In the midst of a Chris Broussard report citing new Cleveland Cavs point man Isaiah Thomas rubbing some of his former teammates the wrong way due to his ego and a Napoleon complex, his former head coach and current Nuggets coach, Mike Malone, came to his defense.
“I coached Isaiah Thomas in Sacramento, he was/is a great person and teammate,” Malone told Broussard. “I never saw or heard anything negative about him.”
Malone molded Thomas into a starting point guard, role which he harnessed into his stint with the Boston Celtics, one that ultimately catapulted him to stardom.
While Broussard hasn’t directly indicted Thomas as an egomaniac, his anonymous sources in the executive ranks aren’t coming to double down on his report, while Thomas’ former teammates have come one after the other to deny any animosity toward the 5-foot-9 dynamo, including Evan Turner, who has known him since the ripe age of 16.
Every NBA player has some sort of ego attached to them, it’s perhaps the most vital asset each player can have, what drives them to get better and go in this everlasting search of excellence throughout their careers.
Thomas has been a fearless competitor, going against the trees and taking on bigger and stronger opponents countless times; ultimately developing into one of the league’s best scorers, ranking as the third-best last season.