At #5, we had the NBA’s all-time assists leader John Stockton. At #4, we move to one of the toughest point guards the game has ever seen and the leader of one of basketball’s most iconic teams.
Isiah Thomas was the leader of the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons.
Standing only 6-foot-1, Thomas was never the biggest player on the court. It did not matter. He played with toughness, confidence and an edge that perfectly represented Detroit basketball.
The Leader of the Bad Boys
The Bad Boy Pistons had plenty of memorable names. Joe Dumars, Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer and others helped make Detroit a nightmare to play against.
But Isiah Thomas was their leader.
Thomas could score, create for his teammates and completely control a game from the point guard position. During his career, he averaged 19.2 points and 9.3 assists per game while earning 12 consecutive All-Star selections.
More importantly, when Detroit finally reached the top of the NBA, Thomas was the player leading the way.
Going Through the Best
Detroit’s championships become even more impressive when you look at who stood in their way.
The Pistons battled Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics, Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers during one of the most competitive eras the NBA has ever seen.
After years of battling those teams, Detroit finally broke through.
The Pistons won back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990, establishing themselves as the league’s dominant team between the Lakers and Celtics dynasty years and the beginning of Jordan’s Bulls dynasty.
And there is something about Thomas’ championships that deserves more attention.
Before Stephen Curry came along, Isiah Thomas stood alone as the great example of an undersized guard leading his team to an NBA championship.
At 6-foot-1, Thomas did something basketball traditionally told us smaller players were not supposed to do. He was the leader and offensive engine of a back-to-back championship team. That accomplishment speaks for itself.
Thomas also produced one of the gutsiest performances in NBA Finals history. In Game 6 of the 1988 Finals, he scored 25 points in the third quarter while playing on a badly injured ankle. Detroit ultimately lost the series, but the performance perfectly represented the toughness Thomas played with throughout his career.
Two years later, Thomas and Detroit were champions again, and this time he was named 1990 NBA Finals MVP after averaging 27.6 points, 7.0 assists and 5.2 rebounds in the series.
An All-Time Great
Thomas finished his career as a 12-time All-Star, five-time All-NBA selection, two-time NBA champion and Finals MVP.
He was the leader of a team that had to battle some of the greatest players and teams basketball has ever seen to reach the top. The Bad Boys needed someone tough enough to lead them and talented enough to take over when it mattered most.
Isiah Thomas was that guy.
He takes the #4 spot on my list of the greatest point guards of all time.
Next up: #3 Oscar Robertson.
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