Why is Isiah Thomas seemingly so underrated??

[TheMarkMadsen]

Was an all star for ever single year of his career (94 meh..)

Led his team to wins over Magic, Jordan and Bird in significant series

Has the stats.. four straight years of 20/4/10 including a 21/5/14/2 season.. AND the playoff success

almost always raised his game in the playoffs, had possibly the most gutsy finals performance of all time in 88' for game 6. Changed his game and sacrificed stats for W's in 89 & 90 when the Pistons adopted a slower more methodical offense which didn't allow for Isiah to just run free

For me, I have Thomas over Stockton, and is a lot closer to Oscar than people think

Top 4 PG's all time would have to include Magic, Stockton, Oscar and Isiah IMO but I hardly hear this guy talked about anymore..

maybe it has something to do with his beefs with Jordan, Bird and Magic.. but Isiah was a fierce competitor and one of the toughest dudes to ever play the game

where do you rank Isiah Thomas

[Lensanity]

Isaiah Thomas is even more underrated

[24-Inch_Chrome]

He's in my top-5 PGs. Probably slots in at 3 or 4.

[TheMarkMadsen]

who one starred this thread

[LoneyROY7]

who one starred this thread

Good question.

[Akrazotile]

Ive got him ahead of Kobe

[navy]

I rank him highly. And he is better than Stockon.

But he was never that dominant as long as Magic was nor did he win an mvp.

[Sarcastic]

I rank him highly. And he is better than Stockon.

But he was never that dominant as long as Magic was nor did he win an mvp.

This is why context is always important. He competed with Magic, Bird, KAJ, Jordan for MVPs, while Curry is gonna get one competing with James Harden.

[Random_Guy]

lol he was dominant as fk, he took over in stretches

[24-Inch_Chrome]

Isiah's ankle game is, to me, the most impressive display from a player not at 100% in league history. I'll take it over Jordan's flu game every time.

[Roundball_Rock]

This is why context is always important. He competed with Magic, Bird, KAJ, Jordan for MVPs, while Curry is gonna get one competing with James Harden.

He didn't compete at all. His highest MVP finish was 5th in 1984. His only other top 10 finishers were 8th and a pair of 9ths. In the years Detroit reached the Finals he was 12th, 17th and 13th in MVP voting. Nor was he all-NBA in any of those three seasons.

The above is a key reason why he is in the top 20-25 group and outside the next group. He simply did not have the same individual success as the next tier of players, particularly during the years of Detroit's best team success. How many players have been the best player on a championship team and finished 17th and 13th in MVP voting? I think that says something. Usually a player like that would almost automatically at least be a top 5 or so MVP candidate on the strength of his team's performance.

Isiah's relative lack of individual success and his poor longevity are what hurt him.

All this is relatively speaking. He was an excellent player. He is one of the top 20 or 25 players in history. Yet we are comparing him to the next tier--people like Charles Barkley and K. Malone--and he deserves to rank below them.

[Real14]

Ive been telling these niguhz tha same shit. Isiah is definitely top 10.

[24-Inch_Chrome]

Ive been telling these niguhz tha same shit. Isiah is definitely top 10.

All-time? No.

[Smoke117]

Ive been telling these niguhz tha same shit. Isiah is definitely top 10.

Do you ever take a moment and think...maybe I won't say something stupid as **** today? Try it.

[Real14]

Do you ever take a moment and think...maybe I won't say something stupid as **** for once? Try it.

Stop hating and give tha man his damn credit