BOSTON — Isaiah Thomas had plenty of people to thank after receiving the greatest honor of his NBA career to date.
But one of the first calls he made was to his head coach.
“He actually called me (Thursday night) right when he found out,” Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Friday. “We had a great conversation.”
The topic of that conversation, of course, was Thomas’ selection as a reserve for the Eastern Conference in the 2016 NBA All-Star Game. It’s the 5-foot-9 guard’s first All-Star nod, and needless to say, he was pretty fired up about the news when delivering it to Stevens.
“Just to let me know that he had heard from the NBA,” Stevens said when asked to describe what Thomas told him in their chat. “It was fun to hear his enthusiasm, hear his excitement in that moment.”
The honor was a long time coming for Thomas, who said before he feels under-appreciated due to his small stature but has received plenty of support from players around the league in the weeks leading up to the announcement.
Stevens also has been vocal in his support for Thomas as an All-Star, and the 26-year-old shared the positive message his coach gave him during their phone call Thursday.
“He just said, ‘You deserve it. You’ve worked for it,'” Thomas said. “‘A person that works as hard as you do and loves the game as much as you do, you deserve it. Continue to just be yourself, continue to get better.’
“And he said, ‘The good thing about this is something else needs to motivate you. You need to take your game to a higher level.’ That’s what I have planned anyway.”
Thomas knows the doubters always will be out there, even despite his latest achievement. It appears he’s ready to deal with whatever comes his way, however.
“I asked myself (Thursday), ‘What can they say now?'” Thomas said. “But they’ll find something.”
Thumbnail photo via Mark J. Rebilas/USA TODAY Sports Images
