Sports Nicknames - Zeke

Isaiah Thomas was a legendary Detroit Pistons player and the NBA Hall of Famer, who was at the top of his game in the late 1980s.



Isaiah Thomas was a lightning quick ball-handler, a fierce competitor with a physical style of play. He dribbled low to the ground and glided past opponents. He was creative and tough at the same time. Playing alongside Dennis Rodman, he famously led his Detroit Pistons to their first NBA title in 1988-89 and did it again the following year.

He had a deep friendship with Magic Johnson and a feud with Michael Jordan, which kept him out of the Olympic Dream Team.

Isaiah got his nickname "Zeke" when he was on the Pan Am team and the coach called him Z as Isaiah took too long to say. It just so happened that the most popular song that year was "Zeke the Freak" so Z became Zeke and it stuck.

Isaiah Thomas famously played with a rolled ankle and a lot of pain in the game 6 of the 1987-88 finals vs. the Lakers and scored 25 points in the third quarter, which was a league finals record.

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