CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The universally popular bashing of Isiah Thomas is justified, but only to a point. Whatever the case, it continued on Monday night at the Dean E. Smith Center, where it was mostly harmless and often humorous.Ailing mothers have a tendency to soften hard souls.
So, for the first time since just shy of forever, Thomas walked into a basketball arena as somebody that many wished to hug instead of choke. That's because hours before he made his debut as a college basketball coach for Florida International University against North Carolina (yes, that North Carolina), Mary Thomas was in a Chicago hospital preparing to have her 86-year-old heart repaired.
The grieving son was by her side all day Sunday, and he will return to her side on Tuesday morning for the surgery. In between, he was trying to do the impossible. He was trying to design ways to keep his overmatched Panthers from getting kicked by the Tar Heels from here to Florida International's home in Miami .
The results? Not bad, actually.
But let's start with the reception for Earvin Johnson's former pal from some of the 16,161 gathered after he left the visitors' locker room for the court. "It was great. The college fans are great and the sayings that they come up with," said Thomas, easing into one of his bigger-than-life grins. "I mean, I was walking out, and all I heard was, 'Magic, Magic, Magic.' You can't beat it, right?"
Not if Thomas says so. To understand that chant from Carolina fans, you have to know that Johnson ripped Thomas in a recently published book. According to Johnson, Thomas spread rumors during the 1990s that he was gay or bisexual after he confessed to having HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. And these two guys famously kissed at half court before games between Johnson's Los Angeles Lakers and Thomas' Detroit Pistons.
Johnson also said he joined noted Tar Heel Michael Jordan in conspiring to keep Thomas off the original Dream Team.
When Johnson's book was first reported, Thomas said he was shocked and hurt by Johnson's words, but now, Thomas can joke. For instance, while recalling those North Carolina chants, he said chuckling, "I started to blow them a kiss, but I didn't want to do that. But it feels great being here. We really enjoyed ourselves. I'm proud of the way we played. They were extremely competitive."And the thing I like about our team is that the first thing you have to do in order to win is you have to learn how to fight. I thought tonight we came in and we fought. But we weren't quite good enough, and we weren't quite big enough."
That's why Florida International players have a bunch of light blue foot prints on their bottoms right now from Tar Heels, but not as many as you think. Although North Carolina unleashed its gifted replacements to Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green during this season opener for both teams, the Tar Heels beat their supposedly 31-point underdogs just 88-72.
Not only that, Florida International used its scrappy style throughout the evening to force North Carolina into 26 turnovers.
Now back to reality. While North Carolina is seeking to defend its national championship, Florida International is hoping to keep from losing 20 or more during a season for a fourth time in five years. While the Tar Heels are in their 100th year of dribbling, Florida International is in its 29th. While the biggest names in Florida International's basketball history are Raja Bell and Carlos Arroyo, North Carolina has, well, we don't have enough time or space for that.
"Coach Williams was very generous tonight. He kept us guessing, and I really appreciate him not hurting us too bad," said Thomas, whose team plays its home games in a 5,000-seat facility compared to the massive Dean Dome, which holds the unofficial NCAA record for most banners -- Final No. 1 rankings, trips to the Sweet Sixteen, Elite Eight and Final Four, ACC championships, national championships, All-Americans, Naismith Basketball Hall of Famers.
Added Thomas, "I want to thank Carolina and its fans for really being first class and showing us how champions are, because one day, we'd like to be champions."
"Last night, when I was speaking to [my mom], she just said, 'I don't want to die,' and she's going to fight to live. And with that, she told me to go to work and to fight for our team."
-- Isiah Thomas
At this rate, the Panthers will be -- in the Sun Belt Conference, if nothing else. They'll surpass last year's 13 victories since Thomas sought the help of four junior college transfers. That includes Marvin Roberts, who led all junior college players in scoring last year with an average of nearly 30 points per game. Then there is Thomas' already exceptional recruiting. He has a verbal commitment for next season from Dominique Ferguson, ranked No. 9 among all prospects by Scout.com, and Phil Taylor, a fabulous point guard from Marietta, Ga.
Sounds like this college thing works for Thomas. That's opposed to all of those other things, ranging from his disastrous stint as owner of the Continental Basketball Association to the mess he created as boss of the New York Knicks.
Speaking of Knicks, Thomas was the target of a lawsuit for sexual harassment that involved more than a $10 million settlement. This was before an embarrassing situation that had Thomas denying that he was trying to commit suicide after he said he swallowed too many sleeping pills one day.
Still, there is the good Thomas, who brought Tracy McGrady and Marcus Camby into the NBA when he ran the Toronto Raptors. Plus, he was impressive while coaching the mostly inexperienced Indiana Pacers during the end of their Reggie Miller era. And courtesy of Thomas taking Detroit 's Bad Boys to prominence with his skill and fire, he is a member of the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
And his mother is suffering but surviving.
"You know, my mom raised me to fight, just like what I'm trying to put into our team," Thomas said. "Last night, when I was speaking to her, she just said, 'I don't want to die,' and she's going to fight to live. And with that, she told me to go to work and to fight for our team. And my mom put a lot of fight in me, and she's fighting for her life, and I appreciate everybody's prayers."
There were those from Williams, for instance. Just as Williams did before the game, he embraced Thomas afterward with words of comfort. There were pleasantries between Thomas and each of the three game officials.
Later, when Thomas' name was called during pre-game introductions, there even were polite applauds from the crowd, and this was the point guard who spent his last collegiate game at Indiana snatching a national championship away from North Carolina's sainted Dean Smith and giving it to his Hoosiers of Bob Knight.
The normal response of those within a fast break of Thomas' frequently smiling face is to wonder when he's going to pat you on the back with hopes of finding a soft spot to plunge in his dagger. Is his ruthless image fair? Oh, definitely, and much of it is self-inflicted, courtesy of his willing role as the face of those Bad Boys.
But don't forget that Thomas also has that other face.
The competent face.
Which bodes well for Florida International.
Terence Moore is a national columnist and commentator for FanHouse. He is a frequent panelist on "Rome Is Burning," an ESPN show hosted by Jim Rome, that is seen Monday through Friday at 4:30 PM ET. Moore spent more than three decades working for major newspapers, including 26 years as an award-winning sports columnist for the San Francisco Examiner and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He resides in Atlanta.
