Picture Me Rollin'

Finding motivation has never been difficult for ISAIAH THOMAS. Now, as the face of one of the League’s most storied franchises, the Celtics PG is the NBA’s most unlikely superstar and on the cusp of joining the list of all-time basketball icons in the city of Boston.

- Peter Walsh

Isaiah Thomas was never supposed to be here.

He was never supposed to make it out of Tacoma, WA. Never supposed to be on the cover of SLAM Magazine. And sure as hell never supposed to be one of the NBA’s most feared scorers. 

Last pick in the draft? He’ll be lucky to make the team. Traded by the Kings? Not even one of the worst franchises in sports wants him. Traded in a last-minute deadline deal between the Suns and Celtics? Nah, he’ll spend his career as a journeyman.

Good thing Isaiah spends more time putting in work than listening to critics. Because today he’s a two-time NBA All-Star, the best fourth-quarter scorer in the League, a legit MVP candidate and the face of the Boston Celtics.

What are y’all gonna say now?

IT’S AN UNSEASONABLY warm late February day in Boston when Isaiah Thomas strolls into the gym at Cambridge, MA’s Rindge and Latin School rocking a full Nike Tech Fleece sweatsuit and a pair of Air Max 90s. After showing off the cover of a local Boston magazine he was featured on recently, Isaiah and his agency rep joke, “We’re leveling up today!” before he begins to change into his Celtics road uniform and matching green-and-black Kobe A.D. sneakers.

As he’s changing, a small crowd trickles in. First, a few members of the school’s faculty. Then, Officer Michael Daniliuk of the Cambridge PD enters, hoping to get a minute to thank Isaiah for the charitable efforts he and his wife Kayla made after a massive December fire displaced 125 East Cambridge residents.