Isiah Lord Thomas III (photo ©Keith Allison) was born on April 30, 1961 in Chicago, Illinois.

At the university he won the NCAA tournament in 1981 with the Indiana University Hoosiers and was elected Most Outstanding Player. After that victory he turned pro and became the second overall pick by the Detroit Pistons.

At a professional level Isiah Thomas soon showed he was a great player and in his rookie year he was voted in the starting five at the All-Star Game.

The Detroit Pistons of those years were nicknamed “Bad Boys” because they played really tough and they needed all their toughness to face the very strong opponents of the time. The first major battles took place against Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics and finally in 1988 Isiah Thomas and his teammates defeated them in the playoffs before losing in seven games the NBA Finals to the Los Angeles Lakers of the showtime.

In 1989 Isiah Thomas and his Pistons defeated the Boston Celtics, the Chicago Bulls of a young Michael Jordan and finally won the finals to take the NBA title.

In 1990 Isiah Thomas won his second straight title by defeating the Portland Trail Blazers in the NBA Finals, of which he was elected MVP.

In the following years the rise of the Chicago Bulls led Michael Jordan’s team to beat the Detroit Pistons and in 1994 an Achilles tendon injury pushed Isiah Thomas to retire.

After a career as a player Isiah Thomas became head coach of the Toronto Raptors, of which he also acquired a share of the property. In 1998 however he decided to leave the Canadian franchise after disagreements over its management.

For some time Isiah Thomas was a television commentator and for a couple of years he was also the owner of the Continental Basketball Association.

In 2000 Isiah Thomas became head coach of the Indiana Pacers in a period when the team was rebuilding but without great success.

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In 2000 Isiah Thomas was also introduced into the Hall of Fame.

In 2003 Isiah Thomas became president of the New York Knicks and for a time he was also the head coach of the team. The lack of success led to his replacement as president in 2008.

In 2009 Isiah Thomas became head coach of Florida International University.

At 50, Isiah Thomas has already held several positions related to basketball, we can expect to see him in other roles.