Celtics Close-Up: PG Isaiah Thomas
This is a brief summary of the best player on the Boston Celtics. He hasn’t always been the IT4 we have all come to know and love, once upon a time he was just a 5-foot-9 point guard with a decent jump shot.
Full name: Isaish Jamar Thomas
Hometown: Tacoma, Washington
Date of Birth: February 7th, 1989 (28 years old)
College: University of Washington
NBA experience: 6 years
Fun Fact: According to NBA.com the name Isaiah did not come directly because of former Pistons point guard and Hall of Famer Isaiah Thomas. He was actually named this because hist father, James lost a bet with one of his friends on a Lakers-Pistons playoff game. Hey at least we know his dad was honest.
High School
Isaiah Thomas attended Curtis Senior High School until his senior year. he played on varsity his junior year scoring 919 points while averaging 32.3 a game over only 28 games and winning 4a state player of the year. His senior year he would transfer to South Kent High school in Connecticut. The statistics for this season cannot be found. According to an article in the Seattle times Thomas was transferring to clear up some academic issues in order to enroll in Washington the following fall which he had been committed to since 2006. Thomas would come out of high school as a 3-star recruit, being the 92nd overall recruiting prospect of his class.
College
Thomas would wear former Washington Star guard Nate Robinson’s no. 2 jersey after receiving consent from the man himself to do so. In his first season at Washington, Thomas would average 15.5 points a game on 42% shooting from the floor. His team would finish with a record of 24–7 and capture the Pac-10 regular season title. This would get them an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament where they would win the first game as a 4 seed against Mississippi State but fall short to Purdue in the second round 74–76.
In his sophomore campaign he would lead his team to another NCAA tournament after securing the Pac-10 tournament championship with a 79–75 win over Cal. The Huskies would get in as an 11 seed and upset Marquette and New Mexico in route to the sweet 16 before getting ousted by Virginia.
Thomas would lead his team in points, steals, assists, and minutes his junior year while earning a finalist spot for the Cousy award. He would carry his team to yet another Pac-10 championship title (video above). They would defeat Georgia in the first round before losing 86–83 to the powerhouse tar heels from North Carolina. Following this season Thomas would declare for the draft.
Pro-Life
Thomas would not end up far from home, as the Sacramento Kings would draft him with the 60th and final overall pick in the second round of the NBA draft. Thomas would spend his first 3 seasons with the Kings averaging only about 20 minutes a game during his first 2. In his third year with the team we would begin to see glimpses of his greatness. On March 18th, 2014 he would score his first ever triple double in an overtime win against the Washington Wizards. His stat line read: 24 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds. This would make him the shortest player in NBA history to record a triple double. Thomas would finish the season averaging 20 points a game on 45 % shooting to go along with 6 assists.
That offseason Thomas would be dealt to the Phoenix Suns. He was sent over in a sign-and-trade deal after signing a 4-year, 28 million dollar contract. The Kings would recieve the rights to Alex Oriakhi. Thomas tweeted this upon the deal:
His stay in Phoenix would be short lived as he would play just 46 games in Purple and Orange before being traded to the Boston Celtics. The Celtics acquired Thomas for the Cleveland Cavaliers 2016 First Round draft pick and Marcus Thornton. Since coming to Boston, Thomas has turned his whole career around emerging out of nowhere as an NBA star. He averages 28.9 points and 5.9 assists a game this season while shooting 46 % from the floor. Thomas made his second All-Star team this year. However, he still has much more work left to be done.
