Isaiah Thomas recently opened up about his NBA journey since being traded from the Boston Celtics to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2017. Thomas talked about his recovery from hip surgery and how that led to him bouncing around from team to team. Thomas said that he hoped that would always lead to a return to Boston.
Thomas said at various points he reached out to both Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens about returning to the Celtics. Thomas said he believes Boston has gone in different directions, because there would be an expectation for him to play.
“I know how to control the outside thinking I’m gonna go and pick up where I left off now, because if I came to that team, it’s not my team anymore. That’s (Jayson) Tatum’s team. That’s Jaylen Brown’s team. That’s Marcus Smart’s team. I would just help in any way I possibly can to get those guys over the hump, ” Thomas said. “It hasn’t happened; it probably won’t happen, I’m focused on where I’m at now, and I’m happy where I’m at, and hopefully, I can be here at least the rest of the season.”
Still, Thomas appreciates the love he gets from Celtics fans.
“(The fan support) means a lot. Like, I’ve never seen it, either,” Thomas said. “Me and my wife always talk about it; you would think I was doing stuff like Larry Bird was doing with how much love I’m getting. You would think I was doing it for 10 years and winning championships with the love I get from the city. I’m thankful, I’m appreciative, but that’s probably a reason why I’m not there, because of all that love.”