I love the little guy but Jesus this is funny. The celebration at the end with the little kid trying to celebrate with the big kids is LOL!Sports Illustrated is into trolling players now apparently.
Yeah that was tragically well-done. I winced multiple times in 62 seconds.I love the little guy but Jesus this is funny. The celebration at the end with the little kid trying to celebrate with the big kids is LOL!
This things are not mutually exclusive.The worst part...it isn't even really a troll job - that is pretty accurate
See, it was worse for me when he was in Cleveland. The Lakers have been bad for a long time now, and they will be for the rest of this season at least. I am just happy he gets to go play in a place where he won't be blamed if the team doesn't win a championship.Seeing IT in a Lakers uniform makes me a little sick to my stomach
I've hated the Lakers for my whole life. After the Yankees, they're about tied with the Canadiens for my next most despised organization in sports. Cleveland is just a short term blip. The Lakers are forever. I hate to see him wearing that uni.See, it was worse for me when he was in Cleveland. The Lakers have been bad for a long time now, and they will be for the rest of this season at least. I am just happy he gets to go play in a place where he won't be blamed if the team doesn't win a championship.
It won't be long. There is no chance they re-sign him unless they completely strike out after GM James...er, I mean Koby Altman gifted them cap relief this week. Even then, I suspect he will wind up elsewhere for a pillow contract.I've hated the Lakers for my whole life. After the Yankees, they're about tied with the Canadiens for my next most despised organization in sports. Cleveland is just a short term blip. The Lakers are forever. I hate to see him wearing that uni.
I think it will be interesting to see whether he takes a bench role with a really good team or a starting role for a really shitty team. He certainly talks about starting a whole lot.It won't be long. There is no chance they re-sign him unless they completely strike out after GM James...er, I mean Koby Altman gifted them cap relief this week. Even then, I suspect he will wind up elsewhere for a pillow contract.
If I had to guess, IT7 might be courted by Golden State for a bench role - hell it may happen now if he gets bought out. I don't think he would take just any bench role but if he had the chance to come off for a team like the Warriors - especially if James sticks one more season in Cleveland, I could see it happening.
Otherwise, Thomas is headed elsewhere next year.
To be clear, I think he would go for a starting role on a crappy team but there are a select few situations where he would want to play a role for a contender. Golden State is one and I believe that were Danny to call about a "sixth man" type role, he would consider it though I think that will never happen - Thomas will never play for the Celtics again (and I know folks around here are mostly pretty happy about that).I think it will be interesting to see whether he takes a bench role with a really good team or a starting role for a really shitty team. He certainly talks about starting a whole lot.
Well, he apparently didn't fit in with Cleveland, and to them defense was more of a theoretical concept.Wouldn't he fit in with a team that doesn't actually play that much defense, like, say, Houston?
Guy is like four feet tall and getting rich playing NBA basketball.He is way too overconfident, but that also describes about 90% of pro athletes.
The Magic traded Payton to Phoenix.Almost all of the garbage teams in the NBA also have young point guards they are trying to develop. The Kings have De'Aaron Fox, the Magic have Elfriid Payton, the Hawks have Dennis Schroeder, the Mavs have Dennis Smith Jr, the Nets have De'Angelo Russell, etc. The Suns are the only team that could use him, and he is not on good terms with that franchise.
I am genuinely sad for IT. He is way too overconfident, but that also describes about 90% of pro athletes.
Money quote:IT all smiles post game and bragging about how he “got his powers back” following a loss to one of the worst teams in basketball.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22397864/isaiah-thomas-strong-showing-los-angeles-lakers-debut-lose-dallas-mavericks
"He brings another dimension to what we have," said head coach Luke Walton, who was annoyed with the team's lack of defense in just the Lakers' fifth defeat in their past 17 games.
If getting your powers back is turning the ball over 6 times, I suggest he look for different powers. His defense was non existent as ever, but that will always be the case, the sloppiness better not be.IT all smiles post game and bragging about how he “got his powers back” following a loss to one of the worst teams in basketball.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/22397864/isaiah-thomas-strong-showing-los-angeles-lakers-debut-lose-dallas-mavericks
Agreed. I'm sure he feels betrayed by DA (and more or less said as much in the Players' Tribune piece), but sending him to play for a real and immediate contender was at least decent consolation for squashing his dreams of being the face of the next Celtics championship team. That made me feel a lot better about the necessary but tough move of jettisoning him - I was really hoping that (and an ECF loss) would be the extent of his professional misfortune.Jesus, a Celtics board really turned on IT fast. I take no joy in seeing IT struggle. Where is the loyalty? I only want the best for IT. The Lakers, on the other hand, can suck it.
4 for 8.4-for-4 from downtown sounds to me like getting his powers back.
For what will likely be a middle second-round pick (second-best of Memphis, Charlotte, or Miami)The Magic traded Payton to Phoenix.
I don't know if this was partly directed at me. I definitely want him to succeed as well, especially since I know it most likely won't be with the Lakers long term. I suspect others do as well, despite their ribbing. It's just that it's impossible to to escape his flaws and that quote from Walton was definitely funny.Jesus, a Celtics board really turned on IT fast. I take no joy in seeing IT struggle. Where is the loyalty? I only want the best for IT. The Lakers, on the other hand, can suck it.
I get some Celtics fans enjoying him take lumps. The Brinks Truck comment didn't sit right with some people and he definitely perceives himself to be in a different tier of player than many NBA pundits and fans (for reasons referenced upthread). His attitude of supreme confidence also rubs people the wrong way even despite his clear limitations. Finally, he is a little guy - I suspect some basketball fans simply don't like him because of that.Jesus, a Celtics board really turned on IT fast. I take no joy in seeing IT struggle. Where is the loyalty? I only want the best for IT. The Lakers, on the other hand, can suck it.
Aside from no longer being protected by Smart, Bradley, and Horford defensively the REAL problem for Isaiah is that the loss of his first step is magnified by the fact that it was so crucial for him in creating separation for open looks. Right now, he isn't a good shooter at all and his handle has been atrocious.....he can't get his shot off and cannot create any separation off the dribble so get quality looks. Last night was another horrific offensive performance as his teammates are standing around waiting for Isaiah to do Isaiah things......but this current version isn't a player who can consistently create his own shot.I'm happy for IT and wish him the best. Hell, we need need that kind of shooting on the second unit but that ship has sailed. I hope he does well and finds his truck. The Lakers can meltdown though, no problem there.
I am sure he did consider it but didn't like the small sample of results of those guards who did have it performed and what it did to their NBA future. Jonny Flynn, Gerald Henderson Jr, Martell Webster, Michael Carter-Williams......not exactly an optimistic list of successful recoveries if you are a guard reliant on your physical skills. The only non-big I can recall who has had a successful return from hip surgery is Wilson Chandler. That's 1 in 5 by my count unless I missed someone.Which is why I think he should just consider surgery.
My point to the surgery response was that SURGERY was rolling the dice based on recent history of guards and hip surgery.I think it was also timeline. If he was in the first year of a deal, I think he would have probably done it. He wanted to get paid and having hip surgery and being out wasn’t helping him cash in. Rehab and roll the dice.
Reconstructive hip surgery (he said at one point last spring that there’s a bone deformity in his hip which doctors told him would eventually require surgery) comes with a 12-18 month recovery time from what I understand, and having it in the final season of his deal would have meant a possible two year absence from the NBA and a likely end to his career.Which is why I think he should just consider surgery.
Radsoxfan, the Port Cellar MD of choice, posted this in the Kyrie thread. Thought it was appropriate to quote it here since IT is going to NYC to get opinions on his hip. https://sports.yahoo.com/isaiah-thomas-leaves-lakers-get-troublesome-hip-re-evaluated-013136122.htmlIt might look bad from afar, and I don't doubt NBA players talk and are very afraid of an "IT situation".
Having said that, IT's hip is probably close to shot and has been trending that way for quite a while. His labral tear diagnosis was probably the tip of the iceberg, not a major player at this point or last year. He has bad arthritis and there is nothing the medical staff could have done last season to change that (there is a reason no one wants to operate on him at this point). If a surgery was going to be a significant help (aside from a total hip replacement), it was probably needed many years ago before he got to the Celtics.
I 100% agree players need to take their health into their own hands, and should be getting second opinions instead of blindly listening to the team doc. But I wouldn't blame the team docs in the IT case at all unless there is something else that happened that hasn't been publicized.