Allen Einstein/NBAE/Getty Images
by Keith Langlois
Web Editor
When Isiah Thomas graduated from college, he was too busy to attend the ceremony. It was May 10, 1987 and his job prevented his presence in Bloomington, Ind. Isiah's mother, Mary – to whom he'd promised he would get his degree six years earlier when he'd left Indiana University after two seasons to join the Pistons – walked instead that day.
Her youngest son couldn't walk, but he danced – a memorable jig under the basket at the Pontiac Silverdome to celebrate a one-point playoff win over Atlanta and move the Pistons within a game of the Eastern Conference finals.