When something seems strange on TV, older athletes receive a certain kind of attention. An excessively long pause. One side is pulled more than the other by this smile. This story actually starts there, on an NBA TV set sometime in late 2024, with viewers silently wondering if Isiah Thomas was okay as they leaned closer to their screens.
Well, he wasn’t. However, he was also safe. In late December 2024, Thomas finally said it aloud while speaking with Mark Jackson on the Come and Talk 2 Me podcast. Bell’s palsy. A sudden weakening of the facial muscles on one side is a condition that most people are unable to describe but have likely witnessed; it can give the impression that someone is having a stroke even when nothing of the sort is going on. “I haven’t really told anybody,” he acknowledged. His voice had the sound of relief that comes when someone stops carrying a small private matter by themselves.
Isiah Thomas Illness: The Quiet Fight Behind the Smile
| Bio Data / Key Information | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Isiah Lord Thomas III |
| Date of Birth | April 30, 1961 |
| Age | 65 |
| Birthplace | Chicago, Illinois |
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) |
| Position | Point Guard |
| NBA Career | 1981–1994 (Detroit Pistons) |
| Championships | 2 (1989, 1990) |
| Hall of Fame | Inducted 2000 |
| Current Role | Studio Analyst, NBA TV |
| Diagnosed Condition | Bell’s palsy |
| Diagnosis Revealed | December 2024 |
| Status (Early 2026) | Improving in active rehab |
What’s intriguing about Thomas’s approach is what he chose not to do. He did not vanish. He didn’t take a vacation. That Friday night, he appeared on the panel, sounding just like himself and appearing somewhat asymmetrical. He thanked the audience for their prayers, which he probably didn’t anticipate. “I’m dealing with it, I’m showing up, I ain’t taking off,” he replied. Anyone who saw him perform in the late 1980s would instantly recognize the stubbornness in that line. That era’s Pistons were not known for their elegant retreats.
For those who are curious, Bell’s palsy is typically not permanent. According to the Mayo Clinic, it is an inflammation of the facial nerve that can be brought on by a viral infection, stress, or unidentified causes. Most cases get better in a matter of weeks or months. Joel Embiid endured it during the 2024 playoffs, which is a peculiar anecdote in and of itself—two NBA players from entirely different generations coping with the same rare ailment in the same year. There might not be any overlap at all. Perhaps there’s something we haven’t noticed yet.
Thomas was already carrying the more difficult context—the one that doesn’t fit on a medical chart. Just a few weeks prior, in November 2024, his elder sister LaQuisha passed away for an unknown cause. His sister Chyna passed away in a car accident in Washington, D.C. in 2017. With the caption, “like a man arguing with the sky,” he shared a picture of the two of them grinning in a garden. When illness and grief strike at the same time of year, they tend to worsen each other. It’s difficult to ignore the extent to which the body’s response was influenced by everything the mind had been storing.
Early in 2026, the symptoms started to get better. In his updates, Thomas thanked those who had watched him “go through my Bell’s palsy rehab,” a term that sounds almost athletic, similar to how he would describe a torn ligament. That might be the appropriate frame. Even at sixty-five, he still watches television multiple times a week and leans forward in his chair when a disagreement gets heated. The face is getting better. The voice was unwavering. Observing him over the past few months has given me the impression that his recovery was never truly in question—just his willingness to discuss it.