Meet Isiah Lord Thomas Ii and Mary Thomas

A fresh look at Meet Isiah Lord Thomas Ii and Mary Thomas, offering readers expert commentary.

Isiah Thomas’ Parents are Isiah Lord Thomas II and Mary Thomas. Among their nine children, the NBA great was the youngest. Because Isiah was the youngest of the siblings, everyone in his family referred to him as junior.

Thomas grew up in Chicago’s West Side slum, where his mother supervised the youth center at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church. Because Thomas was the youngest of seven siblings, his six brothers and two sisters referred to him as “Junior.”

Thomas’ father worked for International Harvester and was the company’s first African-American supervisor. He then felt despondent and left the family after the plant closed and he could only find work as a caretaker.

Mary Thomas had a difficult time providing for her huge family. The fridge was frequently empty, forcing the Thomas children to forage for food. Thomas wrote in his book The Fundamentals: Eight Plays for Winning the Games of Business and Life that he spent his boyhood scouring the streets with an empty stomach, hunting for lost cash or fast-food wrappers with shreds of cheese still clinging inside. He shined shoes to earn money for meals, then hoped he wouldn’t be robbed on his way home.

While Thomas’ stomach was empty, his basketball abilities were plentiful and flourished early on. When his older brother Larry played in a Catholic youth league, three-year-old Thomas entertained the crowd during halftime. He’d put on a tent-like jersey and dribble around the court, duplicating the maneuvers he’d witnessed. Thomas, at the age of three, can already entertain a crowd.