After Isiah Thomas retired from the NBA, many thought he would stay in Detroit and work for the Pistons . After all, he was arguably the best player in the franchise's history and gave them their first two championships.
But instead of getting a job in Detroit, Zeke became the general manager and a part-owner of the Toronto Raptors. During an interview with Mitch Albom of the Detroit Free Press, Thomas said he was surprised that the Pistons had not offered him a job after his retirement.
"I was told that I would be a Piston for life," said Zeke. "I guess I was, for my basketball career. Post-retirement, there were no positions available. Now, would I have liked to have been part of the organization? Without question."
Zeke ended up in Toronto
Isiah was the Pistons' 2nd overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft out of Indiana. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, all for the Pistons. He helped the Pistons transform from a losing franchise to back-to-back NBA championships; during that time, the Chicago native earned 12 All-Star appearances and five All-NBA team selections.
However, when he retired after the 1994 NBA season, the Pistons' GM position became unavailable. Billy McKinney had held the post since 1992 . So Isiah accepted an offer to co-own the Raptors while acting as their first GM.
Zeke held that spot until 1997 when he sold his Raptors share. At that time, Doug Collins had been GM in Detroit since 1995. After he was fired in 1998 , the Pistons replaced him with Rick Sund, and after Sund, Joe Dumars .
"My talents and expertise is basketball," added Thomas. "Not marketing. It's basketball. I would be lying if I said I wouldn't have liked to do that for the Pistons."
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Thomas became an executive and head coach
When Collins and Sund were fired, the Pistons could have picked Isiah as GM since he was a broadcaster for the NBA on NBC during that period. However, a month after Detroit hired his former backcourt partner Dumars as GM, Thomas accepted the head coaching position for the Indiana Pacers.
After Indiana, Zeke worked for the Knicks as President of Basketball Operations from 2006-08. He then became head coach of Florida International University from 2009-2012 and later President of the WNBA's New York Liberty from 2015 to 2019.
Since Dumars left the Pistons in 2014, the team has appointed four general managers. None of them was named Isiah Thomas. Last May, the Pistons hired Troy Weaver as their 21st general manager. Zeke? He's now 63, and there is still no job available.
Related: Isiah Thomas thanked Larry Bird for saving his career following his racist remarks: "Larry, you had my career right at the palm of your hands"
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