Isiah “Zeke” Thomas was one of the greatest basketball players of all time. During the 1980s, his only breakthrough point guard in the NBA tournament was the Lakers’ Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who has a fantastic physique and the health to play the game.

Thomas, who stands just over six feet tall, was one of the grittiest players to play in that position, a greasy competitor who gave no chance and expected none in return. Thomas, like Johnson, possessed all of the necessary skills and determination to win a game.

Quick Facts

Isiah Thomas’s Biography

Isiah Lord Thomas III was born on April 30, 1961, in difficult circumstances. Thomas was the youngest of nine children who grew up in one of West Chicago’s poorest and deadliest neighborhoods. His family went without food or shelter on occasion, and a lack of bed space forced some of the children to sleep on the ground. Isiah’s father abandoned them when he was three years old, leaving Isiah’s mother to raise the children.

Mary Thomas, the mother of the famous basketball player whose motivation inspired a 1990 television movie, did everything she could to protect her children from the area’s drugs, crime, and violence. When looters came looking for Isiah one night, his mother pulled out her sawed-off shotgun and told them, “There’s only one gang here, and I lead it.” Get off my porch, or I’ll blow you off!” On other occasions, when Isiah arrived home late, she ordered him to stay at home for the duration of his vacation.