Isaiah Thomas is cognizant that his experience with a season-ending hip injury sent a huge warning flag among teams and players, who saw how a player of his caliber could descend from being max-eligible to a high-risk, minimum-bound player. The new Washington Wizards addition told Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe how he took one for all those other players that are now being treated with extra care in hopes to avoid an injury.
“Sure I took a bullet. That's in terms of max contracts, all that. People not playing to get their max deals. I took a bullet for sure,” said Thomas. “I was going through other stuff (sister's death) at that time, so basketball was the only thing that was helping me through that. But I feel like yeah, even with the Kawhi Leonard thing, he sat out for a reason. He seen my situation. The list goes on.”
Leonard sat out 73 games in 2017-18 with a quadriceps injury after feeling less than fit to take the court after making nine appearances for the San Antonio Spurs before his consequent trade to the Toronto Raptors last summer.
Following a rousing 2015-16 season that was cut short by a hip injury, Thomas was expecting the Boston Celtics to bring out the Brinks truck to keep him in house. Instead, the Celtics traded him to the Cleveland Cavaliers, as they had concerns over the long-term health of his injured hip and the ramifications it could have for a player whose speed and mobility created his biggest advantage on the court.
The 5-foot-9 dynamo bounced from the Cavs to the Los Angeles Lakers that 2017-18 season after recovering from the injury, then went on to sign for the minimum for a chance to redeem himself while joining the Denver Nuggets.
Thomas played only 12 games with the team last season before joining the Wizards earlier this month under a similar deal, still searching for his way back to prominence.
Follow Us
Subscribe