We're not sure if this is reason to celebrate or not.
Pistons legend Isiah Thomas, who went on after his playing career to take on executive positions and coaching jobs with various teams, with not always such great results, is poised to become a minority owner in the Pistons, the Detroit News reports.
Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News reports that Thomas, 53, is in preliminary discussions with team officials. Goodwill reports that just how big of a percentage Thomas would get is unclear, but it would be respectable and not just ceremonial.
If it comes to fruition, Thomas would be one of a few African-Americans with a stake in an NBA team, Goodwill writes.
Goodwill writes:
The discussions began after Joe Dumars stepped down as the team’s president. Although Pistons owner Tom Gores targeted Stan Van Gundy to become the coach and president of basketball operations, he still wanted to partner with Thomas in some fashion.
Thomas has an indelible connection to the Detroit community, and Gores’ group isn’t averse to letting someone in, especially someone familiar with the local terrain.
The two became familiar during preparations for the Bad Boys reunion last month, and Gores expressed to Thomas he knew the former point guard wanted a seat of power — one Thomas hadn’t had since he was a part-owner of the Raptors.
After his playing career, Thomas was an executive with the Toronto Raptors, an executive with the Continental Basketball Association, head coach of the Indiana Pacers, and an executive and head coach for the New York Knicks, and later coach of Florida International University (FIU) Golden Panthers.
In New York in particular he created big big problems , bringing coach Larry Brown. Eventually, he replaced Brown as coach, and he became embroiled in a sexual harassment lawsuit.
He left the team in a big mess. -- Allan Lengel
