Isiah Thomas Badly Wants Two Of His NBA 'Bad Boys' In Hall Of Fame

NBA Hall of Famer Isiah Thomas believes two of his Detroit Pistons teammates, Mark Aguirre and Bill Laimbeer, should be included with him for basketball’s highest honor.

In a recent appearance on the Back In The Day Hoops podcast, Thomas said it’s a “no-brainer” that Aguirre and Laimbeer belong in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Thomas, who played five seasons in Detroit with Aguirre and 13 seasons with Laimbeer, with the Pistons, indicated he plans to advocate first for Aguirre, a childhood friend when both were growing up in Chicago.

“When you look at what Mark did not only in high school, but when you look at his college career, what he did at DePaul and then coming into the NBA, taking an expansion franchise in the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Conference finals, Mark Aguirre is a Hall of Famer,” Thomas said. “Then he joined the Pistons and won back-to-back championships.”

Aguirre was a prep All-American at Westinghouse High School on Chicago’s West Side. In three seasons at DePaul, he led the program to a 79-10 record (.887). As a freshman, he was DePaul’s starting forward when the Blue Demons made it to the Final Four in 1979 and lost to Larry Bird and Indiana State by two points in the semifinals.

Thomas’ campaign to get Aguirre into the Hall of Fame could be challenging. 

During Aguirre’s 14 seasons in the NBA, he never won Most Valuable Player. Aguirre’s highest finish in MVP voting was 11th in 1983-84, his best season. Aguirre averaged a career-high 29.5 points and shot 52.4 percent.

Aguirre was a three-time All-Star with Dallas, but he ranks 78th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list (18,458 points) and 80th in scoring average (20.0).

Thomas, a Hall of Fame inductee in 2000, might be able to make a stronger case for Laimbeer, a major factor in Detroit’s championships in 1989 and 1990. The rugged Laimbeer was a part of nine playoff teams with the Pistons and led the NBA in rebounding in 1983-84 and 1985-86.

One of the more unheralded achievements in Laimbeer’s 14-year career is that he played in all 82 games in four seasons – 1983-84, 1984-85, 1986-87 and 1990-91.

Laimbeer, a third-round pick of Cleveland in 1979, played 13 of his 14 NBA seasons with Detroit. He had career averages of 12.9 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists.

Ray Richardson is a contributor to Back In Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at RayRich55@gmail.com

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