Isaiah Jamar Thomas is one of the most interesting cases in NBA history.
Isaiah Thomas does not publish articles like the journalist Isaiah Thomas, an anti-British publisher who lived from 1749 to 1831. He is also not the most famous basketball player named Isiah Thomas. Isiah Lord Thomas played for the Indiana Hoosiers and the Detroit Pistons of “Bad Boy” fame.
This Isaiah Thomas played for the University of Washington and then for 12 years with ten NBA teams: Sacramento, Phoenix, Boston, Cleveland, LA Lakers, Denver, Washington, New Orleans, Dallas, and Charlotte. Still at it, he played in 2025 for the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League. At 37 years old, 5’9″, Isaiah Thomas has not given up.
Isaiah was an all-star twice in his 12-year career, during the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 seasons. He placed 5th in MVP voting during the 2016-2017 season, averaging 29 PPG. He did that at age 27, at 5’ 9″, in a league where the average height is 6′ 7″. He also hit a season-high of 52 against the Miami Heat. Thomas hit 15 shots that game, nine of them 3 pointers, and made 13 free throws (37 FG% of 57, 69% threes, and an eFG% of 75). The Celtics won by three. Not only did Thomas dominate that night, but he also carried the Celtics; without him, they would have lost the game.
Isaiah Thomas as a Boston Celtic (photo courtesy Celtics Wire – USA Today)
The Celtics would finish as the 1st seed with 53 wins, but they would lose 4-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals to the 2nd-seeded Cavaliers. Thomas would average 23 points in his playoff appearances. He would, unfortunately, play only two games of the Eastern Conference Finals before sitting out the rest of the series due to injury.
That injury was initially diagnosed as a hip strain stemming from a bone bruise Thomas had suffered in March of 2017. Still, it was later diagnosed as a right femoral-acetabular impingement with a labral tear. This injury derailed Isaiah Thomas’ career.
He would never average more than 27 minutes per game after the 2016-2017 Eastern Conference Finals. His best season after that was in 2017-2018, when he averaged 15 PPG despite being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers alongside Jae Crowder, Ante Žižić, a 2018 1st-round draft pick, and a 2020 2nd-round draft pick for Kyrie Irving.
Thomas was assigned to the Canton Charge of the G-League less than four months after this trade. Although recalled to the Cavaliers less than a day later, he would never consistently put up MVP-caliber performances again.
Indeed, he played a good share of his career as a journeyman. In 2017-18, Thomas was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers along with Channing Frye and a 2018 1st round draft pick for Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr., and the Phoenix Suns, whom he was traded to in the 2014-2015 season from the Sacramento Kings for Alex Oriakhi and a trade exception. He would play again for the Lakers in the 2021-2022 season, appearing in four games on a 10-day contract before signing elsewhere. He would play his 2nd season with the Suns in the 2023-2024 season, during which he’d sign two 10-day contracts before signing for the rest of the season.
There is hope that he may return to the NBA, as he has shown flashes in the G League, including a 40-point explosion in his return on January 28, 2025. But it is likely that Thomas’ NBA career is over.
Maybe one day he can come back and get his Finals trophy with a contender. But one thing is certain: the NBA may have quit on him, but the fans never did.
