Isiah Thomas has gone down as one of the greatest point guards in NBA history, and his stellar career helped him lift himself out of poverty. Thomas didn’t have much growing up on the West Side of Chicago, and he didn’t forget those closest to him who were in that same situation once he got money. During an interview with Forbes, the Detroit Pistons icon spoke about using his NBA money to help the rest of his family.
“I spent all my NBA money cleaning up my family, laying the foundation so they’ll have a chance to get out of poverty,” Thomas said. “So my nieces, my nephews, my kids, my cousins. I still have some that don’t eat or are living in hard times, but for the most part, the thing that I’m most proud of is that most of my nieces, nephews, when they go to the refrigerator, there’s some food in the refrigerator.
“When they leave their job, they got a house to go to, an apartment to stay in, and most of them have either graduated from college, or had two, years of college,” Thomas continued. “And to me, that’s the success story. Not what I’ve done, but what my family is able to do now because literally, we were hanging on by a thread. If I don’t make it to the NBA, honestly, I don’t know what happens to us.
“I don’t know where the Thomas family goes, because we were that close,” Thomas added. “Drugs and gangbanging. I grew up with murderers, literally. And every day, you had to make a decision. If you was going go right or left, and you had to make the right decision, because if you chose wrong, you might not make it home.”
To go with providing financial help, Thomas, who made over $16 million in salaries in the NBA, also handed out six-month internships at one of the companies to his nieces and nephews when they finished college. They had to work for free, and if they liked what they were doing, he’d discuss giving them a job.
Thomas isn’t the most likable figure in the basketball world today due to the fact that he was the leader of the Bad Boy Pistons and clashed with Michael Jordan. He isn’t perfect by any means and has made mistakes, but he has done a lot of good, too.
Isiah Thomas’ Business Portfolio
Thomas enjoyed tremendous success in the NBA, winning two titles, a Finals MVP, and one assist title in a career that spanned from 1981 to 1994. While a fair few players of his era failed to enjoy success post-retirement, he is thriving.
In 1990, Thomas became the founding chairman and CEO of Isiah International LLC, an investment holding company. Today, he owns a variety of companies through it.
“Isiah Real Estate, a development firm specializing in commercial properties; Isiah Imports, a champagne imports company, private equity and asset management firm; Isiah Hemp and Cannabis Products, a hemp and cannabis product company; and GRE3N, a utility vegetation management & pipeline/utility management company.”
Thomas is also the owner of Cheurlin Champagne and was once part-owner of the Toronto Raptors when they were an expansion team. He has done very well for himself.
