. He was going to resurrect the helf-century-old league, he would expand it, would transform it into a minor league system for the NBA. One year later, he abandoned the league, selling back his stake so that he could coach the Pacers. The CBA filed for bankruptcy, had to reorganize, lost some teams, and it's a big frickin' mess.
Thomas was a big frickin' mess with the Pacers, by the way. Larry Bird fired him (a bit of poetic justice for Celtics fans, I might add).
But like Maggie the Cat, Zeke always lands on his feet. A few weeks ago, the New York Knicks named Isiah their President of Basketball Operations. In less than a month, he's already turned Madison Square Garden into a three-ring circus.
I hope things work out for Zeke and the Knickerbockers. I don't want the NBA to turn into even more of a joke.
Let me preface this by saying that I loved Isiah Thomas the basketball player. Zeke led the Detroit Pistons to back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990. I was lucky enough to work at The Palace and see nearly every home game of both seasons, and it was a truly magical time. That was back before the NBA sucked, which is a different story altogether.
Even while working at the Palace, I heard grumblings that Isiah was kind of, well, a jerk. Most of us chose not to believe it. He was an icon, a hero to the city of Detroit, and he was nice to his Mama. He did commercials for Detroit Edison that told kids not to do anything stupid around electricity. Everyone loved him.
Isiah Thomas the executive, however, is another story. A few years ago, Isiah bought the Continental Basketball Association, and everyone cheered him. He was the CBA's savior. He was going to resurrect the helf-century-old league, he would expand it, would transform it into a minor league system for the NBA. One year later, he abandoned the league, selling back his stake so that he could coach the Pacers. The CBA filed for bankruptcy, had to reorganize, lost some teams, and it's a big frickin' mess.
Thomas was a big frickin' mess with the Pacers, by the way. Larry Bird fired him (a bit of poetic justice for Celtics fans, I might add).
But like Maggie the Cat, Zeke always lands on his feet. A few weeks ago, the New York Knicks named Isiah their President of Basketball Operations. In less than a month, he's already turned Madison Square Garden into a three-ring circus.
I hope things work out for Zeke and the Knickerbockers. I don't want the NBA to turn into even more of a joke.
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