Landon Buford
Last week, Team USA Basketball finalized the 14 player roster for the final qualifying round AmeriCup later this month, a squad led by NBA All-Stars Joe Johnson and Isaiah Thomas.
Johnson was a guest on the NR Hour Podcast. During the appearance, Johnson talked about Thomas’ chance to play again in the NBA, and with him later this month.
“I am looking forward to it,” says Johnson.
“Us all getting together hanging out and having a good time. So, knowing him as a person, I never met him personally that I can remember. So, I’m looking forward to that, and his story is amazing. Obviously, he is still a guy fighting, and still loves the game of basketball. He is passionate enough [to keep going],”
“This came about with a random phone call wanting to know if I wanted to play, and I told them yeah. With no second-guessing, so that is how it happened,” Johnson said.
Thomas is an eight year veteran out of the University of Washington. He is a two time all-star and a former MVP candidate back when he was a member of the Boston Celtics. He spent two and half seasons in Boston before being traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers as a part of a trade that sent Kyrie Irving to Boston.
Ever since leaving Boston, Thomas has been dealing with a variety of different injuries, but is finally healthy.
Last month, Thomas told Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, that “he’s in communication with a handful of teams about an NBA return and says he recently hired Bernie Lee of Quartexx Basketball for representation.”
A capable years ago, I spoke with Nate Robinson asked which teams could use Thomas.
“Everybody could use him; it is just how they want to use him in their game plan. He is now in the same boat as me, being passed around the league to different teams,” Robinson.
“They want to use you for emergency purposes and takes a tone on your mental. It knows that you are good enough and your top four or top five in the MVP race averaging almost 29 points per game. That was not given; he had to go out and take that because it takes hard work, and it is a grind. That’s heart over height and having a chip on your shoulder.”
Hopefully, his time with Team USA later this month, will help Thomas land a gig with a team this season.
