Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas was a natural person to ask about the ordeal this morning, given that he is widely viewed as putting on one of the gutsiest performances in NBA history when he
scored 25 points on a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter of Game 6 of the 1988 NBA Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Surely, Zeke condemned James as soft, right?
Not even close.
“As an athlete, there’s really nothing you can do,” Thomas said on the “Mike and Mike” show on ESPN Radio this morning. “When you have debilitating leg cramps, you can’t move.
“I saw Miami having control of the game last night, they had control of the tempo. Defensively and offensively, everything was going their way. He was having a great game. So there’s no reason for him to take himself out. If they’re down 15 and maybe getting blown out, then you can maybe suggest that maybe something else is going on. But in that type of scenario, you can’t bring the conspiracy into it that he may have taken himself out of the game.”