Indiana Basketball: The 10 Best Hoosiers to play in the NBA: 4-1

Indiana Basketball: Top 10 NBA players of all-time

#1: Isiah Thomas

The best player to ever come out of Indiana. Isiah Thomas is all sorts of underrated and I’m tired of it. Thomas came to Bloomington and had an immediate impact on a well established Indiana team. In his freshman year, Thomas scored 14.6 points and 5.5 assists per game as he led Indiana to a Big Ten title. In his sophomore year, Thomas’ impact grew exponentially as he led an all-time Indiana team to an NCAA championship averaging 16 and six. He declared for the NBA draft coming off the high of his national championship.

After his incredible (and unfortunately short) Indiana career, Thomas was selected with the number two pick in the 1981 NBA draft by the Detroit Pistons. He came into a young Pistons team that was dying for a leader to take the reigns. That is exactly what Isiah did. His 17 points and almost eight assists were enough for an all-star game appearance in his rookie year. That appearance would be the first of 12 straight appearances. Thomas’ best season of his career came in 1985 as he put up 21.2 points and an incredible 13.9 assists.

Eventually, the young Pistons broke into the NBA playoff picture but were repeatedly eliminated by Larry Bird and the Celtics. The Pistons eventually bested the Celtics in a six-game series in 1988 and Thomas advanced to his first NBA finals. The Pistons, however, were outmatched by an all-time Lakers team featuring Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

In 1989, Isiah Thomas and the “Bad Boy” Pistons ran through the NBA wracking up 63 wins on their way to the championship. The next year, the Bad Boys were back. Thomas, with his 18.4 points and 9.4 assists, led the Pistons to back to back NBA titles.

Thomas was named finals MVP after putting on a dazzling show as he whooped the Portland Trail Blazers in a five-game series. Thomas continued to put up great numbers until an Achilles tear ended his career in 1994. Throughout his career, Thomas was often seen as one of the biggest challenges to the thrones of both Larry Bird and Michael Jordan.

Thomas finished his career with 12 all-star appearances, five All-NBA appearances, a Finals MVP, and an assist championship. He ranks ninth in NBA history in assists (9,061) and 15th in steals (1,861). His number 11 jersey is retired by the Pistons and Isiah was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Thomas has had an intricate post-retirement career. He has been the head coach of the Indiana Pacers, New York Knicks and FIU Panthers. These days, you can catch him selling fine Champagne or doing philanthropic work.