Isiah Thomas Dies, Or Not
Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas died on Friday. The first media reports available indicated Thomas died from an overdose of sleeping pills.
Thomas was a successful and famous basketball player, but did considerably less well as a coach and executive.
After his own successful baseball career, Thomas became a coach. He was the coach of the New York Knicks until he was fired in April of this year, after the team’s seventh consecutive losing season.
Thomas stayed on an a consultant for the Knicks.
Not only was Thomas fired recently, he was also sued for sexual harassment by a Madison Square Garden employee. The woman, Anucha Browne Sanders, won a settlement worth 11.6 million dollars.
After his successful baseball career, Thomas led Indiana University to a US collegiate national crown. He won two NBA titles himself with the Detroit Pistons.
That were the early reports. Shortly after, however, it became clear that the earlier reports were wrong: firstly, the person taken from Thomas’ home and to the hospital seems to be alive.
Second, Thomas did not take an overdose, but someone else in his home did. Most assumed it was Thomas because the police said the man they took was 48 years old, as is Thomas.
However, Thomas himself quickly called with the New York Post, which is quite difficult to do when you’re dead or in a coma due to an overdose, saying that the medical issue involved his 17-year-old daughter, Lauren, and that it was not an overdose. “My daughter is very down right now,” Thomas said. “None of us are OK.”
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Great player, but a troubled person. One of the best small guards of all time.
Stellar reporting. Kudos all around. You really nailed this one.