Isiah Thomas is the most iconic player in the history of the Detroit Pistons, but he initially wanted to be on the Chicago Bulls.
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Isiah was drafted by the Detroit Pistons with the no. 2 pick back in the 1981 NBA Draft. This came about after Isiah’s decision to declare for the pros following a national championship under Bobby Knight with the Indiana Hoosiers.
Even at that time, expectations from the boy out of Westside Chicago were quite high. Isiah had displayed unusually high basketball IQ despite playing under extremely disciplined coaching by the legendary Knight.
But even for a Hall of Fame-caliber talent like Isiah, it took a while to truly grow into the NBA game. He revealed in an interview with The Players’ Tribune that he only came across plays and playbooks at Detroit.
Isiah Thomas hilariously details how he sabotaged the Detroit Pistons during the 1981 NBA Draft process
In this very same interview, Isiah also went into detail about his mentality going into the draft. Mark Aguirre was a top prospect alongside him at the time. According to the 2-time champion, both Chicago boys badly wanted to fall to no. 4 and no. 6 in the draft:
“I wanted to come home. I wanted to come to Chicago, because growing up in Chicago, Detroit’s the enemy, right?”
“So Mark (Aguirre) and I – I don’t know if it’s ever happened in the draft that 2 kids grew up in the same neighborhood and they’re #1 and #2 in the Draft. And we both wanted to go to Chicago. And Chicago had 2 picks in the draft that year – they were drafting 4 and 6.”
“I sabotaged every interview. I remember, I went to Dallas and they had the no. 1 pick. Dick Motta was the coach, and I watched him coach the Chicago Bulls. And I said ‘I don’t think I would fit your system. Everything you run is for the forwards.”
“He got mad, and I’m happy that he got mad. I’m doing everything I can to slide to no. 4.”
“Jack McCloskey (former Pistons GM) was asking all the questions and I was intentionally answering every one of them wrong. Finally at the end, he looks and says ‘I know what you’re doing.'”
“But I’m gonna draft you at no. 2 if you’re there. And you’re gonna love it here. He walks out, Will Robinson walks in, and I’ll never forget what Will Robinson said – ‘Champ, if you’re lucky enough to get here to Detroit, this place will love you like no other.'”
