Written by Zach Harper | 22 June 2009

We've all heard of the game Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon, which basically states that all actors/people in the history of the world (yes, even you Michael Bay) can be traced back to the legendary Foot Loose star in six steps or less. It's quite an entertaining game that embodies a decent actor and trying to prove how smart you are (it's perfect for me and my friends!).

Well, I had a reader/person (I can't remember if it was a reader or just a person who doesn't read) suggest that there be some sort of NBA equivalent that involved people trying to trace back players to Isiah Thomas. Isiah Thomas is the most likeable and yet diabolical person in recent memory, not just in sports but also in all cultures of society. For millions of people, he was a laughing stock because of his exploits and failures as the head decision-maker for the New York Knicks. People forget that he was one of the greatest point guards to ever play the game and a two-time NBA champion. He basically embodies everything good and bad about the pro basketball player. He's been great (as a player). He's had a devastating injury (torn Achilles tendon). He's been very successful through the draft (David Lee, Tracy McGrady). He's been a poor decision-maker off the court in both personal relationships and business decisions (sexual harassment, virtually every trade he made for the Knicks). He's had a failed business (CBA). He's been a pretty good TV personality (NBC analyst). He's done it all!

So let's figure out where he truly fits in with some NBA players of the past/present.

Today's edition is top draft pick busts. I've selected four players from fairly recent drafts who were highly touted, picked and maligned for their shortcomings in the NBA. Let's see if we can get them back to Isiah Thomas in a somewhat interesting fashion to prove his connection to more failed players:

Joe Smith, 1st pick in the 1995 Draft
(1) Joe Smith played with point guard Terrell Brandon with the Minnesota Timberwolves from 1998 to 2000 and again in the 2001-2002 NBA season. (2) Terrell Brandon was traded from the Milwaukee Bucks in a three-team deal to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Stephon Marbury after he didn't want to be paid less money than Kevin Garnett. (3) Stephon Marbury had sexual relations in his SUV while a member of the New York Knicks that dubbed the term "sex truck." (4) Those interns worked in the same office as Anucha Browne Sanders for those same New York Knicks. (5) And as we all know, Isiah Thomas, which eventually led to her winning roughly $10 million, sexually harassed Anucha Browne Sanders.

Jay Williams, 2nd pick in the 2002 Draft
(1) Jay Williams was a star point guard at Duke University when Mike Dunleavy, Jr. was also a good player on the team. (2) While a member of the Golden State Warriors, Mike Dunleavy, Jr. was traded with Troy Murphy and others to the Indiana Pacers for Stephen Jackson, Al Harrington and others back in January of 2007. (3) Stephen Jackson was arguably the craziest man on the court when he rushed into the stands in Detroit as he rained haymakers upon Pistons fans instead of keeping Ron Artest from killing an undeserving fan. (4) The Detroit Pistons were (and still are) run by Joe Dumars when this "Malice at the Palace" happened in 2004. (5) Joe Dumars was an All-Star shooting guard in the same backcourt with Isiah Thomas from 1985 to 1994.

Kwame Brown, 1st pick in the 2001 Draft
(1) Now, it would be completely easy to just link Kwame to Joe Dumars and call it a day. But that fails to fulfill one of the reasons to play this game, which is to show how smart you think you are.  So I'll start off instead by mentioning that Kwame Brown was a teammate of Smush Parker on the Los Angeles Lakers from 2005 to 2007. (2) Smush Parker was teammates with Dwyane Wade on the Miami Heat for part of the 2007-2008 NBA season. (3) Dwyane Wade went to Marquette University and played from 2001 to 2003. (4) William Gates also went to Marquette University but attended from 1992 to 1995. (5) Williams Gates starred in the 1994 documentary Hoop Dreams with Arthur Agee. (6) In the documentary, there is a scene in which Arthur Agee gets to play one-on-one basketball with Isiah Thomas.  

Michael Olowokandi, 1st pick in 1998 Draft
(1) I'm going to cheat a bit on this one and complete this in six-ish degrees but since I got to Isiah in five moves on two of the four examples, I'm going to allow this (plus it's my website and I can do what I want). Kandi Man played with Kevin Garnett on the Minnesota Timberwolves from 2003 to 2006. (2) Kevin Garnett played Wilt Chamberlain in the movie Rebound: The Legend of Earl "The Goat" Manigault, which starred Don Cheadle as Earl. (3) Don Cheadle was in Ocean's 11 with Matt Damon. (4) Matt Damon was in Rounders with John Turturro. (5) John Turturro was in Do The Right Thing, directed by Spike Lee. (6a) Spike Lee is a fan of the New York Knicks. (6b) The New York Knicks once employed Isiah Thomas.

I could have gone the KG-Ray Allen-He Got Game route to get to Spike Lee but I really wanted to mention Rebound. It's a great movie. You should see it.

Do you have any Six Degrees of Isiah Thomas that you would like solved or would like to solve yourself? Leave them in the comments or email them to zharper[at]talkhoops[dot]net.  

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