November 26, 2025 • 25 mins
Remember when Isaiah Thomas popcorned Jaylen Brown’s car during JB’s rookie season? Isaiah Thomas does, and he tells the whole story here. IT joined the VFTR crew in studio during his recent trip to Boston to remember the glory days of when he and Celtics Nation first fell in love, and how it still feels like he’s on the roster. Thomas describes what it felt like to become a bona fide superstar for the Celtics during his 2.5 seasons in Boston. He became an MVP candidate. As a result, he earned some dream opportunities that he still remembers like it was yesterday, like hearing Shaq and Kevin Garnett respect and compliment him during a trip to the Inside the NBA studios, and his first experience as an NBA All-Star.
00:55: IT explains why Boston feels like home to him, and how it feels like he’s still on the roster
05:30: Isaiah promises it felt “different” the first time he suited up for the Celtics at TD Garden
07:00: IT touches on his height, at 5-foot-9, and how that supercharged his story
09:00: Grande says IT was “the match to the flame” for those underdog teams
10:50: Telling the story of a memorable trip to the Inside the NBA studios
14:00: Remembering his first All-Star experience and being like “a kid in a candy store”
17:00: What it was like playing with rookie Jaylen Brown
20:45: IT tells the story of when he popcorned Jaylen Brown’s car at TD Garden
23:50: IT plugs is hew podcast – the Point Game Pod
00:55: IT explains why Boston feels like home to him, and how it feels like he’s still on the roster
05:30: Isaiah promises it felt “different” the first time he suited up for the Celtics at TD Garden
07:00: IT touches on his height, at 5-foot-9, and how that supercharged his story
09:00: Grande says IT was “the match to the flame” for those underdog teams
10:50: Telling the story of a memorable trip to the Inside the NBA studios
14:00: Remembering his first All-Star experience and being like “a kid in a candy store”
17:00: What it was like playing with rookie Jaylen Brown
20:45: IT tells the story of when he popcorned Jaylen Brown’s car at TD Garden
23:50: IT plugs is hew podcast – the Point Game Pod
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
All right, welcome maybe another episode of View from the
Raptors presented by Exfinity Mobile.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And today we've got a special guest.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
We've got a man who captured this city, Celtics nation,
really like portions of the entire country, in a way
that I've never seen before. I really don't know if
I'll ever see that again in my lifetime, the way
that you just pulled everyone in while you were here.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
He is Isaiah Thomas Man.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Welcome into the studio.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
First and foremost.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Man, it's great to be here. First off, thank you
for the kind words.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
No need for that.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
And the studio is we were just talking about studio.
It's amazing. So I'm I'm super thankful to be back.
I appreciate you having me on and I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, but back in Boston first and foremost.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, we're in the studio, but you're back in the
home to right. You just as saw your tweet last night, Boston,
I'm home.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
What's it feel like?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
What are the interactions like when you're back here and
walking around the city and just seeing the fans out there.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I mean, it feels amazing, Like That's why I say
I'm back home. It just feels like it feels like home.
It feels like when I'm back in to come to Washington,
to love and support that I get from each and
everybody in the city. Is funny because when I walk
around the city at times, people look at me twice
because they're like, there's no way.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So it's like the love that I get is.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
I'm super thankful for. I'm appreciative. The feeling is mutual,
So it's always good to be back here. It's always
good to get that love and that appreciation that I
always get no matter where I am, and I'm super
thankful for it.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
We talked really briefly about this when you round you
from the Raptors a couple of seasons ago, about like,
how can you describe what that feeling is like if
like the love in both directions, not only from the
fans to you, but from you to the fans. What's
it feel like now a couple of years later, Like
how how would you describe the relationship between you and
(02:07):
the people of the city in Southern Nation.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It's crazy because like it feels like it gets more
love like the as time goes on, because like not
even like when I'm in the city, but on social media,
no matter where I am, I'm always referenced, like from
my time with the Celtics, So I'm super thankful for that.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
The love is genuine on both sides.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
It's like from day one, the city fell in love
with me and I fell in love with the city.
And no matter how long it's been since I've played
in the Celtics uniform, it seems like I'm still on
the roster with with the with the love that I get.
So I'm I'm, like I said, I'm super appreciative. I
don't take it for granted, and it's just it just
(02:57):
puts a smile on my face anytime like that I'm
in the city, anytime that I'm interacting with Celtics fans,
It's like it's hard to explain.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Well, how could we not off on love with you
when you get booted from your first game playing for
the team.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
We could talk more about that another time, but Sean
Grandy called every game that you played here with the
Celtics and he documented it on x and senting out
all the stats throughout the craziness.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Sean, what do you remember about when it was here?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
And in particular that final season, that twenty sixteen to
seventeen season.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
I remember all of it first and foremost, and maybe
the most amazing thing, and there is no shortage of
amazing things, is that everybody watching us now, everybody listening,
they're smiling. I'd see seeing your face and hearing your voice,
and they're flashing back to a time that we had
documented so much.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
But here's the thing. It's eight and a half years
later and Tom Brady was here for twenty years, David
Ortiz was here for ten plus years and won championships.
This phenomenon that you and the fans triggered in each
other lasted for two and a half years. It was
two and a half years, and it seems like you
were not only a lifetime Celtic, but that that period
(04:12):
of time makes people smile, and that's what is to me.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I'll remember you becoming one of the five best players
in the world in that twenty sixteen seventeen season, but
it was you were the match to the flame, and
Celtic fans didn't know what was going to happen because
the two and a half years before that had not
been great. That's an understatement and that I think people
(04:37):
you know, context is king right now. You have had
eight years, ten years of being the best team in
the NBA, certainly the last three and a half years
running away with it right, ten games better, twelve games
better than everybody else in the league at that time.
Celtic fans had touched the top in eight but the
end of the New Big Three era. Here's the dirty
little secret about the New Big Three era. It wasn't
(04:59):
so great at the end, Paul on KG It was
I called more of a basketball museum, been a real
team right in that last year.
Speaker 6 (05:09):
And when you got I'd never seen anything I'd see about.
It was a symbiosis of you needing this opportunity which
you hadn't gotten yet.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
And then you being exactly what the team, the fans,
and the city needed. How long did it take before
you knew this was a real thing that was happening?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Was an instant.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
First off, thank you for all the con words you say, Like,
I know you've seen the greats in this organization, not
just in this organization but around the NBA for so long,
so like your words mean a lot to when it
comes to the game of basketball. So I'm super thankful
for that but like I promise you that the first
(05:52):
day that I got here, in terms of playing my
first home game, it was just different for me from
any that I had, Like when I was on Sacramento
for three years, when I was in Phoenix.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
For that half a season, it just felt different. I
don't know what it was. And then it just continued
to get.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Bigger and bigger and bigger each and every game though,
like every game was so different, but it felt like
the first game that I had. It's hard to explain
because from day one, the love that I received from
getting ejected to my last game as a Celtic to
(06:31):
eight years later, I'm thirty six now I haven't played
in the Celtics uniform, but like you would think I'm
still a part of everything that's going on.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
It's weird, like whether it's.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Because everyone wants you for sure, it's but like he said,
like two and a half years, you would think I
won a championship. You would think I was here ten
plus years, like those guys that Sean named and Tom Brady,
David Ortiz, like not to compare myself to those guys.
The love is just like it's just hard to explain
(07:05):
and I'm super appreciative. I really put my hard hat
on every day to give this city everything I had,
so I think that was a big reason why they
loved me. And also, like I am everybody's height too,
so I always mentioned that, like I am a normal
person's height, So I feel like what I was doing
under the court made others believe they can do it
(07:27):
or something like that. So I'm, like I said, it's
it puts a smile on my face always even talking
about the Celtics, even seeing you guys on social media,
seeing you guys on TV, Like, I really feel like
it's a like my second family, and I'm always thankful
for the love and appreciation that I do get for
(07:50):
the small time that I was here. I think it
shows to just the hard work not only myself put in,
but those teams that I was on. I gotta get
a shout out to all my teammates that Obviously everybody
always talks about what I did as an individual, but
those teams made me who I was too.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Those teams also, like the city loved those exactly right,
So you were the head of the snake. But everyone
loved those tours for.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Sure, and it was so I always got to give
a shout out to those guys that I suited up with,
because yeah, I get a lot of the recognition, but
those guys did things that I couldn't do and I
and I was able to do things that.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
They couldn't do.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
So we just helped each other and we just we
we brought everything we could, and I think the city
just respected that and loved it from day one.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Sean, you asked him when he knew it was going
to be something special?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
When did you know it was going to be something special?
Speaker 7 (08:50):
It was. It didn't take very long because it had
been building. Remember the team under Brad Brad was forty
one and eighty seven. Everyone forgets this was forty one
and eighty.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Seven its first year and a half until the day
that Pete Carroll decided to throw the ball instead of
handing it the Marshall Lynch and the Patriots won that
Super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (09:10):
That turnaround, how was starting to happen, and then Icy
was the match to the flame.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
And what you guys are talking about the reason people
love that team is that as we sit here in
this extraordinary studio documenting the greatest.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Team in the history of the game and all the championships.
It has been rare.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Boston is an underdog city and the Red Sox were
that for years, and the Bruins have been that for
many years. The Celtics haven't had a lot of years
in their franchise history when they were the scrappy insurgency,
when they were the underdog and this team and the
guys were talking about here and Jay Crowder and Avery Bradling,
(09:49):
at Evan Turner and Jurebko. Everybody loved these guys because
they weren't supposed to win and who wasn't supposed to
do what he did more than anybody except Isaiah Thoms.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
He wasn't supposed to do this. I took my son
and this happened for me.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
It's so very personal because my son was five six
years old at the time and his favorite player, like
everybody's favorite player, was Isaiah. And I'd take him down
to South Stationian and we look at the pick Me
Last Again posters that were plastered all over the city,
and I'd show him box scores when he'd wake up
in the morning, and his little eyes would go across
the box score and go forty six points. Oh my god,
(10:25):
that's a new record for I'd see that breaks his
own record.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
So it was a phenomenon.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
That caught a rare time in Celtics history when the
Celtics weren't supposed to win and he wasn't supposed to
be able to do what he did, and then he
just kept doing it every night. And we'd come a
couple of years earlier off insanity. Insanity lasted two weeks.
This last two and a half years of being an
elite player and doing things, well, he's not gonna do
(10:53):
it again. He's not gonna go twenty in the fourth
quarter again tonight, is he? Yes, he just did. So
you have to I think what fascinates me and isay,
I want to bring up this moment because I know
you remembered it. It's about being in the moment versus
It's easy to sit here now, all of us older
and say, wasn't that thing great that happened way back when?
(11:14):
I know you remember, I tay you there about four
or five of us. We were in Atlanta and we
went over to the inside of the NBA studio and
this is during that season when KG was there with
Shaq and all those guys, and I remember because I
remember vividly thinking to myself, here's a guy who recognizes
in you that this is happening in real time, that
(11:37):
it isn't something you're going to look back ten years later,
or remember you were in the moment that night that
you were one of those guys. You're talking to Kobe
all the time, but right now, at that moment in history,
you were one of those guys. And I see you
nod in your head because you were, um, right right,
you were in that moment as.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
It was happening.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
For sure, in that moment, And I remember that night
just being around Shaq KG and like the respect that
they showed me, Like you could just feel it, the
energy in that room of like they looked at me
like I was them and it was super dope. And
that was one of the first time I were saying
(12:18):
that time but as a kid being able to like
that's what goes back in my mind, like there's no
way I'm talking to Shack and KG. There's no way
there there there they respect my game the way they do.
Like so like those moments, yes, I'm in the moment,
I'm right there, and those moments are the ones where
(12:38):
I'm like like you said your son was five and six.
I was at the mall yesterday and four kids came
up to me. They were probably like eighteen nineteen right now,
and they really like I seen it in their eyes,
the stories they were telling me, like you were really
my whole childhood, And like when I get that type
of stuff that just I'd be like, oh, oh my goodness,
(13:00):
because I was once them. But I never got to talk. Well,
later down the line, I got to talk to Kobe
and those type of guys.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
But while you were ten twelve.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
To run into that.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Yeah, so I get their emotion and I and I
feel it. So I think that's like why, like I
love the city, the city loves me, because it's just
it was so organic and it just happened. Like I
don't even know how to explain it, but it puts
a smile on my face. Hearing stories like that, it
puts a smile on my face. Like in real time,
(13:35):
being able to see kids and people like trip like
on seeing me and interacting with me. Like so it
just brings me to that little kid that had a
big dream and like Sean said, like nobody expected things
to happen. Did happen, and for it to happen the
way it did, it was like so organic.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yep, It's funny Sean brought that up because I felt
the exact same way I think it was All Star
to Ronald was at your first All Star, Bitch, and
I was up there kind of following you around your
first You got in and went straight to the media circuit,
which for anyone who hasn't been to All Star, like
it's a pain in the ass for the players, like
you got to go to like fifty different stations, do
(14:15):
all your hits whatever.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But you were like loving it, right.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
It was like it was like in the.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Candy store, and I could tell on your face you
couldn't believe that you were there, Like they were interviewing
you for All Star weekends, so you know the and
that kind of just brings about the thing that I
think especially about you, like you're so real and like
you don't hide that type of emotion and like those
thoughts where some players they're going to walk around acting
(14:41):
like they've been there before, right, but you were kind
of like, oh my god, like I can't believe that
I'm here.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
It's happened to.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Me and That's how every step of the way has
been like that with me, and I think that's why
fans and just people in general, if you're around me, like,
I don't.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Know, it's hard to but I don't take any of
this for granted.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
So anytime something happens, it's like something that I would
have dreamed of, like an All Star moment, getting interviewed
and being on the podium, like I dreamed of that.
So like when I was doing it, I was doing
it with amazing energy because I was still that kid,
like dang, this is really happening.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
So when Sean talks about all those nights.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Of scoring twenty, in my mind, and when I'm hearing
MVP in the stands and when I'm hearing seeing people
go crazy, I'm really in my mind like this is crazy,
this is happening. Like I dreamed of all these moments,
for them to really happen, for that first All Star
to happen, for how to walk in the tunnel and
Kobe give me a hug, like dang, you.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Made it, like you're idole.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Yes, I can't even dream of moments like that, So
like I'm always going to be a kid in the
candy store. When it comes to moments that happened in
my career, moments they happened after my career, when I'm
able to interact with kids that just was like, man,
you were my everything at one point. Like I'm just
super appreciative for those moments because everybody doesn't get to
(16:06):
experience those things. And I didn't really understand those moments
till I was out of them because I was so
locked in into what was next.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
I was so paranoid to just.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Being great every night that I didn't not only not
appreciate those moments, I was just so in kill mode
to I couldn't appreciate them because I had to do
better each and every night, each and every day for
this city because it expected greatness every day. And that
was like something that you don't understand until you're in
(16:39):
these shoes, until you put on a Celtic uniform, and
you're expected to be great every day. So I'm always
going to be a kid in all those moments. I'm
always going to have a smile on my face, and
I'm always gonna cherish each and every moment that I
can with this game.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
My son's already in the car.
Speaker 8 (16:57):
Fine, yeah, Yeah, I think you one.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Cut your mobile bill in half and saved sixty five
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Expinity imagine that.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
You said you were in Kilbo. You were definitely in Kilbo,
especially like I can't I don't know if you remember.
We did some film sessions and I was like, We're
gonna do a thing called how.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Did it do That?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And we would look back at remember and I'd be like, how,
how the hell did he just do that?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But all right, let's turn the page a little bit.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
We got to talk about your rook from that season,
because I think a lot of people don't even remember
that Jalen Brown was your rookie from that final season.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
I look back on some highlights and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Oh, there's like little Jalen Brown, like he's not all
jacked and cut like he is now he's got that
I fade, Uh, what do you remember? What are some
stories that you remember about young JB coming in as
a rookie.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Man, Jalen was a tough rookie to be around, just
because he already like this is the good thing about him.
He already felt like he was so good at that age.
He already felt.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Like he should have been starting being being the man.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
All of those things that are great qualities about Jalen,
but the biggest thing was like his humility and asking
questions at an early age. Like one thing about JB
Like he was sitting and asked me questions just about
how do you do this every night?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Like how do you how do you.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
How do you expect to lead every night? How do
you expect to to to do the things that you
do every night? And he's seen the preparation, he's seen me,
and I will always tell him like the things that
I'm expected to do is like you want these moments,
like you dream of these moments.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You dream to be the man and to be a
franchise player.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So to see the things that he does today or
to see the things that he's done after I left,
is like it's like a it's it puts a smile
on my face because I've seen it at an early
age and you contributed to the foundation of just a
little bit, Like he's seeing what he wanted as a
(19:20):
rookie in what I was doing, and he's seen it
each and every night.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
So to be able to have a small piece.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Be a part of a small piece of his success
now is like it puts a smile on my face
because I know what he wanted early and.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
He couldn't have.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
But then he just gradually got better each and every
year and his opportunity became bigger and he just took
everything and more, and I'm just so I'm so happy
for him because it's like I don't think anybody expected
him to do what he's done but himself. And for
me to see a young JB each and every day,
(19:59):
to just be add at his opportunity early on because
he wasn't getting the opportunity like he expected, but to
also just be a student and learning each and every
day and watching like I see as a student, I've
seen the watch and he he already thought he was
smarter than everybody in the room, so like I know
he still does. So like those were things where you're
(20:20):
like like just relax, be like your time is gonna come.
But those are like great qualities to have and to
see the success he has now, Like I just sit
back and smile because like you didn't expect it, but
you've seen bits and pieces of it each and every
day you were around him.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
I think was the smile when Adam Silver said he's
the MVP of the finals.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
It was Uh, it was it was everything because, like
I said, I had a little small piece of that,
Like I was a part of his journey, and to
see him get you know, all the accolades and the success,
the All Stars, the chance and ship, it's like, I
just feel like I helped just a little bit.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
But he took it to a level that I think
nobody imagine.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Him being that.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
And I'm just like, I'm I'm excited to see where
he texted after this. He still got so many great
years ahead of him, and I'm super I'm super appreciative
just to be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
We got to wrap up, but you got to give
us one story, one story about him as a rookie.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
One story. Did you ever hear about when I popcorn
his car?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I remember that happening.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
So JB was a He wasn't a great rookie in
terms of doing just the normal duties. He needed to
bring soap on the road, he needed to have the
towels for everybody. This wasn't like we wasn't asking him
to do nothing out of the ordinary, just just just.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Do what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Yeah, just have things that you're supposed to have ready
for each and everybody in the locker room, because you
just have to go through it.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
So he was a guy on the road.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
We will be a team where sometimes we wouldn't have
the soap because he wouldn't bring it. And I remember
later down the year he was just not he wasn't
He just wasn't doing what was add So I'm like, okay,
it was a perfect time. I'm like, this is the
time I had the ball boys and the assistance in
the locker room.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I remember at the garden.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Yes, at the garden, I said, Okay, we're gonna go
go upstairs and get all the pop didn't get and
we're gonna popcorn his car tonight. And it was funny
because I didn't know he had family in town that
night either. So it was a night. Look it was
a night that he didn't play well. I think we won.
I had a good game, so I was in a
good road. He didn't play well or he didn't play
(22:47):
a lot, so he was already one of them nights
where he just he did wasn't in a good move.
So this was just only gonna make it worse because
I knew what was going on and he didn't.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I remember Danny Aing's coming coming to my locker like it, T,
did you popcorn?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Did you popcorn Jaylen's car?
Speaker 4 (23:05):
I said, I mean it was only right, you know,
by being on the road. Sometimes I'm mad. We would
get at JB for not doing what he's supposed to do.
The thing that made me feel bad was he had
family in town and they had to wait after the
game to get all the popcorn out because he had
a little He had a car that everybody was in.
(23:25):
I think he had four or.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Five people in. So shout out to JB's family. I'm sorry.
That's my only little story I had.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
That I was able to popcorn such a talented young
man and able to humble that guy at a time
where he just felt like he knew it all.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
But the real question is did he then start bringing
the soap on the road? Didn't change it, didn't change
his actions.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
He didn't change his actions at all. So that's Jaylen Brown.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Firdu Oh my god, all right, I love it it. T.
We appreciate the time man, Thanks for coming back. Congrats
on being honored at the tradition, I mean the first
I'm sure of many honors that you're gonna get here
in the city of Boston. Man, We're happy to have
you back. Sean, thanks for beaming in from New York
from before the game tonight. So thank you both, and
we look look forward to having me back sometime.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
So I appreciate you having me. I appreciate you. I
appreciate being here. Appreciate you Sean for always showing me
the love you do. It doesn't go it doesn't go
unnoticed at all. So thankful for being here, and I
appreciate both of you guys.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Before we wrap, plug, plug the new.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Pod point game Pod, and tap in subscribe. I'm able
to talk about the game of basketball in a different light.
We're actually gonna record something later today with mother and
Evan Turner.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
So there we go entertaining.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Yeah, he's gotta talk the whole time, so it's good.
He's my first guest, so it's gonna be good. I
get to see my guy later on today and I'm
I'm happy to be able to win to wrap with
my love.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Make sure gouts tap in all right, Thanks, thank you God.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Mm hmmm
Speaker 7 (25:10):
Mm hmm.
All right, welcome maybe another episode of View from the
Raptors presented by Exfinity Mobile.
Speaker 2 (00:15):
And today we've got a special guest.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
We've got a man who captured this city, Celtics nation,
really like portions of the entire country, in a way
that I've never seen before. I really don't know if
I'll ever see that again in my lifetime, the way
that you just pulled everyone in while you were here.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
He is Isaiah Thomas Man.
Speaker 3 (00:35):
Welcome into the studio.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
First and foremost.
Speaker 4 (00:37):
Man, it's great to be here. First off, thank you
for the kind words.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
No need for that.
Speaker 4 (00:43):
And the studio is we were just talking about studio.
It's amazing. So I'm I'm super thankful to be back.
I appreciate you having me on and I'm excited.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
Yeah, but back in Boston first and foremost.
Speaker 5 (00:57):
Right.
Speaker 1 (00:57):
Yeah, we're in the studio, but you're back in the
home to right. You just as saw your tweet last night, Boston,
I'm home.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
What's it feel like?
Speaker 1 (01:04):
What are the interactions like when you're back here and
walking around the city and just seeing the fans out there.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
I mean, it feels amazing, Like That's why I say
I'm back home. It just feels like it feels like home.
It feels like when I'm back in to come to Washington,
to love and support that I get from each and
everybody in the city. Is funny because when I walk
around the city at times, people look at me twice
because they're like, there's no way.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
So it's like the love that I get is.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
I'm super thankful for. I'm appreciative. The feeling is mutual,
So it's always good to be back here. It's always
good to get that love and that appreciation that I
always get no matter where I am, and I'm super
thankful for it.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
We talked really briefly about this when you round you
from the Raptors a couple of seasons ago, about like,
how can you describe what that feeling is like if
like the love in both directions, not only from the
fans to you, but from you to the fans. What's
it feel like now a couple of years later, Like
how how would you describe the relationship between you and
(02:07):
the people of the city in Southern Nation.
Speaker 4 (02:09):
It's crazy because like it feels like it gets more
love like the as time goes on, because like not
even like when I'm in the city, but on social media,
no matter where I am, I'm always referenced, like from
my time with the Celtics, So I'm super thankful for that.
Speaker 3 (02:29):
The love is genuine on both sides.
Speaker 4 (02:33):
It's like from day one, the city fell in love
with me and I fell in love with the city.
And no matter how long it's been since I've played
in the Celtics uniform, it seems like I'm still on
the roster with with the with the love that I get.
So I'm I'm, like I said, I'm super appreciative. I
don't take it for granted, and it's just it just
(02:57):
puts a smile on my face anytime like that I'm
in the city, anytime that I'm interacting with Celtics fans,
It's like it's hard to explain.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
Well, how could we not off on love with you
when you get booted from your first game playing for
the team.
Speaker 5 (03:11):
Right.
Speaker 1 (03:12):
We could talk more about that another time, but Sean
Grandy called every game that you played here with the
Celtics and he documented it on x and senting out
all the stats throughout the craziness.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Sean, what do you remember about when it was here?
Speaker 1 (03:27):
And in particular that final season, that twenty sixteen to
seventeen season.
Speaker 5 (03:31):
I remember all of it first and foremost, and maybe
the most amazing thing, and there is no shortage of
amazing things, is that everybody watching us now, everybody listening,
they're smiling. I'd see seeing your face and hearing your voice,
and they're flashing back to a time that we had
documented so much.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
But here's the thing. It's eight and a half years
later and Tom Brady was here for twenty years, David
Ortiz was here for ten plus years and won championships.
This phenomenon that you and the fans triggered in each
other lasted for two and a half years. It was
two and a half years, and it seems like you
were not only a lifetime Celtic, but that that period
(04:12):
of time makes people smile, and that's what is to me.
Speaker 5 (04:17):
I'll remember you becoming one of the five best players
in the world in that twenty sixteen seventeen season, but
it was you were the match to the flame, and
Celtic fans didn't know what was going to happen because
the two and a half years before that had not
been great. That's an understatement and that I think people
(04:37):
you know, context is king right now. You have had
eight years, ten years of being the best team in
the NBA, certainly the last three and a half years
running away with it right, ten games better, twelve games
better than everybody else in the league at that time.
Celtic fans had touched the top in eight but the
end of the New Big Three era. Here's the dirty
little secret about the New Big Three era. It wasn't
(04:59):
so great at the end, Paul on KG It was
I called more of a basketball museum, been a real
team right in that last year.
Speaker 6 (05:09):
And when you got I'd never seen anything I'd see about.
It was a symbiosis of you needing this opportunity which
you hadn't gotten yet.
Speaker 5 (05:18):
And then you being exactly what the team, the fans,
and the city needed. How long did it take before
you knew this was a real thing that was happening?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Was an instant.
Speaker 4 (05:32):
First off, thank you for all the con words you say, Like,
I know you've seen the greats in this organization, not
just in this organization but around the NBA for so long,
so like your words mean a lot to when it
comes to the game of basketball. So I'm super thankful
for that but like I promise you that the first
(05:52):
day that I got here, in terms of playing my
first home game, it was just different for me from
any that I had, Like when I was on Sacramento
for three years, when I was in Phoenix.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
For that half a season, it just felt different. I
don't know what it was. And then it just continued
to get.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Bigger and bigger and bigger each and every game though,
like every game was so different, but it felt like
the first game that I had. It's hard to explain
because from day one, the love that I received from
getting ejected to my last game as a Celtic to
(06:31):
eight years later, I'm thirty six now I haven't played
in the Celtics uniform, but like you would think I'm
still a part of everything that's going on.
Speaker 3 (06:40):
It's weird, like whether it's.
Speaker 4 (06:42):
Because everyone wants you for sure, it's but like he said,
like two and a half years, you would think I
won a championship. You would think I was here ten
plus years, like those guys that Sean named and Tom Brady,
David Ortiz, like not to compare myself to those guys.
The love is just like it's just hard to explain
(07:05):
and I'm super appreciative. I really put my hard hat
on every day to give this city everything I had,
so I think that was a big reason why they
loved me. And also, like I am everybody's height too,
so I always mentioned that, like I am a normal
person's height, So I feel like what I was doing
under the court made others believe they can do it
(07:27):
or something like that. So I'm, like I said, it's
it puts a smile on my face always even talking
about the Celtics, even seeing you guys on social media,
seeing you guys on TV, Like, I really feel like
it's a like my second family, and I'm always thankful
for the love and appreciation that I do get for
(07:50):
the small time that I was here. I think it
shows to just the hard work not only myself put in,
but those teams that I was on. I gotta get
a shout out to all my teammates that Obviously everybody
always talks about what I did as an individual, but
those teams made me who I was too.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
Those teams also, like the city loved those exactly right,
So you were the head of the snake. But everyone
loved those tours for.
Speaker 4 (08:19):
Sure, and it was so I always got to give
a shout out to those guys that I suited up with,
because yeah, I get a lot of the recognition, but
those guys did things that I couldn't do and I
and I was able to do things that.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
They couldn't do.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
So we just helped each other and we just we
we brought everything we could, and I think the city
just respected that and loved it from day one.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
Sean, you asked him when he knew it was going
to be something special?
Speaker 2 (08:47):
When did you know it was going to be something special?
Speaker 7 (08:50):
It was. It didn't take very long because it had
been building. Remember the team under Brad Brad was forty
one and eighty seven. Everyone forgets this was forty one
and eighty.
Speaker 5 (09:01):
Seven its first year and a half until the day
that Pete Carroll decided to throw the ball instead of
handing it the Marshall Lynch and the Patriots won that
Super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (09:10):
That turnaround, how was starting to happen, and then Icy
was the match to the flame.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
And what you guys are talking about the reason people
love that team is that as we sit here in
this extraordinary studio documenting the greatest.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Team in the history of the game and all the championships.
It has been rare.
Speaker 5 (09:28):
Boston is an underdog city and the Red Sox were
that for years, and the Bruins have been that for
many years. The Celtics haven't had a lot of years
in their franchise history when they were the scrappy insurgency,
when they were the underdog and this team and the
guys were talking about here and Jay Crowder and Avery Bradling,
(09:49):
at Evan Turner and Jurebko. Everybody loved these guys because
they weren't supposed to win and who wasn't supposed to
do what he did more than anybody except Isaiah Thoms.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
He wasn't supposed to do this. I took my son
and this happened for me.
Speaker 5 (10:04):
It's so very personal because my son was five six
years old at the time and his favorite player, like
everybody's favorite player, was Isaiah. And I'd take him down
to South Stationian and we look at the pick Me
Last Again posters that were plastered all over the city,
and I'd show him box scores when he'd wake up
in the morning, and his little eyes would go across
the box score and go forty six points. Oh my god,
(10:25):
that's a new record for I'd see that breaks his
own record.
Speaker 6 (10:29):
So it was a phenomenon.
Speaker 5 (10:31):
That caught a rare time in Celtics history when the
Celtics weren't supposed to win and he wasn't supposed to
be able to do what he did, and then he
just kept doing it every night. And we'd come a
couple of years earlier off insanity. Insanity lasted two weeks.
This last two and a half years of being an
elite player and doing things, well, he's not gonna do
(10:53):
it again. He's not gonna go twenty in the fourth
quarter again tonight, is he? Yes, he just did. So
you have to I think what fascinates me and isay,
I want to bring up this moment because I know
you remembered it. It's about being in the moment versus
It's easy to sit here now, all of us older
and say, wasn't that thing great that happened way back when?
(11:14):
I know you remember, I tay you there about four
or five of us. We were in Atlanta and we
went over to the inside of the NBA studio and
this is during that season when KG was there with
Shaq and all those guys, and I remember because I
remember vividly thinking to myself, here's a guy who recognizes
in you that this is happening in real time, that
(11:37):
it isn't something you're going to look back ten years later,
or remember you were in the moment that night that
you were one of those guys. You're talking to Kobe
all the time, but right now, at that moment in history,
you were one of those guys. And I see you
nod in your head because you were, um, right right,
you were in that moment as.
Speaker 6 (11:54):
It was happening.
Speaker 4 (11:56):
For sure, in that moment, And I remember that night
just being around Shaq KG and like the respect that
they showed me, Like you could just feel it, the
energy in that room of like they looked at me
like I was them and it was super dope. And
that was one of the first time I were saying
(12:18):
that time but as a kid being able to like
that's what goes back in my mind, like there's no
way I'm talking to Shack and KG. There's no way
there there there they respect my game the way they do.
Like so like those moments, yes, I'm in the moment,
I'm right there, and those moments are the ones where
(12:38):
I'm like like you said your son was five and six.
I was at the mall yesterday and four kids came
up to me. They were probably like eighteen nineteen right now,
and they really like I seen it in their eyes,
the stories they were telling me, like you were really
my whole childhood, And like when I get that type
of stuff that just I'd be like, oh, oh my goodness,
(13:00):
because I was once them. But I never got to talk. Well,
later down the line, I got to talk to Kobe
and those type of guys.
Speaker 2 (13:08):
But while you were ten twelve.
Speaker 3 (13:11):
To run into that.
Speaker 4 (13:12):
Yeah, so I get their emotion and I and I
feel it. So I think that's like why, like I
love the city, the city loves me, because it's just
it was so organic and it just happened. Like I
don't even know how to explain it, but it puts
a smile on my face. Hearing stories like that, it
puts a smile on my face. Like in real time,
(13:35):
being able to see kids and people like trip like
on seeing me and interacting with me. Like so it
just brings me to that little kid that had a
big dream and like Sean said, like nobody expected things
to happen. Did happen, and for it to happen the
way it did, it was like so organic.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
Yep, It's funny Sean brought that up because I felt
the exact same way I think it was All Star
to Ronald was at your first All Star, Bitch, and
I was up there kind of following you around your
first You got in and went straight to the media circuit,
which for anyone who hasn't been to All Star, like
it's a pain in the ass for the players, like
you got to go to like fifty different stations, do
(14:15):
all your hits whatever.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
But you were like loving it, right.
Speaker 3 (14:19):
It was like it was like in the.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Candy store, and I could tell on your face you
couldn't believe that you were there, Like they were interviewing
you for All Star weekends, so you know the and
that kind of just brings about the thing that I
think especially about you, like you're so real and like
you don't hide that type of emotion and like those
thoughts where some players they're going to walk around acting
(14:41):
like they've been there before, right, but you were kind
of like, oh my god, like I can't believe that
I'm here.
Speaker 2 (14:46):
It's happened to.
Speaker 4 (14:47):
Me and That's how every step of the way has
been like that with me, and I think that's why
fans and just people in general, if you're around me, like,
I don't.
Speaker 3 (14:59):
Know, it's hard to but I don't take any of
this for granted.
Speaker 4 (15:04):
So anytime something happens, it's like something that I would
have dreamed of, like an All Star moment, getting interviewed
and being on the podium, like I dreamed of that.
So like when I was doing it, I was doing
it with amazing energy because I was still that kid,
like dang, this is really happening.
Speaker 3 (15:20):
So when Sean talks about all those nights.
Speaker 4 (15:22):
Of scoring twenty, in my mind, and when I'm hearing
MVP in the stands and when I'm hearing seeing people
go crazy, I'm really in my mind like this is crazy,
this is happening. Like I dreamed of all these moments,
for them to really happen, for that first All Star
to happen, for how to walk in the tunnel and
Kobe give me a hug, like dang, you.
Speaker 2 (15:42):
Made it, like you're idole.
Speaker 4 (15:44):
Yes, I can't even dream of moments like that, So
like I'm always going to be a kid in the
candy store. When it comes to moments that happened in
my career, moments they happened after my career, when I'm
able to interact with kids that just was like, man,
you were my everything at one point. Like I'm just
super appreciative for those moments because everybody doesn't get to
(16:06):
experience those things. And I didn't really understand those moments
till I was out of them because I was so
locked in into what was next.
Speaker 3 (16:15):
I was so paranoid to just.
Speaker 4 (16:17):
Being great every night that I didn't not only not
appreciate those moments, I was just so in kill mode
to I couldn't appreciate them because I had to do
better each and every night, each and every day for
this city because it expected greatness every day. And that
was like something that you don't understand until you're in
(16:39):
these shoes, until you put on a Celtic uniform, and
you're expected to be great every day. So I'm always
going to be a kid in all those moments. I'm
always going to have a smile on my face, and
I'm always gonna cherish each and every moment that I
can with this game.
Speaker 3 (16:56):
My son's already in the car.
Speaker 8 (16:57):
Fine, yeah, Yeah, I think you one.
Speaker 4 (17:16):
Cut your mobile bill in half and saved sixty five
dollars a month for your first year with Expinity Mobile
Expinity imagine that.
Speaker 1 (17:26):
You said you were in Kilbo. You were definitely in Kilbo,
especially like I can't I don't know if you remember.
We did some film sessions and I was like, We're
gonna do a thing called how.
Speaker 2 (17:35):
Did it do That?
Speaker 1 (17:36):
And we would look back at remember and I'd be like, how,
how the hell did he just do that?
Speaker 2 (17:40):
But all right, let's turn the page a little bit.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
We got to talk about your rook from that season,
because I think a lot of people don't even remember
that Jalen Brown was your rookie from that final season.
Speaker 2 (17:49):
I look back on some highlights and I'm like.
Speaker 1 (17:51):
Oh, there's like little Jalen Brown, like he's not all
jacked and cut like he is now he's got that
I fade, Uh, what do you remember? What are some
stories that you remember about young JB coming in as
a rookie.
Speaker 4 (18:02):
Man, Jalen was a tough rookie to be around, just
because he already like this is the good thing about him.
He already felt like he was so good at that age.
He already felt.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
Like he should have been starting being being the man.
Speaker 4 (18:19):
All of those things that are great qualities about Jalen,
but the biggest thing was like his humility and asking
questions at an early age. Like one thing about JB
Like he was sitting and asked me questions just about
how do you do this every night?
Speaker 3 (18:36):
Like how do you how do you.
Speaker 4 (18:39):
How do you expect to lead every night? How do
you expect to to to do the things that you
do every night? And he's seen the preparation, he's seen me,
and I will always tell him like the things that
I'm expected to do is like you want these moments,
like you dream of these moments.
Speaker 3 (18:57):
You dream to be the man and to be a
franchise player.
Speaker 4 (19:00):
So to see the things that he does today or
to see the things that he's done after I left,
is like it's like a it's it puts a smile
on my face because I've seen it at an early
age and you contributed to the foundation of just a
little bit, Like he's seeing what he wanted as a
(19:20):
rookie in what I was doing, and he's seen it
each and every night.
Speaker 3 (19:24):
So to be able to have a small piece.
Speaker 4 (19:29):
Be a part of a small piece of his success
now is like it puts a smile on my face
because I know what he wanted early and.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
He couldn't have.
Speaker 4 (19:38):
But then he just gradually got better each and every
year and his opportunity became bigger and he just took
everything and more, and I'm just so I'm so happy
for him because it's like I don't think anybody expected
him to do what he's done but himself. And for
me to see a young JB each and every day,
(19:59):
to just be add at his opportunity early on because
he wasn't getting the opportunity like he expected, but to
also just be a student and learning each and every
day and watching like I see as a student, I've
seen the watch and he he already thought he was
smarter than everybody in the room, so like I know
he still does. So like those were things where you're
(20:20):
like like just relax, be like your time is gonna come.
But those are like great qualities to have and to
see the success he has now, Like I just sit
back and smile because like you didn't expect it, but
you've seen bits and pieces of it each and every
day you were around him.
Speaker 5 (20:40):
I think was the smile when Adam Silver said he's
the MVP of the finals.
Speaker 4 (20:46):
It was Uh, it was it was everything because, like
I said, I had a little small piece of that,
Like I was a part of his journey, and to
see him get you know, all the accolades and the success,
the All Stars, the chance and ship, it's like, I
just feel like I helped just a little bit.
Speaker 3 (21:04):
But he took it to a level that I think
nobody imagine.
Speaker 2 (21:08):
Him being that.
Speaker 4 (21:09):
And I'm just like, I'm I'm excited to see where
he texted after this. He still got so many great
years ahead of him, and I'm super I'm super appreciative
just to be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (21:22):
We got to wrap up, but you got to give
us one story, one story about him as a rookie.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
One story. Did you ever hear about when I popcorn
his car?
Speaker 2 (21:31):
I remember that happening.
Speaker 4 (21:34):
So JB was a He wasn't a great rookie in
terms of doing just the normal duties. He needed to
bring soap on the road, he needed to have the
towels for everybody. This wasn't like we wasn't asking him
to do nothing out of the ordinary, just just just.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Do what you're supposed to do.
Speaker 4 (21:53):
Yeah, just have things that you're supposed to have ready
for each and everybody in the locker room, because you
just have to go through it.
Speaker 3 (22:00):
So he was a guy on the road.
Speaker 4 (22:02):
We will be a team where sometimes we wouldn't have
the soap because he wouldn't bring it. And I remember
later down the year he was just not he wasn't
He just wasn't doing what was add So I'm like, okay,
it was a perfect time. I'm like, this is the
time I had the ball boys and the assistance in
the locker room.
Speaker 2 (22:22):
I remember at the garden.
Speaker 4 (22:23):
Yes, at the garden, I said, Okay, we're gonna go
go upstairs and get all the pop didn't get and
we're gonna popcorn his car tonight. And it was funny
because I didn't know he had family in town that
night either. So it was a night. Look it was
a night that he didn't play well. I think we won.
I had a good game, so I was in a
good road. He didn't play well or he didn't play
(22:47):
a lot, so he was already one of them nights
where he just he did wasn't in a good move.
So this was just only gonna make it worse because
I knew what was going on and he didn't.
Speaker 3 (22:57):
I remember Danny Aing's coming coming to my locker like it, T,
did you popcorn?
Speaker 2 (23:02):
Did you?
Speaker 3 (23:02):
Did you popcorn Jaylen's car?
Speaker 4 (23:05):
I said, I mean it was only right, you know,
by being on the road. Sometimes I'm mad. We would
get at JB for not doing what he's supposed to do.
The thing that made me feel bad was he had
family in town and they had to wait after the
game to get all the popcorn out because he had
a little He had a car that everybody was in.
(23:25):
I think he had four or.
Speaker 3 (23:26):
Five people in. So shout out to JB's family. I'm sorry.
That's my only little story I had.
Speaker 4 (23:32):
That I was able to popcorn such a talented young
man and able to humble that guy at a time
where he just felt like he knew it all.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
But the real question is did he then start bringing
the soap on the road? Didn't change it, didn't change
his actions.
Speaker 3 (23:48):
He didn't change his actions at all. So that's Jaylen Brown.
Speaker 1 (23:51):
Firdu Oh my god, all right, I love it it. T.
We appreciate the time man, Thanks for coming back. Congrats
on being honored at the tradition, I mean the first
I'm sure of many honors that you're gonna get here
in the city of Boston. Man, We're happy to have
you back. Sean, thanks for beaming in from New York
from before the game tonight. So thank you both, and
we look look forward to having me back sometime.
Speaker 4 (24:13):
So I appreciate you having me. I appreciate you. I
appreciate being here. Appreciate you Sean for always showing me
the love you do. It doesn't go it doesn't go
unnoticed at all. So thankful for being here, and I
appreciate both of you guys.
Speaker 2 (24:27):
Before we wrap, plug, plug the new.
Speaker 4 (24:29):
Pod point game Pod, and tap in subscribe. I'm able
to talk about the game of basketball in a different light.
We're actually gonna record something later today with mother and
Evan Turner.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
So there we go entertaining.
Speaker 4 (24:48):
Yeah, he's gotta talk the whole time, so it's good.
He's my first guest, so it's gonna be good. I
get to see my guy later on today and I'm
I'm happy to be able to win to wrap with
my love.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
Make sure gouts tap in all right, Thanks, thank you God.
Speaker 2 (25:07):
Mm hmmm
Speaker 7 (25:10):
Mm hmm.
Host
Marc D'Amico
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