Alright, this story is sports-related but BEAR WITH ME, non-sportzies (can I call you non-sportzies? The Z is a letter of affection!) It’s universally amusing and tragic.
The final pick in this year’s NBA draft was a college player named Isaiah Thomas, who, as anyone from the NBA Jam era knows, shares his name with retired Detroit Pistons Hall-of-Famer Isaiah Thomas. So you’d assume (foreshadowing for opposite!) that his parents were big Pistons fans, right?
Or maybe his dad lost a bet the year he was born:
Thomas came by his name through his father’s misfortune. James Thomas grew up in Inglewood, Calif., where the Lakers played their games at the Forum. A big Lakers fan, Thomas was so sure that the two-time defending champion Lakers, after rolling through the Western Conference playoffs unbeaten, would beat Detroit that he made a bet. If the Pistons won, he would name his son after their star point guard, Isiah Thomas.
Then, the Lakers’ two guards, Byron Scott and Magic Johnson, pulled hamstrings and the Pistons swept the series.
Ooof. At least the dad kept his word. But that word = ooof. But at least the kid’s got a unique naming story and isn’t just named after an Allman Brothers song like five Melissas and four Jessicas I went to college with! But the original Isaiah Thomas also lost $11 million in a sexual harassment settlement four years ago, so again, OOOF.
On the plus side, though, the kid just got drafted to the NBA, so it’s a happy ending! And now we’re talking about him on BWE.tv, the “NBA” of pop culture blogs! In the sense that, uh, we also lost $11 mil in a sexual harrassment case? And have played basketball? Just BE HONORED, Isaiah. Our banner is colorful.
