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Isaiah Thomas with the Boston Celtics in 2017.
Very few 5’9″ players thrive in the NBA. Few reach All-Star level. Boston Celtics Guard Isaiah Thomas did just that.
Thomas, selected by the Sacramento Kings with the final choice in the 2011 NBA Draft, Thomas played two full seasons with the Celtics, earning All-Star honors each time. Thomas credited his success as a small forward in the NBA to former star Damon Stoudemire, who played 13 NBA seasons and later became an assistant coach with the Celtics.
Isaiah Thomas Modeled His Game on Damon Stoudemire
Thomas was considered an outsider to make the NBA after playing college basketball at Washington. The 60th overall pick in 2011, Thomas played three years with the Kings and half a season with the Phoenix Suns before joining the Celtics midway through the 2014-15 season.
A left-hander, Thomas knew he could play in a big-time league. He needed a full-time chance. The Celtics gave it to him.
After starting just one game in the 2014–15 season, Thomas played in all 82 games the following season, starting 79 of them. He averaged 22.2 points and 6.2 assists and earned the first of his two All-Star selections. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he said Stoudemire was a key part of Thomas’ success at the professional level.
“Damon Stoudemire was a great character for me” Thomas said during an episode of the player’s “Knuckleheads” podcast, nicknamed Mighty Mouse. “He’s left-handed. He’s from Portland, which is close to Tacoma and Seattle.
“He was kind of the guy I looked up to in my game, a left-handed shooter, great ballplayer, and really fast. I got a Mighty Mouse tattoo because of him. He was a huge inspiration in my life and career. When I got older, especially when I got to college, he was a guy that really paved the way for me and helped me with the things that I was looking for, like what I needed to do to get into the NBA as a small guard.”
Thomas and Stoudemire had a big impact with the Celtics
Although Stoudemire never played for the Celtics, he became an assistant coach with the team in July 2021. He left Boston in 2023 to become the head coach of the Georgia Tech men’s basketball team. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said Stoudemire’s ability to connect with players was key to the Celtics’ success.
“Damon is a great person, an accomplished leader and will be an excellent head coach,” Mazzulla said, according to MassLive in 2023. “He has the ability to build authentic relationships, connect with players and bring an organization together around a common goal. His loyalty, basketball experience, work ethic and personality have made the Celtics better. He will be missed as a person and as a coach. Georgia Tech is lucky to have him.”
Thomas understands where Mazzulla is coming from, especially when it comes to connecting with the little guards.
“He’s a guy who told me you had to be able to score baskets,” he said. “You had to be creative in the paint, be unpredictable. He was the first guy who taught me how to be successful as a small forward. It’s tough. You have to be super special. You have to do things at a high level that most guys don’t have to do. I have to be exceptional every time I step on the court.”
In his two full seasons in Boston, Thomas was exceptional. In his second year with the team, he averaged a career-best 28.9 points and finished fifth in MVP voting.
Stoudemire played 13 seasons in the NBA, including eight with the The Portland Trail Blazers.
Mike Thomas is a veteran sports journalist who covers the NBA for Heavy.com, particularly the Boston Celtics. He previously worked as an NBA and NFL writer for Sportscasting and was a sports editor for The Herald News in Fall River, Massachusetts for 16 years. Learn more about Mike Thomas
