Happy birthday to the first athlete to ever sign a card for me.
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— David Astramskas (@redapples) April 30, 2024
The leader of the 80's Bad Boy Pistons, Isiah Thomas, has dished out a lot of pain (both mental and physical) during his love-him-or-hate-him basketball career.
The Hall of Famer has also been on the receiving end of a lot of painful moments, including one of the nastiest elbows in NBA history.
That dirty elbow was delivered in 1991 by the world's worst Mail Man (who doesn't deliver child support payments or in the NBA Finals) and required 40 stitches.
Two years before that cheap blow, Thomas took one from the guy who challenges Malone for the title of deadliest elbows in NBA history: Bill Cartwright.
The incident occurred during overtime of a 1989 rivalry game against MJ and the Chicago Bulls. A bleeding Thomas was so infuriated after the hit by Cartwright, he tried to go after the foot-taller center, but was held back by his teammates. When assistant coach Brendan Malone came over to say something to him, Thomas pulled a Sprewell and put his hands on Malone's throat.
Malone kept his cool, and the Pistons went on to win the game 104-98 behind a game-high 34 from Thomas, who needed six stitches for the cut. Since this happened in the 80s, when you could sometimes punch a player and not get ejected, Thomas was not suspended for putting his hands on his coach.
The two teams met again later in the season, and it took only eight minutes for them to get into it again. But this time, Thomas threw a punch that landed on Cartwright, leading to an ejection, a two-game suspension, a $5,000 fine, and a broken hand. Cartwright was hit with a one-game suspension and a $2,500 fine for his actions.
After the game, Thomas said he had had multiple conversations with NBA director of operations Rod Thorn about the Bulls center.
"We have played the Bulls six times this year, and Cartwright has hit me five times. I stole the basketball from him, and he hit me. I pushed him and was about to turn away when he rushed me. You don`t want to fight, but I've had to fight for everything I've gotten in life. Sometimes you have to."
Doctors predicted the injury would sideline Thomas for three to four weeks, but since Thomas is arguably the "toughest pound-for-pound" player of all-time, he played the rest of the season, helped take down the Bulls in the playoffs, and then helped his team sweep the Lakers in the NBA Finals.
BRENDAN MALONE
Another interesting story is the relationship Thomas and assistant coach Brendan Malone developed. Malone would go on to become the first head coach of the Toronto Raptors, and after one season, was fired by Thomas, the GM! Thomas offered Malone a front-office job, but Malone declined it.
Years later, Thomas became the head coach of the Indiana Pacers and offered Malone an assistant coaching job. Malone accepted, and after a few seasons, left to join the New York Knicks. He reportedly left because he didn't like the coaching environment.
As fate would have it, after being fired from the Pacers, the Knicks hired Thomas to become the President of Basketball Operations. Another reunion!
BONUS FIGHTS
Source: Ultimate Knicks