As we get ready for tonight's game with the Knicks, I couldn't help but think of LeBron's parallels with Isiah Thomas…arguably the greatest point guard to ever play the game at his size…
He was drafted 2nd overall in 1982, by a franchise that had never been to the NBA Finals…coming off a horrendous season…Isiah was 20, and considered the next coming after two years at Indiana…he had to go three years without a taste of the playoffs….then another four seasons (total of seven) before he won a title…(It took MJ six)…
Isiah had to suffer the pain of defeat along the way, none worse than his infamous pass which cost the Pistons a potential series clinching game-6 in Boston (“Bird stole the ball") in the '87 Eastern finals…the Pistons then lost game-7 and had to live with that emptiness all summer…I remember the look in Isiah's eyes that night in Boston after his gaffe…there was no look of needing pity…yes, pain, but a look of I will not let this defeat me…and it didn't…he was as mentally tough as any athlete I have ever covered…and I've closely covered ten pro title teams in my career…
So, it all comes back to LeBron…and patience…we all want a title in this town yesterday, but at 22, he still has to experience growth, and yes, pain to possibly know what it takes to win it all…let us all be witnesses to it…
See you tonight at 7:30…
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