In a recent exchange on X, NBA legend Isiah Thomas reminded a critic of his legacy. His impact on the court and his contribution to the Detroit Pistons, who fortified their new identity, is well-known to anybody familiar with 80s basketball. Michael Jordan dominated the 80s and 90s basketball landscape in Chicago; there is no debate about that. But those who say Isiah Thomas’s impact in the city was not profound may lack an understanding of Isiah’s popularity. 

Isiah was born and raised on the west side of Chicago, so naturally the people looked up to their local hero, who made it big in Detroit. He was one of the most fierce players of his generation. 

Isiah reminded a fan why his poster was up in ‘Home Alone’ 

A guy tweeted on X, “My one and only criticism of the first HOME ALONE is that there is no way a kid living in 1990 Chicago would have an Isiah Thomas poster up in his room..”

A kid from Chicago led the ‘Bad Boys’ Pistons to back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990 and became a 12-time NBA All-Star. Chicago is his second city and he was quick to fire back. He reminded the young fan, “a street is named after my mother MARY THOMAS Lawndale, Garfield, Austin is where I lived in Chicago.” 

Isiah’s mother was a prominent figure in Chicago

Everybody respected Isiah’s mother, Mary in the West Side Chicago neighborhood. Mary was a prominent voice who worked with Fred Hampton and the Black Panthers during the Civil Rights movement. She has even marched with Martin Luther King Jr. Isiah Thomas takes no prisoners in the “Home Alone” kerfuffle and he has boasted his connection with Chicago many times already. 

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How does the city matter to Isiah? Well, in his own words, he said, “The Chicago that I knew in my neighborhood is [where] I wanted to be respected, and where I always go back to help and support, When you say do I get the respect and love that I deserve from Chicago? I get the respect and the love from the ground, from the people.”

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