The Boston Celtics continued their excellent play Wednesday night, defeating the Charlotte Hornets 115-101. It was Boston’s 15th win in their last 17 games. Meanwhile, the Hornets are headed the opposite direction, having lost 15 of their last 19 games. But this game was particularly special for a different reason. Hornets point guard Isaiah Thomas was returning to the court against his former team.

After the game, Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum was asked his thoughts on Isaiah Thomas’ return.

Tatum initially talked about how he saw Thomas’ whole career. The two did not play together in Boston as Thomas left before the Celtics budding star was drafted.

Tatum then spread the love and spoke the truth. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him… what he has done and things he has been through… I don’t think people understand that at 5’9… averaging 28 points, 14 points in the 4th quarter and scoring 50 in the playoffs… you have to be special to do that.”

Thomas was a fan favorite when he played with the Celtics from 2014 to 2017. He had a number of highlight plays and led the Celtics to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016-2017. However, they lost to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games.

One of the most heart-wrenching but impressive things in sports history happened when Thomas lost his sister to a car accident. He was able to play in the playoff game that next night, in her honor. It was because of that that many fans around the league felt he got a raw deal when the Celtics released him.

Thomas earned every bit of his standing ovation in Charlotte tonight. He played 11 minutes, scoring five points. But his presence wasn’t enough to overcome Tatum, who dropped 44 points in the win.