The NBA is Giving Isaiah Thomas the Short End of the Stick

The practice of a team not paying you for your service, being non appreciative of your dedication, undermining your value, or just plain using you until they can’t use you anymore. In the case of Isaiah Thomas he was 27 years old and made his first all-star team playing with the Boston Celtics in 2016. The next year he made another all-star team, was third in the league in scoring, finished fifth in MVP voting and led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals. In addition to that, he played for the Celtics after his sister died, got his teeth knocked out and re-aggravated hip injury.

It has been noted by the media and Thomas himself that he was expected to get paid. Evidence by him saying jokingly but not playing that would he need to a brink truck to carry his money after he signed his new deal. However, instead signing a new contract with the Celtics, he was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers, then traded to the Los Angeles Lakers, to only be released after the season and only getting an offer with the Denver Nuggets for $2 million dollars.

This is not news to the people who follow the NBA. The only reason I went over Thomas’s back story is to provide context in comparison to some other players who have also signed contracts with new teams this offseason. I already knew that Isaiah was getting a raw deal when he was traded to the Lakers. Even though I initially thought it was good idea for him to leave the Cavs during last season; I quickly realized it wasn’t probably a good move. I even tweeted out during the NBA playoffs that LeBron and the Cavs could have used his scoring. I also believed that he wouldn’t made dribbled out the clock the way J.R Smith did during the Finals. Even if it was wrong, Isaiah would have shot the ball.

With that said, I didn’t realize how much bullshit the NBA teams were on with I.T, until I saw the contract signed by Jabari Parker and most recently Vince Carter. I don’t want to seem like I’m hating or pocket watching the next man money, but it is crazy that Jabari Parker got $40 million a year to play for the Bulls and I.T only $2 million. I use Jabari as an example because just like Thomas he just got back from an injury; most recently in 2017.

I also mentioned him because I don’t think he is better player than I.T. You might say Thomas doesn’t play defense, but Parker has recently went on  record saying he is not being paid to play defense.  You might say Jabari is younger, but it’s not like Thomas is a senior citizen. Speaking of age, how did 41 year old Vince Carter get a contract that pays more than Isaiah Thomas?  Vince just signed for the veteran minimum of $2.4 million, while Thomas is only getting $2 million. Like I said, I’m not hating but the NBA is giving Isaiah Thomas some bad treatment. He is the shortest player in the league and they the NBA is treating him like a shorty.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *