Back In The Day NBA

Isiah Thomas Is Only NBA Player To Accomplish This Feat Thanks To Draymond Green

Shandel Richardson

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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Lately, former Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas has spent lots of time creating arguments with rival Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls.

Now, Thomas is tackling other debates involving himself. It appears sometime he feels he doesn't get enough respect. His legend often trails Jordan, Larry Bird, Julius Erving and Magic Johnson from 1980s era.

Thomas just may have a point with a recent post on social media. He wanted to let new and old NBA fans how accomplished he was in his career. He is the only "small" point guard to lead his team to two consecutive titles while being his team's leader in scoring and assists.

His post on X, formerly known as Twitter, simply read: "Let it be known my @nba playoff run for a small point guard, the ONLY small PG that led his team to Back 2 Back titles as the teams leading SCORER and ASSIST."

Thomas had quite the run for the Pistons, leading them to three straight NBA Finals appearances from 1988-90. After losing to the Los Angeles Lakers in the first trip, they defeated the Lakers in the rematch and won their second against the Portland Trail Blazers.

Here were his numbers:


1990: 18.4 points and 9.4 assists

Both were indeed team-highs but Thomas can thank Golden State forward Draymond Green for being able to keep this distinction. Green was perhaps the only thing keeping future Hall of Famer Stephen Curry from accomplishing the same in 2017 and 2018. Curry outscored Kevin Durant both championship seasons but was unable to surpass Green for the assists lead either year.


So Thomas may hold a stat that may never be matched.

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day NBA. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

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Shandel Richardson

SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com