Bad breaks
Back when the National Basketball Association (NBA) experienced a dramatic salary-cap rise in 2016, Isaiah Thomas was among those who sought to cash in. Having just been named an All- Star and seeing his importance to the Celtics rise even further, he minced no words about his intention for his next contract, due in 2018. “They better bring out the Brinks truck,” he said then. “They’re paying everybody else. I gotta get something.” He was being himself, to be sure, with the same confidence propelling his competitiveness on the court coming close to braggadocio in a moment of candor.
This time last year, Thomas doubled down on his pronouncement, declaring his worth and worthiness of a huge payday. “I’m a max guy, so I deserve the max” contract, he argued. And he wasn’t just basing his expectation on the numbers he posted in the immediate past season. More importantly, he believed that his loyalty to the Celtics, manifested in his continued play despite physical and personal handicaps, would be repaid in kind; to his credit, he did bleed green and white, continuing to suit up in the regular season and playoffs despite a recurring hip injury and the loss of his sister.
As things turned out, Thomas’ route to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow was blocked by no less than the Celtics themselves, who promptly shipped him out. From their vantage point, letting him go was a no-brainer; he was an old 28, at 5’9” a perennial defensive liability, and far from a hundred percent given his hip issues. Any other All- Star would have been an upgrade, and erstwhile Cavalier Kyrie Irving even more so. And so he wound up with wounded pride, rehabbing for the rest of the year and fretting about his fit in wine and gold, particularly since his balldominant style clashed with that of ultimate playmaker LeBron James.
The turn of the year came, and Thomas’ anxiety proved to be well founded. He struggled on the floor, and not just because he wasn’t in shape and didn’t yet have his timing back. Given the Cavaliers’ thrust for a title, they couldn’t wait for him to get and be better, and so they made him part of a trade-deadline revamp that resulted in him moving to a third franchise in seven months. And as if it wasn’t bad enough that he went to the lottery-bound Lakers, he wound up on the second unit behind rookie Lonzo Ball.
Who knows how a less-resolute player would have reacted following multiple bad breaks? In Thomas’ case, the battle for respect and respectability goes on. Yesterday, he agreed to a one-year deal with the Nuggets for $2 million, far, far, far from the five-year “Brinks truck” contract of $177 million that he was hitherto angling for. He didn’t get max figures; instead, he was handed the veteran’s minimum. And he was fortunate, too; had Nuggets head coach Michael Malone not previously had a relationship with him during his stint with the Kings early in his career, he would have been looking to spend time outside of the NBA.
For Thomas, the fall from grace is nothing new, and presents yet another in a long list of challenges he has had to face as an undersized player. His determination will serve him in good stead, as will his suiting up for the out-of-the-limelight Nuggets. The absence of scrutiny and middling roster should afford him time and opportunity to thrive. And while others see the improvement of his stock as conditional, he remains firm in his contention that it’s a matter of when and not if. His self-assurance is what has made him tick. If nothing else, it’s why he still has a chance at redemption.