Isiah Thomas Quotes (48 Quotes)

I can't say that I've met a more classy individual in the N.B.A.,

If you want consistency, then you perform. This is a performance job. You get paid to perform. Your money is guaranteed, but your minutes are not.

You have no idea how it hurt. It finally was coming together. That night (against All Saints) -- it was amazing. They heard everything I said.

But now that they've done things this way, I hope they hold Rick Carlisle up to the same high standards they had for me.

He's really working hard. He believes one day that he'll get back to his original form, and we want to give him every opportunity to do that.

I think we'll make some changes.

I've spoken with Jerome and he understands our position he is being extremely professional about it. We've also had some conversation about Jerome staying on in the organization, doing some scouting for us, working in the community alongside John Starks and also possibly doing some work for MSG.

We're all kind of at a loss where the breakdown came. I know we have a great coach. I know we have good players. It's just a matter of those things meshing.

This is not the place for the weak-minded guy, regardless of your talent.

As Mr. Dolan keeps reminding us, it's his money and he's comfortable with what we're doing and how we're proceeding and how we're trying to put our team together. We do have assets, our talent level is better and we have a great coach. I'm pretty positive about our future, extremely positive about our future.

Any of you who have covered me know the answer to both of those questions is absolutely no.

I do envision championship basketball and when you talk about championship basketball, you talk about a good defensive team, you talk about a good offensive team and you talk about a team that really has its act together once they step on the floor. Our goal is to dominate the east and we must continue to dominate the east so that we can have another return to the NBA Finals. And I think mentally we have to become a tougher basketball team. I think mental toughness is going to be the thing that makes us champions.

John is doing the best job that he possibly can do with the situation that he was dealt with. I have great respect for him and I wish him and the Bulls' organization nothing but success.

I thought that would make the best backcourt in the NBA. We never got a chance to do that.

I've heard from everybody but him. That surprises us, and it hurts a little, too. When he was in trouble, I was always there for them. I called him to encourage him. I gave interviews defending him and supporting him. I'm very disappointed in him. Maybe I ought to call him and cuss him out. I thought for sure he'd be there for me like I've always been there for him.

No team has really had to rebuild from this altitude in terms of where we started. So it's a very unconventional way of getting young players and draft picks in a very short period of time. This will actually help us tremendously.

He was the father to all of us. He was the father of basketball in Chicago. He treated all of us like sons. His warmth, his kindness, was important to us when we were growing up as young men.

My job is to make sure in all the chaos you can still see the flowers, you can still see the good things happening.

I'm rooting for him. I hope he can come back and perform at the level he's accustomed to.

I would say that right now we're pretty satisfied with where we are. I don't think we will be actively out shopping and trying to make a deal or anything like that.

When you have players that have been injured for some time, you have to find a way to move on and make the roster better. If Allan was to come back and regain his form, then it's an added bonus.

We needed Larry Brown. Me more so than anyone. I wanted Larry to do a great job for us and I thought he would and I thought he could.

I think the league was just. I understand it's his wife, and we all have the natural instincts to protect our family. However, as professional athletes, we've always been held to a higher standard.

We should be extremely careful not to give him something that he doesn't have and not to keep putting him in a light of a patient or someone who is sick, because doctors have cleared him and checked him out and said that he doesn't have a condition. We need to be extremely sensitive to him and not keep saying that he has this because clearly he doesn't.

I am loyal to winning and I am not loyal to any singular individual. I'm going to do what I need to do to make our team better.

If there's any player that should feel safe and secure right now about his heart, it's Eddy. He's probably been tested and seen more doctors about his heart than any player in the NBA.

We never had the perfect game but we had some perfect moments.

He was like the Pope. He was just a beautiful, beautiful, wonderful man. ... We just loved 'Coach.' He's meant so much to all of us, even the people who didn't play for him.

This is a trade that we all feel makes us a better basketball team for both now and in the future. In Steve, we add an All-Star caliber player to our team without giving up core assets that are key to our future.

One word is passion. They are passionate about their team. We win we're great, lose and we're the worst. But you can't overreact to the fans.

Jerome was a big asset in our rebuilding program, and he was great with our young players. But this was a tremendous opportunity to save more than 21 million.

If it fills a need, if it fills a rebuilding situation. And my goal is to fill and rebuild and I am not going to be shortsighted.

When I came here, the first thing that was told to me was that we had players nobody wanted, and we couldn't trade any of the contracts, and our average age was 30-plus. It was deemed as an impossible situation. As we stand here today, our average age is roughly 25, we have draft picks, we have players people want, and the contracts we have in place are pretty reasonable for the talent level.

Not often can you say with certainty that you've added one of the best to your organization in any position.

As I sit here right now, I can't say how many games we'll win or what position we'll end up in. Last season was a very unpleasant taste in my mouth and the players' mouths. They're committed to getting better, but we'll see. We just want to be better than we were last year.

That challenge of working through it, keeping guys motivated, keeping the group together, overcoming obstacles, all of that I really got into it.

I think Allan is looking forward to playing, ... He believes one day he'll get back to his original form and we want to give him every opportunity to do that. He's ready to do a little on-court work, but this will be on Allan's timetable.

I don't think that we will be actively out shopping, trying to make a deal or anything like that. I think it's pretty safe to say we're happy and comfortable with where we are, but if there's an opportunity to improve our team, I definitely will look at it. Coach and I will talk about it and if it makes sense, we'll do it.

I think it was a case of nerves at the beginning of the game. We can not take anything away from Heartland, I told the girls before the game, do not expect them to come and just show up, they came out and played.

There is not a player on this roster now, who doesn't understand or believe that if he is not performing, I don't have problems getting rid of them.

Larry and I talk every day. We both knew that this would be a hard job but we're both working to make it better.

Other than David Robinson I don't know if I've met a classier individual in the NBA.

Where we sit now, I don't think we have the luxury of the 20 teams before us. I think we are going after the best players we can get on the board.

Its something that I have been blessed with in terms of playing the game and being able to understand the game. Not being able to exercise that gift while I was out of the game, I really found a void in myself and a hole in my soul. I said the biggest problem that I have had in that time was that I woke up and I didnt go to the gym. I have been successful in a lot of other areas but not having the ability to exercise the greatest gift that I have, which is basketball, you know I have missed it.

The situation was addressed in-house, and we gave Coach the option to suspend Marbury, fine him. Whatever discipline he felt was necessary, we were willing to take. He said he didn't think that would be appropriate because he didn't want to single Marbury

If Allan wants to come back and was able to gain the form that we all know he's capable of reaching, then it's an added bonus.

He's a great player and yes that is a concern, but I think anyone who trades for him or gets somebody... they understand exactly what they're getting.

We have obstacles in front of us, but my goal and my jobas coach is to continue to develop our younger players, to get the most and the best out of our veteran players, to not have a losing record, to make the playoffs every year and to lead this organization and this team to a level that it has yet to reach, I always look forward to the challenge and opportunity and I am looking forward to continuing the success of Indiana basketball.