corded a .452 field goal percentage, a .759 free
throw percentage, 9,061 assists, and 1,861 steals; and
shot .290 from beyond the three-point line. He was
named an NBA All-Star twelve times, a member of
the All-NBA First Team three times, and a member
of the All-NBA Second Team twice. Thomas was
named the NBA All-Star Game MVP in 1984 and
again in 1986.
Impact Thomas was one of the best smaller men to
play in the NBA. He was known for his superior drib-
bling ability, his accurate passing, his uncanny ability
to score on drives to the basket, and his scrappy, ag-
gressive play. Considered to be one of the greatest
players to ever play for the Pistons, his jersey num-
ber, 11, was retired by the Detroit franchise when
Thomas retired from the NBA. In 1987, Thomas was
awarded the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award.
Further Reading
Challen, Paul.The Book of Isiah: The Rise of a Basketball
Legend. Toronto: ECW Press, 2004.
Kramer, Sydelle A.Basketball’s Greatest Players. New
York: Random House, 1997.
Thomas, Isiah.The Fundamentals: Eight Plays for
Winning the Games of Business and Life. New York:
Collins, 2002.
Alvin K. BensonSee also Basketball; Bird, Larry; Johnson, Magic;
Sports.Thompson v. Oklahoma
Identification U.S. Supreme Court decision
Date Decided on June 29, 1988
The Court’s ruling inThompson v. Oklahomaabol-
ished the death penalty for convicts who were aged fifteen or
younger at the time they committed their crimes. Capital
punishment remained legal for minors older than fifteen.
When he was only fifteen years old, William W.
Thompson participated in a brutal murder and was
consequently sentenced to death by the State of Ok-
lahoma. The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals
supported the trial court’s decision, and thecase was
appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 5-3 deci-
sion (including a four-justice plurality and a sepa-
rate concurring opinion), Thompson was spared
the death penalty. The plurality opinion, written by
John Paul Stevens, based its reasoning upon the
“evolving standards of decency of society.” The dis-
sent, written by Antonin Scalia, could not dismiss the
notion of a minor potentially being mature and re-
sponsible enough for a crime to warrant state execu-
tion. Sandra Day O’Connor cast the deciding vote:
She wrote in her concurring opinion that Thomp-
son could not be executed, because the Oklahoma
law establishing the death penalty for murder did
not specify a minimum age of eligibility for receiving
that penalty.
The legal significance of the case was that capital
punishment could no longer be applied to those
criminals who were aged fifteen or younger during
the commission of their crime. Opponents of the
death penalty have historically pursued so-called
death penalty exception cases. These are controver-
sial cases in which a characteristic of the accusedThe Eighties in America Thompson v. Oklahoma 969
Detroit Piston Isiah Thomas shoots over the head of Chicago Bull
Ronnie Lester during a regular-season game on January 12,
1982.(AP/Wide World Photos)