When the Celtics traded Isaiah Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Kyrie Irving – it was one of the biggest sports story of the summer. And while Bill Belichick didn't have much to say on the subject – his quarterback definitely didn't miss the news.
According to Thomas' recently released essay on The Players Tribune, of the many people who reached out to him after the news broke, one who really stood out was Patriots' quarterback, Tom Brady.
Thomas says they had the following conversation:
Brady began the conversation by texting "What's up, IT, I heard about the news. You good?," to Thomas.
Thomas responded: "I'm alright. I mean, it's crazy. It's a cold game."
Brady replied with, "Yes it is. Best of luck. You're gonna do great. Keep in touch."
Thomas said he was really moved by Brady reaching out and he spends a good deal of his essay talking about how much he wanted to have a career that mirrored the Boston legend:
"I look at a career like Tom's with the Patriots — and that's exactly the kind of career that I had hoped to be building here with the Celtics: Being this low draft pick... coming in without acclaim … and then — through hard work, and determination, and some talent that maybe people had overlooked — just starting to win, and win, and win. And then establishing a legacy of winning. And then staying in Boston, winning titles and competing like hell, for the rest of my career — until I was considered one of the all-time Boston greats. That's the career that I had started to map out for myself. In my mind, I wanted to be the Celtics version of Brady and Ortiz."
It's clear that Thomas really loved his time in Boston and he has a great appreciation for the history of not only the Celtics, but the Red Sox and Patriots. And it's also clear that game recognize game and the GOAT has a great appreciation for Thomas and all he achieved in his time in New England.
The Patriots kick off the 2017 season tomorrow and I would bet all my green that Thomas will be watching and rooting for TB12.
