Isiah Thomas believes professionalism in the NBA has ‘diminished’

Isiah Thomas believes professionalism in the NBA has ‘diminished’

Today’s NBA isn’t the one from yesteryear for more reasons than one. But according to Hall of Fame guard Isiah Thomas, there has been a steep decline in the league’s professionalism, he opined Friday after witnessing LeBron James warm up shirtless hours before Lakers-Rockets.

“I totally 100% object to this. And if I was the GM or the coach, I would never let one of my players walk out on the floor looking like this,” Thomas said. “I mean we are a professional NBA league. We ain’t Summer League. We ain’t at the YMCA. … I just think the professionalism in our NBA league has diminished so much.

“I like LeBron, I’m a fan of his, so forth and so on. But to walk out on the floor before the game with no shirt on and shoot. I mean come one man, where are we at? What are we doing? Adam Silver, if you want to fine someone, fine that. Put a fine on that.”

"I totally 100% object to this … the professionalism in our NBA league has diminished so much."

Isiah Thomas tees off on LeBron James for warming up shirtless pregame in L.A. 😬 pic.twitter.com/j7YPgkcbrc

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 12, 2025

If this isn’t an old man screaming at a cloud moment, I’m not sure what is.

Thomas, who played 13 NBA seasons from 1981-94, is one of the best point guards in NBA History, point blank. How the league operates has also drastically changed since he retired. You could point to Allen Iverson as the man who changed the league’s dress code–both on- and off-the-court.

Who also cares how James warms up hours before the game in an empty gym? Sure, there’s always a camera on James, but you could probably count on two hands how many non-Laker-affiliated individuals are in that gym when he’s warming up. This isn’t anything new for James, so why is it such a big deal now?

How certain players operate year-to-year and day-by-day in today’s player empowerment era may not be as professional as they used to be during Thomas’s playing days, though we also know a lot more of the fine details of what goes on because of social media and the internet. How James warms up without a shirt isn’t one of them. What are we doing here?

Thomas didn’t have the cleanest bill of professionalism while playing or managing the New York Knicks. I don’t think he has much of a point when discussing James’ warmup routine, but what do you think? Let us know in the comments!

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