Isiah Lord Thomas III was drafted second overall in 1981 out of Indiana. He never wore another NBA uniform. Thirteen seasons of him in Pistons red — twelve All-Star games, two championships, and the kind of fourth-quarter command that bends arenas.
He scored 25 points in a quarter on a sprained ankle in the 1988 Finals. He averaged 9.3 assists a game for a career and would have averaged more if Vinnie Johnson had not been so good at receiving them. He made his teammates better because he was that much better than they were.
Took Finals MVP in 1990 and is the only Hall of Famer whose first championship came when his second-best player was a starting center who had never made an All-Star team. The Bad Boys were Isiah's by construction; the rest of the league called them his by reputation.