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Even when Thomas played, he didn’t make many friends. There was the time he and some Eastern Conference teammates "froze out" then-rookie Michael Jordan at the 1985 NBA All-Star Game because they thought the kid was too cocky. And the time he said of Larry Bird: “If he were black, he’d be just another good guy.” Thomas complained publicly when he was left off the 1992 Dream Team.
On the court, he was intensely competitive. Off the court, he could be combative. He suffered from a little man’s complex, taking all of life’s turns with a sneer.
When he was young and energetic, he moved up and down the court with grace and determination. He was the prototypical point guard who was a setup man as well as a scorer. He was fearless and clutch. As a floor leader, he had few peers, among his contemporaries as well as throughout history. He was everything you would ever want in a basketball player.
But as a retired player, the chip on his shoulder suddenly seemed out of place. He couldn’t dash past or outmaneuver the competition, and as a result he was reduced to being just like everybody else. His relationship with the media was one long sparring session, often with blood.
When you’ve been somebody special, suddenly being just like everybody else is hard to accept.
When a former star basketball player is taken to a hospital because of too many sleeping pills, the first reaction is sadness. It’s inevitable that great careers end and memories fade, but there are better ways to make the transition to real life than this.
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