Isaiah describes his trade with, “It’s not that I don’t understand it. Of course I get it: This is a business. Danny is a businessman, and he made a business move.” (Thomas, 2017). Even with this trade being an upset, in the end it is life. Life has its ups and downs, and for Isaiah it wasn’t the biggest. On April 15th before a playoff game against The Chicago Bulls, Isaiah’s sister Chyna died in a car accident. When Boston heard the news, there was nothing but love and support for I.T as he still managed to do his part for the Celtics organization and play. The fans on Twitter and Instagram gave sympathy, the crowd made signs and banners dedicated to Chyna, and the arena had a moment of silence for her. I remember watching this game, and it reminded me on how I had a baseball game two days after my grandfather passed, and I still played even though it was difficult. Describing that night Isaiah said, “I didn’t have to be alone in this. The whole arena was right there with me. Honestly, it felt like the whole city of Boston was with me.” (Thomas, 2017).
Despite the pain Isaiah was enduring through the loss of his sister, he played with integrity and ambition like he always does on the court. The Celtics lost to the Bulls that game, but Boston had nothing but respect for I.T. His emotions before the game, during the game, and after the game seemed to all differentiate from one another inside him, but remained calm on the outside. Every game I have seen Isaiah play, his facial expression never changes, I could tell his only focus was basketball. Before the game there was a heavy weight on his shoulder, but he describes basketball as a getaway from the pain. “When I arrived at the arena that night, after Chyna had passed — I was thinking, O.K., I just need that to happen. I need this court to be my shield tonight, I need this court to help me forget.” (Thomas, 2017). People have all sorts of ways to cope with pain, and Isaiah’s was basketball. “That’s just my mindset, when it comes to basketball. With basketball, I guess it’s just always been, like — no matter what I’d be going through in life … I’ve always known I can go to a basketball court. All I have to do is find one, and I’ll know I’m going to be fine for however long I’m on that court. Because that’s what basketball has always been for me, through my life’s ups and downs. It shields me from everything that I’m going through in life.” (Thomas, 2017). That game was a big moment in his career, and there will surely be more bumps in the road for I.T. Though Boston was an all-time high for him, he can carry his legacy to Cleveland and so on. Isaiah has potential to be one of the greats despite his disadvantage of only being 5’9’’. In Boston, the legends are are never forgotten, they don’t call it “The City of Champs,” for nothing. Boston Celtics head coach Brad Stevens also reacted to the trade saying, “Isaiah’s impact is special, I love Isaiah and I’m glad that he will always have that here. He will always have an impact on Boston.” (NBCSN, 2017) Isaiah compared himself to some legends in the city of Boston saying, “I’ll never be Tom Brady now. And I’ll never be David Ortiz. I’ll never be Bill Russell, or Paul Pierce, or Kevin Garnett, or Larry Bird. But whether I would have without this trade, or I wouldn’t have — I still like to imagine one thing. I like to imagine that sometime not long from now, somewhere in Boston, someone is going to be a parent, talking basketball to their kid. And their kid is going to ask them, point-blank like kids do, you know, ‘Yo — why you become a Celtics fan?’ And that parent, man, they’re going to think back to themselves — really think on it. And then they’re going to smile, and tell the truth. ‘I saw Isaiah Thomas play.’ That would make me very happy. For me, I think, that’d be enough.” (Thomas, 2017). Being born near Boston, It’s like I didn’t have a choice who else I could cheer for. Being an Isaiah fan, I could choose, and it was impossible not to be. Isaiah said, “Man, am I going to miss being a Celtic.” (Thomas, 2017), and I’d like to think all of Boston agreed and would miss it too. I remember going to Boston after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup, and when the Patriots won the Superbowl, and I was hoping one day to see Isaiah in Boston along with the rest of the Celtics around Boston after they won the NBA Finals, sadly that won’t happen, but if he wins it all in Cleveland I would be just as happy if he won in Boston.
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