A Doubting Thomas Is Now an MVP

Isiah Thomas had fun playing basketball Sunday, which ordinarily would not be news except that this has been anything but an ordinary season for the Detroit Piston guard.

A month ago, when the Pistons were stuck in a prolonged and miserable slump, Thomas was so depressed he reportedly considered retiring. But Sunday, after scoring 30 points and being named the Most Valuable Player in the East’s 139-132 win over the West in the NBA All-Star Game, all Thomas talked about was how much he enjoyed the experience. “When I left Washington Friday to come here, I was tired, my feet hurt and my head hurt,” Thomas said. “I really wasn’t sure I wanted to play another game. But when I got to Dallas, well, I got excited and ready to play. You can’t help but have fun in an atmosphere like this.”

Thomas, at 6-foot-1 the littlest All-Star, was fun to watch, too. He dazzled the sellout crowd of 16,573 at the Reunion Arena with a variety of solo forays to the basket against the big guys, choosing either to pass to his own big men or slide by for layups.

In an All-Star game once again replete with outstanding individual performances, none was better than Thomas’. In 36 minutes, he made 11 of 19 shots, passed for 10 assists and had 5 steals and was the unanimous choice as the MVP in a poll of writers and broadcasters.

Perhaps the MVP trophy should be retired to the mantle of Thomas’ home in suburban Detroit. Thomas, an All-Star in each of his five NBA seasons, has won the award twice in the last four seasons. He first was honored in 1983 after a 21-point, 15-assist performance. “When I was a kid, I never dreamed I would be on the same court with the best basketball players in the world, let alone be named the best player on that day,” Thomas said. “Then, to have it happen twice in a lifetime, well, that’s heaven.”

Had Thomas not stolen the spotlight and most everything else on the court Sunday, there were plenty of other worthy candidates for the MVP, including Laker forward James Worthy.

Worthy made 10 of 19 shots for 20 points, while teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led West scorers with 21. Magic Johnson, the other Laker representative, was supposed to have played sparingly because of a bruised right knee, but he instead recorded 15 assists and 9 turnovers in 28 minutes.

Several All-Stars were hobbled by injuries, but New York Knick rookie Patrick Ewing (bruised right knee) was the only one who didn’t play.

Even without Ewing, the combination of Thomas, Boston’s Larry Bird (23 points) and Philadelphia’s Moses Malone (16 points, 13 rebounds) were enough to pull out a game in which the score traditionally is secondary to the spectacle.

Thomas, as many have come to expect, was quite a sight Sunday. He was smiling, exchanging high-fives and simply enjoying himself. But the enduring image of Thomas most of this season has included a frown and frustration.

In late December through mid-January, Detroit had lost 15 of 16 games. Thomas, admittedly not playing well, missed a practice during that time and a Detroit newspaper reported that he was considering quitting.

All Thomas admits now is that he wasn’t having fun.

“If I would have been smiling and happy after losing 15 of 16 games, you would’ve thought I was on drugs or crazy,” Thomas said. “Of course, I still want to go out there. If anyone has ever seen me play the game of basketball, they know my desire to play.”

Sometimes, though, Thomas needs a little reminder. He got one last month from Magic Johnson, his longtime friend. Last month, Johnson had heard that Thomas was feeling pretty lousy about Detroit’s problems, so he sent Thomas a bunch of balloons with a note attached.

“It was just to tell him not to get down,” Johnson said Sunday. “Just remember what his goals and dreams were when we were growing up. I mean, we don’t have it too bad. You’ve got to weather the tough periods, and eventually good things will happen.”

For much of Sunday’s game, Thomas had the difficult task of guarding Johnson and more than held his own. In fact, when the East made its 13-2 surge the last 2:53 to turn back the West, Thomas was the only true guard in the East lineup.

“We can do that and win with Isiah as the guard,” said Boston Coach K.C. Jones, who coached the East. “He is the point guard out there. He does it all. He’s got to bring the ball up the court, guard guys like Magic, penetrate and pass off, penetrate and score or sit back and put in the jumpers.”

Pat Riley, who coached the West, said that playing with only one true point guard (Magic) hurt in two respects.

“We didn’t have (enough) players on Isiah, and it meant that Magic played a lot of minutes. We just had to make do at that position, knowing that Magic could not play 40 minutes.”

Johnson said his knee stiffened when he sat on the bench in foul trouble Sunday, but that he should be ready to resume normal activity in Tuesday night’s Laker game at Golden State.

“The knee is doing great,” he said. “I’m encouraged because it’s getting better all the time, not worse.”

For now, at least, the same could be said about the Thomas and the Piston situation. Detroit will come back off the All-Star break with a 26-24 record and third place in the Central Division. Not great, but Thomas is relatively happy.

“Just winning games--that makes me happy,” he said. “Like today. We won and I had fun. I had fun this whole weekend, talking to the guys, watching the slam-dunk competition (on Saturday).”

If this All-Star weekend is remembered for anything, it will be as the year in which the little guys made a big impact. First, there was 5-7 Spud Webb, winning the slam-dunk competition. Then, Sunday, 6-1 Isiah Thomas winning the MVP of the All-Star Game.

“Isiah is like Spud Webb,” Boston forward Kevin McHale said. “Everyone who is short now has incentive to live, which is great.”

All-Star Notes Magic Johnson on Isiah Thomas winning the Most Valuable Player award: “Isiah will always play well in wide open games like this. You can expect it.” . . . In terms of minutes of play, Denver’s Alex English was the most productive All-Star. He scored 16 points in 16 minutes. . . . Boston center Robert Parish played only seven minutes, but not because of injury. He apparently told Coach K.C. Jones to give other players the playing time. . . . Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins added some footage to his “Human Highlight Film” reputation by making two 360-degree layups in traffic.