Isaiah Thomas is never going to return to being the player he once was with the Boston Celtics, but the 5’9″ guard is determined to show the NBA that he still deserves a chance in the league. It was announced previously that Thomas was set to play in the Drew League as he suited up for the Ghosts, and he had himself a game.
Thomas finished the night with 45 points, 2 rebounds, and 5 assists as he led the team to a comprehensive 103-85 win over All In. He drilled 7 three-pointers along the way in what was a special performance.
Isaiah Thomas put on a show in the @DrewLeague today, FILLING IT UP with 45 PTS!@isaiahthomas: 45 PTS, 5 AST, 7 3PM pic.twitter.com/HueDTvOqay
— NBA (@NBA) July 31, 2022
It remains to be seen if this moves the needle in terms of interest around the NBA for his services as there weren’t a lot of suitors previously. Shams Charania had reported that the Hornets, with whom he played last season, could bring him back as he was a positive presence in the locker room for them, but that was it.
It is a sad fall from grace for the guard, who is now having to grind just to find a roster spot in the NBA. We are talking about a guy here who averaged nearly 29 points per game in 2016-17, but the Celtics made him play through an injury in that postseason and he hasn’t been the same ever since. Thomas was in line for a massive extension after the kind of season he had, but it never materialized after that injury and he is understandably still bitter about it.
When reports emerged that the Celtics wanted Robert Williams III to play through a knee injury in this past postseason as they felt it wouldn’t make his knee worse, Thomas tweeted that he had heard that before. Situations like these are exactly why players tend to trust their own medical staff as opposed to that of the teams. The team will always have its own best interests in mind and they don’t care about the consequences of it for the players, as we, unfortunately, saw in Isaiah’s case.
