For basketball Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood, the Detroit Pistons are not doing enough to honor one of the best players – if not the best – to ever play for the franchise. At least that’s what Haywood seemed to imply when he said during an appearance at the National Association of Black Journalists headquarters that there’s ought to have a statue of Isiah Thomas outside of the Little Caesars Arena in downtown Detroit, per Marc J. Spears of ESPN.
“A statue in front of the new arena here should be of Isiah Thomas,” @hoophall member Spencer Haywood on Detroit basketball panel at #NABJ18 #nabj @nabjstf.
Spencer Haywood didn’t play for the Pistons during his professional basketball career that spanned from 1969-1983, but he did spend his high school days at the John J. Pershing High School in Detroit and spearheaded the team’s run all the way into copping a state championship.
Isiah Thomas, meanwhile, led the Pistons to two NBA titles in 1989 and 1990. He won the 1990 NBA Finals MVP when Detroit defeated the Portland Trail Blazers in the series, four games to one.
Thomas was drafted by the Pistons in 1981, which turned out to be one of the best decisions the franchise has ever made. Thomas helped the Pistons become a perennial power in the 1980s, often playing the role of a big thorn in the side of the likes of the Boston Celtics and the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference.
Based on numbers alone, Thomas has the credentials to deserve a statue in Detroit. He spent his entire NBA career with the Pistons, playing for the team from 1982 until his retirement in 1994. He is also the team’s all-time leader in points, assists, rebounds, steals, field goals made, free throws made, and value over replacement player.
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