TORONTO – Isaiah Thomas plays with a fearless brand of basketball that has been at the heart of his success as an NBA player.
But none of his prior experiences could have adequately prepared him for this weekend, his first as an NBA All-Star.
Thomas has always felt he belonged among the game’s best even when he was repeatedly told otherwise.
With our All Access Daily newsletter, stay in the game with the latest updates on your beloved Bay Area and California sports teams!
SIGN UP HERE Criticism can be a funny thing for NBA players. For some it has the same effect as a slow leaking tire that will ultimately end with a player not going anywhere close to where they and others expected them to be. And then there’s Isaiah Thomas who has adopted the ‘Why not?’ mindset when it came to accomplishments.
[RELATED: Cousins all class in Skills Challenge defeat, media sessions]
The last player taken in the 2011 NBA draft, Thomas isn’t supposed to be in the NBA, let alone be an All-Star. But even when the data suggested he would have a short and limited NBA career, Thomas never let that stuff drag him down. If anything, it fueled him to achieve levels of success no player taken at the absolute end of an NBA draft has ever accomplished.
But the numbers rarely tell the full story about a player, especially one like Thomas whose impact isn’t easily quantified or tabulated by an analytics program. Kings center and former teammate DeMarcus Cousins understands this better than most.
NBA
“I know he’s been working toward this. I’m extremely happy for him. He’s one of my best friends in this league,” Cousins said. “I’m glad he reached one of his personal goals.”
READ MORE AT CSNNE.com