The Boston Celtics had planned to do a video tribute to Isaiah Thomas when his new team the Cavs came to town on February 11th.
That happened to be the same day Boston was retiring team legend Paul Pierce's jersey. Pierce objected to sharing his day, especially since they were originally supposed to honor Thomas when he came to town on January 3, but Thomas balked on doing it then because he was still injured.
Another former Celtics champion, Rajon Rondo, has now weighed in, questioning why Thomas would get a Boston Garden tribute at all.
What has [Thomas] done?” Pelicans guard Rajon Rondo said before Tuesday’s game against the Celtics. “This is the Boston Celtics. This isn’t the Phoenix Suns, no disrespect to any other organization, but you don’t hang conference titles. Do we hang going to the conference finals? What do we hang here?”
Because of the backlash, Thomas has told the Celtics to scrap his tribute:
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.
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) January 17, 2018
I look forward to coming back and playing in Boston on Feb 11th and see all of the great fans whom I will always remember for their love and incredible support the past few years.
— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) January 17, 2018
Do Thomas's 2.5 years and one conference finals appearances in Boston deserve public recognition?
Or does Danny Ainge just feel guilty about trading him, as Paul Pierce alleges?
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