When one is given great power, one must look to utilize it as responsibly as Isiah Thomas did. After establishing himself as one of the leading names in the NBA, ‘Zeke’ capitalized on this status to bring diversity to the media space during the 1980s. Decades later, Stephen A. Smith couldn’t help but publicly applaud his contributions, going as far as to thank the 2x champion for his heroics.
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Shortly after this, Thomas gracefully accepted the high praise from Smith. Expressing his gratitude on X (formerly Twitter), the 63-year-old wrote, “Facts! Stephen A. Smith credits Isiah Thomas for diversifying NBA media”.
Facts!
Stephen A. Smith credits Isiah Thomas for diversifying NBA media https://t.co/f1RL8ytyG7— Isiah Thomas (@IsiahThomas) May 31, 2024
His gallant endeavors came to the forefront during the latest episode of ESPN’s First Take. While dissecting the selection process of NBA stars into the USA Men’s National Basketball Team, Smith declared,
“When he was the president of the Players Association, Isiah Thomas was one of the strongest instigators to diversifying the media covering the NBA because there wasn’t enough Black reporters, both male and female covering the sport. Isiah Thomas was the person, in the ‘80s, fighting that fight. So a lot of us doing what we do today, we got him in large part to thank for it”.
Stephen A. Smith on Kyrie Irving not making Team USA’s roster for the 2024 Olympics:
“We all know that’s about imagery, that’s about Team USA, that’s about who you want representing the red, white and blue and stuff like that. We all know that. We know that ain’t about… pic.twitter.com/j61Orscn74
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 31, 2024
Stephen A. Smith is right on the money with his take. After all, if the Pistons legend had never endeavored to bring diversity to these positions, the world of sports media would have looked disturbingly different. So, while the ESPN analyst’s words are strong, they do not hold an inkling of exaggeration.
Today, the stand against racism has countless supporters, whether it be just in the NBA community, or worldwide. And Isiah Thomas should be hailed as one of the harbingers of such a time.
Isiah Thomas took a stand against systemic racism
Thomas has always been against separating people based on their skin color and origins. During a 2021 interview with MIPAD 100, the 6ft 1″ icon elaborated on his viewpoint, stating, “As long as we are separated in these color apartheid boxes then it allows systemic racism to come in. It allows different biases to come in”.
Following this, the Chicago-born even highlighted this as the biggest source of misery for the nation. Expressing his stance during a conversation with INET’s Rob Johnson, Thomas mentioned, “If we start from that standpoint, where we’re all human and we’re all equal, then you can really start to unravel America’s long systemic problem of race, racism, racialized language, and criminalization of a certain sector of people”.
So, his core values as a human being have remained the same throughout his journey. To this day, he serves as a representative of the needful masses, intending to improve their quality of life. His contributions to society have set a new benchmark for NBA icons, cementing his legacy in the league’s folklore, alongside general human history.
