Former NBA All-Star Isaiah Thomas recently disclosed that the Boston Celtics did not inform him about the full extent of his injury.
Thomas, who remains out of the league, discussed his experience on the Knuckleheads Podcast. He revealed that the team’s lack of transparency about his injury’s severity was a major issue for him.
“When I got traded to Cleveland, I was upset because at that point, I put my career on the line for something you could have just broken down to me,” Thomas said, via HoopsHype. “It took me three years to really get back to who I am and figure out what was going on.”
Thomas reflected on how the Celtics’ handling of his injury impacted him. “The thing that hurt the most was that nothing was explained to me. If you tell me, ‘This can possibly get worse, this is what you have,’ then it’s on me to make the choice.”
He detailed his struggle with the injury, noting multiple injections. “They shot me up to go into the Wizards series, I got shot up three times, every round. The last one was right before Game 7 of the Wizards series.”
Thomas’s pain worsened in the Eastern Conference Finals. “Then in Game 2 of the Cleveland series, I get hit by a screen, and it just shoots to the back of my hip, and I’m like, ‘What the [heck]?’”
During Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semifinals, Thomas played a crucial role, scoring 29 points and dishing out 12 assists. His performance helped the Celtics advance to the Eastern Conference Finals.
However, Thomas was ruled out for the remainder of the postseason after the Celtics lost the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The team stated he suffered a re-aggravation of a right femoral-acetabular impingement with a labral tear.
The Celtics’ statement noted that Thomas initially injured his hip on March 15 against Minnesota. The injury was further aggravated during the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
