Isiah Thomas and Larry Bird are two of the greatest ever players in NBA history. Thomas was a Detroit ‘Bad Boy’ for his entire career as a player.
He won multiple NBA Championships with the Detroit Pistons in 1989 and 1990. Being close to the NBA for 13 long years, Thomas made a comeback as a coach but his achievement in that field was nil. The 12-time All-Star appeared on “The Pivot Podcast” making revelations about the coaching stint with pacers and the fight that still horrifies NBA fans.
The 2-time NBA Champion revealed how Larry Bird, the then president of baseball operations of the Indiana Pacers, laid him off as a coach and appointed Rick Carlisle as the new coach. Isiah Thomas said, “Now that we ready to win, you know, they tapped me on the shoulder. Actually, Larry Bird tapped me on the shoulder and said, you know, you’ve done a good job here.”
“I like what you have done and as a matter of fact, I like it so much, I’m going to give it to my friend.” He then addressed the fight that stunned NBA. The November 2004, Indiana Pacers vs. Detroit Pistons incident. Larry Bird and Isiah Thomas knew how it could have been prevented.
Isiah Thomas opens up on the Malice at the Palace incident
Isiah Thomas added, “And I’ve said before, there wouldn’t have been no malice at the palace if I was coaching that team. Because I don’t think the Detroit Pistons fans would have acted that way with me. And by the way, if I was up 15 up Detroit, I wouldn’t have had my starters out on the floor at that time.”
He claimed that he would have handled the incident maturely and the teams would not have responded in a similar manner, in his respect. According to him, the team was about to achieve glory days if he wouldn’t be laid off.
The fight has left two people hospitalized; the NBA suspended 9 players after the incident. Many called the incident one of the darkest days in the history.
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