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Inside The Huskies

Ultimate Gym Rat Isaiah Thomas Has New Basketball Calling

The legendary one will be entrusted to uncover a. player or two as passionate about the game as him.
Dan Raley|
Isaiah Thomas walks onto the court in 2018 to have his jersey retired.
Isaiah Thomas walks onto the court in 2018 to have his jersey retired. | Jennifer Buchanan-Imagn Images

Isaiah Thomas tried to play basketball forever.

Now he can approach this quest from a different tact.

Hired by the Boston Celtics this past week as a pro and college scout, Thomas can tell his higher-ups he knows of this savvy 5-foot-9 lefty guard out in Tacoma, Washington, who would be an ideal fit for the franchise.

Someone capable of scoring a big number when needed.

Or a last-second shot to win a conference title.

Above all, always a competitor.

Ah, for now, Thomas -- two years removed from his last NBA game -- will report to the Celtics, a team he played for in 2017-19, as a talent sleuth.

This job for Thomas, 37, just makes a whole lot of sense. He is as devoted to the game of basketball as anyone who played it.

He spent 13 seasons in the NBA with 11 teams and made his last league appearance by playing six games for the Phoenix Suns in 2024.

In recent seasons, Thomas has been a fixture at UW home games, a spectator always with a big smile on his face.

Media outlets have reported that Thomas attended the draft combine this week in Chicago. He worked with Celtics front-office executives as they interviewed potential prospects and he learned about the Boston evaluation process.

For starters, he can tell his employers all about 6-foot-11 Hannes Steinbach, who has put his name in the draft after one spectacular season at the UW.

Thomas was at his best in his three seasons with the Celtics, averaging 19 points per game over part of 2015, 22.2 in 2016 and a career-high 28.9 in 2017.

While in Boston, he made two All-Star teams and in 2017 he was named second-team All-NBA and finished fifth in the MVP voting.

His career was curtailed by a hip injury not long after his most productive season that led to surgery and had him bouncing around the league thereafter.

Yet it's been hard for him to let go of the game. He's never formally retired as a player. He still plays here and there.

As recently as 16 months ago, Thomas joined the Salt Lake City Stars of the G League and scored 40 points his first time out.

During this past offseason, he was a regular fixture at the UW competing in pick-up games alongside the current players.

He's said to have even suggested he might play in Europe.

But first, he'll go out and try and find the next Isaiah Thomas.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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