Isaiah Thomas and the Boston Celtics had a rocky ending to their relationship. After aggravating his hip injury to try and help the Celtics in the 2017 playoffs, he finally couldn't take the pain, forcing him out of the postseason.
After everything Thomas did for the Celtics, they shipped him out to the Cleveland Cavaliers in a trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston. Thomas risked a lot playing in those playoffs and he knows that if he didn't, he would have been collecting the big payday that he was hoping for.
“If I didn't play in the playoffs, I'd be OK,” Thomas said to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. “I'd be getting paid. I'd be who I am — who I was. But you couldn't tell me in that moment in time — with everything I was going through — that, OK, I should just sit out. I don't think Boston went about it the right way, as well.
“But at the same time, it was hard for me to sit out. I just lost my sister, one of the closest people in my life. Basketball was the only thing that was going to help me out. I played until I literally couldn't play anymore. And that was not a good business decision if I was looking in the long term, but I was looking in the ‘right now.' That's just what it was.
“They probably would've traded me anyway. But I would've been in position to show my worth, and last year I was never in position to show my worth.”
Thomas was only thinking about helping his team at that point and wasn't concerned about the future consequences. Instead of being fully healthy to start last season, he missed most of the campaign and even when he came back he wasn't 100 percent.
Instead of impressing teams last year with his play that could've led to getting a big contract, Thomas had to settle for a deal that's a little over $2 million with the Denver Nuggets.
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