Even now, it’s sort of hard to understand why Isaiah Thomas was so widely disliked by his NBA colleagues.
He was a brilliant talent. Just 6-1, Thomas was fearless and would drive - and score - on just about anyone in the league.
But he just rubbed people the wrong way. Part of that was certainly being part of the Bad Boys. When Detroit was rising, Rick Mahorn, Dennis Rodman and especially the loathsome Bill Laimbeer made the Pistons deeply unpopular. Part of that affected Thomas, who was not entirely part of the whole Bad Boys mentality (neither was backcourt mate Joe Dumars).