Isaiah Thomas Keeps Proving Doubters Wrong

Isaiah Thomas has been fighting adversity at every level. The 5’9 guard is never going to be able to escape those who doubt his ability because of his size but don’t let that fool you into thinking that it will hurt Thomas. In reality, those doubters have become a part of who he is and will be motivating him every time he takes the court, facing players that are more than a foot taller than him.

Thomas was the last player selected in a draft. He played well for the Sacramento Kings, but those doubters prevailed and his next stint was with the Phoenix Suns. Thomas was a part of a young and cluttered back court with the Suns, he was in a battle with other young guards to take the reigns of the team but once again the people in power did not trust him. Thomas was traded away for Marcus Thornton and a first round draft pick.

It’s no surprise that after Thomas is having the best season of his career, at least one of his doubters is admitting he was wrong. ESPN looks at the comments of Suns GM where he correctly realizes what a dire mistake it was trading away the undersized guard. The Suns GM, however, is certainly not alone. Thomas has been passed up on and looked over his entire career but the little man is making sure nobody doubts his dedication to greatness.

Thomas was finally rewarded with his first all star appearance and while that is a solid milestone for him, it simply cannot capture the kind of season he is having. Thomas is leading the Celtics with pace and he is doing everything to make their offense go. Thomas is a great scorer, but he is not only a scorer. Thomas is incapable of avoiding size mismatches, but still holds his own on defense. Thomas is becoming a more well rounded player while improving in his areas of strength.

To add a little perspective to what Thomas is doing for the Celtics, he would be the first player since Larry Bird to average 20+ points and 6+ assists per game for the Celtics. He is managing to be a dominant scorer, while playing with the unselfishness that makes the Celtics so great. Thomas is doing all the right things to make the Celtics offense function at the highest level. He pushes the pace to account for their lack of great shooting and he drives to the rim to manufacture points. Throw in that he can shoot from anywhere on the court and there are absolutely no indications that Thomas’ height is having a negative impact on his game.

In fact, Thomas is able to use his height as an advantage. Thomas has become masterful at generating contact and finding the right angles the put the ball out of reach of shot blockers. Defenders don’t normally have to account for someone like Thomas and he knows exactly how to exploit defenders. Thomas is doing all of this at age 27 with a signs pointing to him continuing to get better.

It is hard to imagine Thomas doing more to prove his doubters wrong. He is the lone All Star on the third place team in the eastern conference and he is in command and controlling the offense every time he is in the game. Thomas is becoming a cornerstone of a franchise that is getting closer and closer to being a true contender for the championship.

Thomas has always used his doubters and that chip on his shoulder will continue to motivate him as he continually exceeds the expectations of countless people he has come across in his career. Thomas has done everything to prove those doubters wrong, he is proving, without a doubt, that he will have a successful NBA career. And yet, the doubters are still out there.

Next: Celtics' defense returns to form in win

While Thomas is in the midst of a career year some are still dead set on the idea that he will never reach the highest level in the NBA. CSNNE addresses comments by Greg Dickerson who went so far as to say that Thomas will “never” become a superstar and the reason for that was his height. I, along with all Celtics fans, implore the likes of Dickerson to continue to come out and publicly doubt Thomas because those are the people that Thomas has time and time again proven wrong as he continues to climb his way up to NBA superstardom.