Isaiah Thomas, who will debut on Tuesday night, doesn’t want a video tribute when the Cavs visit Boston.
Isaiah Thomas, set to make his Cleveland debut Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers, doesn’t want a video tribute when he sees his former team on Wednesday night in Boston.
Thomas will be on a minutes restriction when he takes the court for the first time in seven months following a right hip injury, and he won’t play in back-to-backs, either. As a result, Thomas will be on the bench when the Cavaliers travel to Boston on Wednesday night.
Either way, at his request, there won’t be a video tribute to Thomas until a later date.
Thomas gave an explanation when one fan chided him on Twitter.
Thomas helped the Celtics get to the Eastern Conference Finals but bowed out after the second game against the Cavs with the nagging hip injury. That was just weeks after he lost his sister in a tragic car accident but played anyway. He finished last season third in scoring at 28.9 points per game and fifth in MVP voting.
After months of anticipation, he’ll make his season debut.
“I mean, my hip is better but I have no rhythm,” he told reporters on Monday. “I have no feel for the game right now. I’ve been out for so long it feels like I lost my powers. So even when we’re out there scrimmaging I can move around and do what I want, but I just don’t have my powers yet.”
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In November, Thomas told USA TODAY Sports: “Every time something happens in my career, I always bounce back and it’s bigger than anything anybody every thought. And this is just going to be the same thing.”
The Celtics traded Thomas, Jae Crowder and the Brooklyn Nets pick in a blockbuster deal for Kyrie Irving after the Cavs point guard requested out of Cleveland. Part of the reason for the trade, Celtics GM Danny Ainge admitted, was that Thomas was hurt.
“I was very hurt because I gave him everything I had,” Thomas said to ESPN . “I gave him too much when I should’ve just sat out, especially all the stuff I was going through. When I say going through, with my sister passing and things like that. You don’t do things like that, man. So that’s why it hurt. It was a weird situation for him to say one of the reasons he traded me was because my hip. It’s like I hurt my hip on your time.”
