Detroit Pistons: 10 best point guards in team history

1. Isiah Thomas (1981-94)

Not only is “Zeke” the best point guard in the history of the Pistons, he is widely considered their best player, period, and the defining face of the franchise.

Isiah Thomas’ entire 13-year NBA career was spent with the Pistons. He went to Detroit as the No. 2 overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft, and would make 12 All-Star Game appearances in 13 years. He averaged 19.2 points, 9.3 assists and 1.9 steals per game. He was twice voted MVP of the All-Star Game, and he was a five-time All-NBA selection.

Thomas is the Pistons’ all-time franchise leader in scoring, assists, steals, minutes, field goals and free throws.

Most importantly, Thomas was the leader of the Pistons’ first two NBA championship squads. He embodied the “Bad Boys” that captured consecutive league titles in 1989 and 1990. Thomas won Finals MVP in 1990 after the Pistons defeated the Portland Trail Blazers for the championship.

Thomas’ most famous moment — and perhaps the most famous moment in the history of the Pistons — actually happened during a losing effort.

In Game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals against the Lakers, Thomas scored 25 points in the third quarter while playing on a badly injured ankle. He finished the game with 43 points. The Pistons lost that night by one point and would go on to lose Game 7, but Thomas put himself among the game’s legends with his gutsy performance.

Thomas is so Detroit that, even though he was born and raised in Chicago and hasn’t played for the Pistons since 1094, he was one of the luminaries selected to speak at the funeral of Motown icon Aretha Franklin last year.