Remember when you always could count on the Boston Celtics to put forth a consistent, competitive effort? When they were one of the toughest, most hard-nosed NBA teams to play against?
Well, if you miss those days — which weren’t even a year ago, by the way — you’re not alone. Furthermore, you might have a sympathizer in Isaiah Thomas.
The Denver Nuggets guard, who still is working his way back from hip surgery, was the face of the underdog Celtics that electrified TD Garden from 2015 to 2017. The 2016-17 squad, in particular, was an easy-to-root-for bunch that battled its way to the Eastern Conference finals with a banged-up, mourning Thomas leading the way.
That group is featured “Punk Rock Celtics,” a random video that’s actually a year old but resurfaced Saturday night after Boston’s embarrassing collapse against the Los Angeles Clippers. Thomas shared the video in a seemingly innocuous tweet, but the diminutive star might have been trying to throw some subtle shade, as well.
Take a look:
We wanted ALL the smoke https://t.co/oF7Ic9ccVN
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) February 11, 2019
Are we making too much of this? Probably.
But ask yourself this: When you watch that video, with Saturday’s loss still fresh, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? If you claim it’s anything other than “That team was way better than this one” or “Those Celtics were far more likable than the current group,” you’re lying.
Yes, the current version of the Celtics (with a healthy Kyrie Irving) still are better and more talented than the 2016-17 squad, but it’s impossible to deny the allure of the Thomas-led team. And if Thomas were being honest, he’d say his old Celtics would run the new Celtics out of the gym.
The scary part is he’d probably be right.
