The Boston Celtics held plenty of promise during Isaiah Thomas‘ peak. The diminutive point guard was a Most Valuable Player candidate while averaging 28.9 points per game in 2016-17. However, everything came to a halt no thanks to a hip injury that doomed the former All-Star's career.

Speaking with Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes on the “All The Smoke” podcast, Thomas recalls the days leading to his exit from the Celtics, saying the franchise wasn't fully transparent with the real extent of his injury.

“The only thing that I think they handled wrong was not explaining to me what the extent of my injury could be if I do play. That was the biggest thing for me that I disliked. ‘Cause nobody gave me no insight, ‘OK, you do play, this can happen.'”

“If you're gonna tell me it's a bone bruise, I'm playing 10 times out of 10.”

No one can question Thomas' heart. This is the same guy who played through a devastated heart following a horrific accident that took the life of his sister, scoring 33 points a day after the tragedy. He's the 5-foot-9 dude who dropped 53 points on a playoff game for the Celtics which also coincided with his late sister's birthday.

Thomas was part of the Celtics' blockbuster trade involving Kyrie Irving that sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, and New Orleans Pelicans ensured but Thomas failed to carve his niche on every trip.

The Celtics' Irving experiment was a failure. Even though they seem set with Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown as their franchise leaders, one can't help but think of what the team could've achieved if they had more seasons with Thomas playing at an elite level.