Isaiah Thomas now finds himself at an interesting crossroad in his NBA career centered around the recovery from his hip injury.
It has created a cloud of doubt over him regarding his long-term future in the league. This had all began with his hip injury flaring in the playoffs that have put him in this position. According to Sports Illustrated, Thomas believes that playing in the playoffs through the injury made it worse.
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“No doubt about it, I should have sat out the playoffs,” he says. “No way around it, I made it worse.” After Game 2 of the East finals, the Celtics shut down Thomas, and he braced for surgery. “I thought I’d get it done in a couple days and start rehab,” he recounts. Thomas went to New York City for an appointment with Bryan Kelly, a leading orthopedic surgeon at the Hospital for Special Surgery and an expert in hip preservation. According to Thomas, Kelly prescribed rest rather than surgery and asked him to return for another MRI in six weeks, when inflammation diminished. Thomas, a regular at Seattle’s renowned pick-up runs, wasn’t even allowed to shoot with Jamal Crawford.
He had initially suffered it in the seven-game series in the Eastern Conference semifinals matchup against the Washington Wizards. It had become aggravated in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers where he was forced to miss the rest of the playoffs.
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Thomas’ personal choice to play through it has put him on the sideline for a few months with uncertainty about whether he will return to playing like the player he was prior to the injury. In hindsight, the decision to take the court despite the injury bothering him was not worth the risk, but at the time the Celtics were competing for an NBA title.
Although this has put Thomas in a tough spot, it was hard to determine at that point if the injury could worsen. He should be able to make his return at some point this season after January, but this should provide a huge eye opener for him and other players in the future who suffer this type of injury.