Isiah Lord Thomas III was born in 1961 in Chicago, Illinois. The youngest of nine siblings, Thomas grew up in the West Side neighborhood of North Lawndale. Each morning, he would rise at 5:00 a.m. and commute for 90 minutes to attend St. Joseph High School in Westchester, Illinois, a private school known for its basketball program. Under the guidance of Coach Gene Pingatore, Thomas helped lead St. Joseph to the state finals during his junior year and quickly became regarded as one of the nation's top college basketball prospects.
Thomas went on to play collegiate basketball for the Indiana Hoosiers under legendary coach Bob Knight. As a sophomore, he led Indiana to a national championship victory in the 1981 NCAA Tournament. Following this success, Thomas declared for the NBA Draft and was selected as the No. 2 overall pick by the Detroit Pistons in 1981.
Thomas spent his entire 13-season professional basketball career with the Detroit Pistons, playing from 1981 to 1994. A dynamic point guard, he was a 12-time NBA All-Star and was instrumental in leading the Pistons to back-to-back NBA championships in the 1988–89 and 1989–90 seasons. His impact and leadership earned him a place among the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History, and he was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
After retiring from professional basketball, Thomas transitioned into a variety of executive and coaching roles. He served as the Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations for the expansion team Toronto Raptors and later became the owner of the Continental Basketball Association (CBA). Thomas also worked as an NBA television analyst.
As a coach, he led the New York Knicks and later the Florida International University (FIU) Golden Panthers from 2009 to 2012. In 2015, he was named President of the WNBA's New York Liberty, a sister team of the Knicks, and hired former teammate Bill Laimbeer as head coach.
| Birth Date: | 30 Apr, 1961 |
| Age: | 59 yrs |
| Occupations: | Basketball player Basketball coach Consultant |
| Citizenship: | United States of America |
| Birth Place: | Chicago |
| Gender: | Male |
| Description: | American basketball player, coach, executive |
| Net Worth 2021: | 100 million |
