Hall of Fame Enshrines Isiah Thomas

S P R I N G F I E L D, Mass., Oct. 14 -- He beams that high-voltage smile moreoften now, but the scars around his mouth and eyes betray anotherside of Isiah Thomas.

It’s the side that earned him and his Detroit teammates the“Bad Boys” nickname, helped him fit right in with Dennis Rodman,moved him to chomp Boston Celtic Robert Parish’s hand in a fightfor the ball.

It is this inner fistfighter — married to championship smartsand skills — that lifted the 6-foot-1 guard Friday into theBasketball Hall of Fame beside the game’s giants.

“Not that I wanted to be bigger, but I wanted them to besmaller,” he said with a stare before his induction. “Because ifwe were all the same size, I would have killed them.”

Thomas, who took over in July from Larry Bird as coach of theIndiana Pacers, entered the Hall of Fame with high-scoring BobMcAdoo and Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt. Other new members are Morgan Wootten, the winningest high school coach ever, ofDeMatha High in Hyattsville, Md.; Kentucky athletic director C.M.Newton; and the late Syracuse Nationals founder Danny Biasone, whointroduced the 24-second clock.

Always In the Fight

Perhaps none of the hall’s 238 members, though, wanted to winmore than Thomas. He thought back Friday to growing up in a roughChicago neighborhood and eventually finding peace of mind when hewon on a basketball court. He said losing just about always madehim feel sick to his stomach.

“I can’t say I was one of those guys who won every fight,” he said. “But I was in the fight.”

And in 1989 and 1990, Thomas, Rodman, Vinnie Johnson, Joe Dumarsand Bill Laimbeer did win the biggest fights in their back-to-backNBA championships.

“I’ve also had players who did not care,” their former coach, Chuck Daly, said Friday. “I’d rather have a challenging team.”

As floor leader, Thomas injected intensity into their muggingdefense. But he could also leap, shoot, pass and steal with fewequals, averaging 19.2 points and 9.3 assists in his career. Heranks fourth in NBA assists. A 12-time All-Star, he commanded aspot on the NBA’s list of 50 greatest players in 1996.