Lakers Repeat Their Title Feat : For Thomas, It's Painful Way to Go

By MARK HEISLER

June 22, 1988 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

You take your silver linings where you find them, so when Isiah Thomas’ debut in the National Basketball Assn. Finals ended a little short of his dreams--say, by one wrenched back, one wrenched ankle and one title wrested away--he smiled his Isiah smile and counted his blessings.

He had his wealth, he had most of his health, he has a new baby, who could ask for anything more?

Don’t answer that.

OK, he could.

“Do I hurt more than I let on?” he said late Tuesday night. “That’s a good question.

“Yeah, I hurt. But I’ve come to realize, I’ve come to learn that basketball is only one segment of my life.”

This hasn’t been an easy lesson. Unhappy that the Pistons weren’t going anywhere, or that he wasn’t taking them anywhere, Thomas used to consider retirement on an annual basis. As anyone who saw his 25-point third quarter on one leg Sunday must have noted, this is not a man who considers himself bound by known limits. Isiah dreams things that never were, and asks, “Why not me?”

But after the show was over Sunday, he had only a sore right ankle and 48 hours for it to get well before the biggest game of his life.

He spent much of it at Raider headquarters at El Segundo, where they had rolled out the silver and black carpet. He got more treatment Tuesday and was entertained by Howie Long and Todd Christensen in the bargain.

“They were fun to be around,” Thomas said of the Raider players. “They were fun, down-to-earth guys. They treated me like a king.

“My injury compared to one of theirs? It was nothing. They’re, like: ‘Hey, just shoot it up!’ The difference in mentality between football players and basketball players is amazing.

“I said, ‘I’ve never done that.’

“They said, ‘You sure won’t have any pain. Of course, you may not feel so good later.’ ”

Thomas says he never took a shot to numb the pain and never considered one--”I’m not into drugs”--but knew he’d play.

“I knew if I could walk, I’d play,” he said.

When was that going to be? He arrived at the Forum late Tuesday afternoon, still on crutches. He said he didn’t know if he could go. He went out for warmups and found out he could, if slowly.

“In warmups, I didn’t do too good,” he said. “I didn’t think I’d be able to do as good as I did.

“I kind of hoped it would give our guys an inspirational lift, but I wanted to be effective out there on the court, too. But the damn thing just got so stiff and tight at halftime.

“Willis Reed?” Thomas responded in reference to comparisons to the New York Knicks center who hobbled out for Game 7 in the 1970 finals against the Lakers. “That was mentioned a couple of times. But I knew, if this was Detroit, it would have been different. When you’re in the opposing gym, they don’t care if you play or not.

“Should I have played? (laughing) What I should do and what I do are not always the same. When you’ve got the opportunity, you’ve got to take it. If I hadn’t played, I always would have had doubts. It’s better to have failed than to ask yourself, ‘What if?’ ”

He failed nobly. A minor factor at first, he went out blazing at the end of the first half, six points in the last 2:45, a 14-foot jumper at :27, and an 18-footer at :02 to give the Pistons a 52-47 lead.

At that point, he had 10 points, 5 assists . . . and a stiffening right ankle.

What if there had been no halftime break?

“Had there been no halftime,” Thomas said, smiling broadly, “We’d have done all right.”

Sore or not, he came out firing in the third period. Trying to get himself over the hump? Trying to find out if this was his year?

He went 0 for 5. It wasn’t.

“The first shot, Adrian (Dantley) swung it to me at the top of the key, when Byron (Scott) doubled down. I couldn’t get anything into it. I took five shots in the second half and none of them were any damn good.”

He wound up watching the Piston rally from the bench, appearing only in the last 14 seconds when it was all but over. He said he wouldn’t have played himself, either.

Later, he led Bill Laimbeer and several teammates over to the Lakers’ locker room to congratulate the winners.

When he returned, it was with several bottles of champagne. He must have figured the home team had more than it needed.

Late Tuesday night, he popped the cork, startling the people interviewing him.

“Courtesy of the Lakers,” he said, smiling, Isiah to the bittersweet end.