It had been quite some time since an NBA team signed Isaiah Thomas to a deal that stretched through the end of the season. However, that changed Tuesday as the Charlotte Hornets announced that they did just that.
“Just thankful,” Thomas said of this new opportunity. “I’ve been preparing for these moments. I’ve been working for these moments just to get back in, get both feet back in the league. So, honestly, I’m just thankful and appreciative of the opportunity.”
Thomas, a two-time All-Star and MVP candidate in Boston, signed his last full-season contract with the Wizards in the 2019-2020 season. He played 40 games for Washington that year, averaging 12.2 points per game. Since then, Thomas has scratched and clawed to find a place to call home.
The 5-foot-9-inch guard played just three games for the Pelicans in 2020-2021 on a 10-day contract that would not be renewed. Since then, he’s suited up on 10-days for the Lakers, Mavericks, and Hornets all in the 2021-2022 season. He also played in the G League, where he showed he still has it with two 40-plus-point games.
Thomas’s love for the game has been apparent as he’s fought to earn a significant contract. His hard work and dedication have kept him a fan favorite, as many empathize with the challenges he’s faced since his days in Boston.
The Injury
Things began to change rapidly for Thomas due to a hip injury sustained during his 2016-2017 campaign with the Celtics.
In a 2021 interview on the All the Smoke podcast with Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson, Thomas told the co-hosts that he didn’t feel Boston handled the injury properly.
“The only thing that I think they handled wrong was not explaining to me what the extent of my injury could be if I do play,” Thomas said. “That was the biggest thing for me that I disliked. ‘Cause nobody gave me [any] insight, ‘OK, you do play, this can happen.”
Team personnel referred to the injury as a bone bruise, which Thomas stated was not enough to make him sit key games. It was later diagnosed, however, as a right femoral-acetabular impingement with labral tear that knocked him out of the final few games of the playoffs.
After the best season of his career (2016-2017), Thomas addressed the injury by having it surgically repaired. He was dealt to Cleveland in the offseason in exchange for Kyrie Irving, and his career was never the same.
Silver Lining
In recent years, it’s been clear that Thomas has been trying to rediscover his place in the only league he’s ever wanted to play in. Although it’s unlikely he’ll ever be the star he was in Boston, Thomas has learned to use his experience to be a positive voice in the locker room.
“The biggest thing, I think, is the respect,” Thomas said of how easy it has been fitting into the Hornets locker room. “Obviously, I respect those guys, but they respect not only me as a basketball player but me as a person.”
Thomas’s leadership may have earned him his place on the Hornets’ roster, but not to overshadow his productivity on the court. In the seven games preceding his contract renewal, the 33-year-old averaged 9.9 points per game in 13.4 minutes of action. This also included better than a 2-to-1 assist/turnover ratio.
With the Hornets holding a 37-36 record good for No. 9 in the Eastern Conference, it will be interesting to see if Thomas’s influence can help propel them past the play-in tournament and into the playoffs.
Thomas had a simple message for anyone aspiring to have a long career or simply make it to the NBA.
“Don’t give up. Don’t quit. Believe in yourself. Cause if you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will.”
