Isaiah Thomas gave the Boston Celtics a couple of excellent years, but franchise legend Paul Pierce wasn’t happy about the thought of sharing the spotlight when the team retires his jersey.
That message has been received.
In a post on Twitter, Thomas shared his gratitude for Boston’s offer but requested the team not show the tribute video when his Cleveland Cavaliers come to town Feb. 11.
“I’d like to thank the Celtics for their gracious offer to play a video tribute on Feb 11th celebrating my 3yrs in Boston. But since it appears this has caused some controversy w/ Paul Pierce’s night I’d ask the Celtics instead to focus all of their attention on #34’s career.”
The non-troversy only reached this point because Thomas asked the Celtics to wait on playing the video until he was active. Cleveland and Boston squared off in early January, but Thomas didn’t appear in the game due to his gradual re-integration to the lineup.
And that delay caused Pierce’s understandable frustration.
Now, unless the Celtics show the tribute before a potential postseason matchup, Thomas won’t visit TD Garden until next season. Would it be worth showing then? Perhaps that ship will have sailed.
Thomas might never officially get his video in Boston, but that doesn’t change how Celtics fans appreciate his past efforts.