Before his disastrous tenure with the Knicks began, long before running the CBA into the ground, and even before he embarrassed himself and the entire Pistons organization by walking off the floor without shaking hands with the Bulls (who had just swept them) in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, Isiah Thomas was infamous for one other stupid gaffe: After losing to the Celtics in the ’87 Playoffs, Thomas came out and said that if Larry Bird – irrefutably, one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of sneakers – was a black man, he’d be known as just another good player, not an all-time great.
Well, guess what folks, Zeke is once again running his mouth and edutaining us on the nuances of race and the liberal use of the word “bitch”.
He was back in the courtroom yesterday (where he’s facing sexual harassment charges) and the Daily News has the details of a videotaped deposition starring Isiah which was played for the jury:
Asked if he was bothered by a black man calling a black female “bitch,” Thomas said: “Not as much. I’m sorry to say, I do make a distinction.”
“A white male calling a black female a bitch is highly offensive,” Thomas said. “That would have violated my code of conduct.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t go there. … A white male calling a black female, that is wrong with me. I’m not taking that. I’m not accepting that … That’s a problem for me.”
I only have one question here: Can Isiah do so much damage to himself and whoever has the misfortune of gainfully employing him that, regardless of all that he accomplished on the basketball court, he eventually gets himself kicked out of the Hall of Fame? At this point, I’m only sort of kidding.
