Isaiah Thomas just can’t seem to catch a break. Just when he looked primed for a comeback season with the Wizards, he found his preparations derailed by an injury during an otherwise-routine workout early this week. Tests revealed him to have torn the radial collateral ligament in his left thumb, requiring surgery and convalescence for the next eight weeks. Nonetheless, he was typically upbeat, noting in a tweet that he “[h]urt my damn thumb tryna play defense… Never again lol never again!” No doubt, his positive disposition was likewise spurred by prognoses that he, in general manager Thomas Sheppard’s words, will “make a full recovery.”
Which is all well and good. Thomas certainly deserves some news countering all the tough times he has gone through in the last two years. Not too long ago, he was an All-Star for the highly regarded Celtics; he finished the 2016-17 season norming 28.9, 2.7, and 5.9 in nearly 34 minutes of play. And he shone in the playoffs as well; among his highlights in the same campaign for the top seeds was a gutsy 53-point effort in Game Two of the East semifinals against, well, the Wizards on the natal day of his sister Chyna, who died in a car accident a month before.
In truth, Thomas played hurt for the Celtics then. He aggravated a right hip injury in Game Six of the same series against the Wizards, but soldiered on until Game Two of the conference finals versus the Cavaliers. And, with reason, he thought his above-and-beyond effort for the green and white would be reciprocated in kind. “My time is coming. They know they have to bring the Brinks truck out,” he said a month and a half later in reference to his expiring contract and his expectations of an extension at maximum salary.
Thomas was wrong. The Celtics dealt him to the Cavaliers the next month, a trade that was nearly scuttled in light of questions on the state of his health. And, since then, his career has been up and down — okay, mostly down. Between abbreviated stints with the Lakers and Nuggets, all that remained of the Brinks truck was his quote. The Hancock he has affixed on his deal with the Wizards puts him in line for a $2.32-million payday through the next year, just a tad higher than his previous one.
How good Thomas can still be at a seemingly broken-down 30 remains to be seen. He continues to hold a glass that’s half full to him, and possesses a resolve that keeps him reaching for the stars. It’s how he has always been, and why he thrived even at a diminutive 5’9”. And it’s how he will always be, and why he can’t ever be counted out.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
