Isaiah Thomas is Never Short on Confidence
Isaiah Thomas continues to prove that he has all the confidence he needs in order to succeed.
Isaiah Thomas was the last pick in an NBA draft. He stands around a full foot shorter than a great deal of his competition, and he has been traded around multiple times for criminally less than the value he has been to the Boston Celtics. Thomas is one of the most unique players in the NBA and he has faced enough adversity to fill up a career. And yet, all that adversity does is make him better. Thomas plays with a chip on his shoulder that comes from countless sources and now that he has finally found a home that embraces him, that chip keeps getting bigger.
We’ve already heard Thomas talk about being the greatest little man to ever play, he’s spoken about being the next closest thing to Allen Iverson and all that adversity and criticism that has followed him around during his short career has helped create one of the most confident players on and off the court.
Even during the golden era of guards Thomas had this to say to Cetics.com Amanda Pflugard (Via CBS Sports) “My numbers stack up against all those other guys, those other top superstar guys, I guess you’d say. At the end of the day, I’m just going to continue to work and continue to show that I’m just as good as any other point guard in the NBA”. Thomas was awarded his first all star appearance last year but his confidence blows past that, and there is good reason for it.
On top of propelling a so called under talented Celtics team to two straight playoff appearances, he is doing things at the point guard position that no one else in the NBA is doing, and that speaks worlds about his confidence on the court.
Thomas may not have had the most prolific year with mind blowing stats, but he was the one and only player in the NBA that averaged more than 22 points per game, six assists per game while turning it over fewer than 2.8 times per game. Thomas took the east by storm in his first half season with the Celtics, but he expanded his game in multiple ways in order to optimize his ability on the court this past season.
One of the keys for Thomas on the court was also confidence. He needed to find a difficult balance between decision making and aggressiveness. One of the league leaders in drives to the rim is not only a score first point guard, and he is not only a pass first point guard. Thomas did such a great job in Stevens’ system because of the balance he found between both, and his decision making between attacking himself and getting his teammates involved.
Thomas could never afford to be hesitant because it was threaten the great pace the Celtics needed in order to be successful, and him being hesitant as a passer or a scorer would have prevented the Celtics’ offense from being a top scoring team in the league. He always had to trust his decision making and it paid off in multiple ways.
Thomas has been looked over and disrespected throughout his career and all that has done is build up his confidence and allow him to become one of the true leaders on what now needs to be a contending team in the eastern conference.
Now, that disrespect should be stopping. Thomas was awarded his first all star and, as he pointed out, his numbers always back him up. He is one of the most unique players in the NBA and with his age and experience with the Celtics, he should continue to get better, only this time it will be with a much better team around him.
On this Celtics team, its also hard to forget how young Thomas is. He has shown significant improvement throughout his time with the Celtics. Last season he did a great job of establishing the balance that is essential to running Stevens’ offense, and now he will continue to work to improve within that system and adding more talent around him will completely expand his options.
Thomas has proven he has the determination and he will always put in the work to achieve his personal goals. Thomas continues to prove his doubters wrong and it continues to add to what is already one of the most confident players in the league, and certainly on the Celtics. That same confidence has become essential to their core, and has lead to much of Jae Crowder‘s and Marcus Smart‘s success on defense.
The Celtics need him to be a leader on the court and even with the addition of Al Horford he will have to set the tone on offense and having the confidence to make the quick aggressive decisions that make the Celtics their best will continue to be essential.
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There are a lot of reasons to be excited about Thomas and the way he carries himself on and off the court is exactly what the Celtics need to cement themselves as contenders in the East.