This thread idea or content is not original. Someone over at RealGM posted a whole bunch of information on being a sociopath/psychopath in this thread. The information is very interesting, but it took me a bit to get through it. I thought I'd streamline the salient points and open it for discussion.

A key definition one of the posted article discusses is that the terms psychopath and sociopath are used interchangeably and refers to a genetic or biological condition of essentially being morally corrupt. Not all psychopaths/sociopaths are violent offenders. That element is caused by environmental factors... so calling Isiah Thomas a psychopath does not insinuate he's going to go a murder spree. It means he has a psychological disorder that makes him morally corrupt, and weaves a web of lies to get what he wants.

Here's some excerpts I thought applied to Isiah:

Lack of Realistic Life Plan/Parasitic Lifestyle
Tends to move around a lot or makes all encompassing promises for the future, poor work ethic but exploits others effectively.

Isiah's tenure has been a JOKE!!! He's moved around from Toronto, to the CBA, to Indy, and then he found a sucker in Mills who bought into him and sold the even bigger sucker, James Dolan.

Only rarely in difficulty with the law, but seeks out situations where their tyrannical behavior will be tolerated, condoned, or admired

It seems crazy, but there were a lot of Zeke apologists and admirers only a year ago.

People with this disorder appear to be charming at times, and make relationships, but to them, these are relationships in name only. They are ended whenever necessary or when it suits them, and the relationships are without depth or meaning, including marriages. They seem to have an innate ability to find the weakness in people, and are ready to use these weaknesses to their own ends through deceit, manipulation, or intimidation, and gain pleasure from doing so.

There are so many examples to choose from, but I'm going with Isiah and Marbury's roller coaster "relationship."

They rarely are able to have jobs that last for any length of time, as they become easily bored, instead needing constant change. They live for the moment, forgetting the past, and not planning the future, not thinking ahead what consequences their actions will have. They want immediate rewards and gratification.

Until someone tells me what Isiah's plan is, or why he has to make high profile deal after high profile deal, this may be the most damning excerpt in this whole post.

Psychopaths also tend to switch jobs as frequently as they switch partners, mainly because they don't have the qualities to maintain a job for the long haul. Their performance is generally erratic, with chronic absences, misuse of company resources and failed commitments. Often they aren't even qualified for the job and use fake credentials to get it. Seto talks of a patient who would get marketing jobs based on his image; he was a presentable and charming man who layered his conversations with educational and occupational references. But it became evident that the man hadn't a clue what he was talking about, and was unable to hold down a job.

This point was already made before, but I included this because of the "misuse of company resources" bit, as well as the example discussing the under qualifications.

They are egotistical to the point of narcissism. They really believe they are set apart from the rest of humanity by some special grace.

If this doesn't describe Isiah Thomas' press conferences, I don't know what does.

They scapegoat; they are incapable of either having the insight or willingness to accept responsibility for anything they do. Whatever the problem, it is always someone else's fault.

Now, Isiah is blaming his players for not being intelligent or not having heart or their refusal to play together blah blah blah. He hasn't put the blame on himself yet.

[Edited by - supremecommander on 01-06-2008 9:56 PM]

i would support this. see how he CONSTANTLY can be seen nervously licking his lips and rolling his tongue around when he talks? have you ever caught that? not making it up either, watch him closely next time he is on tv and talking. it's kinda weird onto itself, but alone would not classify him a sociopath. BUT, when you mix in the things that come out of his mouth with the aformentioned lip licking, then you may be onto something....

Isiah is not a GM, it's a diagnosis...

Bunch of amateur Psychologists