“It’s my sister … she’s watching over me”
The Story About How Isaiah Thomas Managed Grief Through Basketball
Tragedy and mourning of a loved one is something all humans eventually go through, but sadly, Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics had to endure this situation right before the culmination of the whole NBA season, the NBA Playoffs, in April of 2017.
The last pick in the 2011 NBA draft was Isaiah Jamar Thomas, drafted by the Sacramento Kings. His best season was in 2016 after being trade from the Phoenix Suns In the 2016–2017 season, he showed an upward trend averaging 28.9 points, the most in his career. His leadership and show of skill led the Celtics to the number one seed in the Eastern Conference over teams like the LeBron-led Cavaliers and the Toronto Raptors.
Coming towards the end of the season Thomas was playing well. He became injury-prone in the last game of the season (WHAT HAPPENED?) but was well enough to play for the first and second rounds. On Sunday afternoon, April 16, 2017, Isaiah Thomas showed up to the Celtics shoot around before the first game of the first round of the playoffs.
Isaiah Thomas did not know at the time, but his sister Chyna Thomas was pronounced dead in a one-person car crash on the I-5 in Federal Way, Washington, the day before. After the practice, Thomas was made aware of this, and his then-Celtic teammate and fellow Tacoma native, Avery Bradley came over to comfort him in his fragile state. The media tried to get a response from Thomas, but Thomas was pulled away to the locker room by Bradley.
Thomas came back to the court at game time, tears in his eyes, ready to play his heart out in memory of his sister. At the time, he knew his job was to lead his team in a game one against the eight-seeded Bulls. Thomas scored a monster 33 points with 6 assists and 5 rebounds and went 10 for 18 in field goals made while in emotional unrest. Unfortunately, this wasn’t enough to lead them to victory in game one.
The Celtics went on to lose game two. Then they won the next four straight, to beat the Bulls 4 games to 2, closing out the first round of the playoffs and eliminating the Bulls. Isaiah Thomas was instrumental in these games scoring 20, 19, 16, 24, and 12 points over those five games respectively.
In between the series, Thomas went home to Tacoma, Washington, for the funeral of his late sister. In his eulogy, he stated, “When I found out the news, I wanted to give up and quit, and never in my life have I ever thought about quitting.” He continued by stating, “I realized quitting isn’t an option,” Thomas continued. “That’s the easy way out. I will keep going for my sister, as I know she wouldn’t want me to stop. I love you Chyna and I miss you so much. And everything I do for the rest of my life will be for you. I love you girl.”
In the second round, they faced off against the John Wall-led Washington Wizards who had just beat the Atlanta Hawks 4 games to 2. This series is where Isaiah Thomas shone the brightest. In game one, Isaiah dropped 33 points to lead the Celtics to a victory.
In the second game of that series, the date aligned with, what. would have been, Chyna Thomas’ 23rd birthday. Later that day, Thomas went off for 53 points, a playoff-high and career-high, in dedication to his late sister. This led the Celtics to a 2 to 0 lead versus the Wizards going into game 3. After the game, he stated “Today’s my sister’s birthday, she would have been 23 today. So the least I can do is go out there and play for her.” He continued, “Everything I do is for her and she’s watching over me…”
He continued to lead the Celtics to the conference finals against LeBron’s Cavaliers, after winning a decisive game seven against the Wizards with a 29-point performance. Unfortunately, that is where Thomas and the Celtics’ story would end, Thomas with an aggravation in the hip labrum and the Celtics with a 4 to 1 series loss against the Cavaliers. He had been playing on a nursed him throughout the playoffs and now, the hip gave out.
This season was, arguably, the best season of Thomas’ career. Thomas expected a max-contract after his outstanding playoff run, but was told in a phone call from, then Celtics GM, Danny Ainge, that he had been traded. Thomas was traded the next season with Jae Crowder, because of his injuries, to the Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving. Ainge claims that was just business but Thomas took it personally and vowed to never speak to Ainge again. Isaiah Thomas was never the same. His career probably could’ve continued better than it did if Thomas was diagnosed correctly by the Celtics medical staff and probably wouldn’t have scored that iconic 53 points. Thomas hasn’t played since his brief stint with the Hornets in 2022 but is influencing the younger generation. His career as a player is at a standstill still but he remains a Celtic legend.
Even though his occupation of basketball, which doesn’t allow much time for grieving, kept him from properly honoring his late sister’s memory, Isaiah Thomas was able to execute his job to the fullest of his extent, while dedicating it to his late sister. Thomas showed great emotional control and prowess through his play of basketball in the 2017 playoffs. He did it all for his sister.
SOURCES
Wertheim, John. “Grieving And Sports: The Truth About Tragedy”, Sports Illustrated, April 17, 2017, https://www.si.com/nba/2017/04/17/isaiah-thomas-sister-boston-celtics-sports-tragedy-grieving
Devine, Don. “Isaiah Thomas on his historic 53-point night: ‘It’s my sister … she’s watching over me’”, Yahoo Sports, May 3, 2017, https://sports.yahoo.com/news/isaiah-thomas-historic-53-point-night-sister-shes-watching-044704625.html
Espn, https://www.espn.com/nba/player/stats/_/id/6472/isaiah-thomas, October 21, 2023
