Celtics center Robert Williams has been playing through constant pain in the NBA Finals because of a knee injury. According to Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, the Celtics’ medical staff ensured Williams that he’s not at risk of worsening his knee while playing through it.
It appears one former Boston star has seen this movie before and commented on the report about Williams’s injury.
“Heard that before lol,” Isaiah Thomas said on Twitter.
The former Celtics star point guard might be alluding to how the team handled his injury that eventually drastically changed his career. Thomas played for the Celtics from 2014 to ’17 during an incredible run where he made the All-Star team in both ’16 and ’17. However, that all came to a crashing halt after the ’17 postseason.
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During the 2017 Eastern Conference finals, Thomas was ruled out of the rest of the playoffs with a hip injury that was later diagnosed as a right femoral-acetabular impingement with labral tear. He was eventually traded to the Cavaliers. A physical exam by Cleveland’s staff revealed Thomas had been playing through several issues with his hip for some time.
During a 2021 interview on the All the Smoke podcast, Thomas revealed he initially injured himself in March ’17, but the team told him it was a bone bruise and he played through it. Ever since then, the former All-Star has gone from team to team and was never able to replicate his previous success on the court.
“The only thing that I think [the Celtics] handled wrong was not explaining to me what the extent of my injury could be if I do play,” he said in 2021.
Thomas, 33, signed with the Hornets in March and appeared in 17 games for the squad this past season where he averaged 8.3 points per game off the bench.
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