He’s 5-foot-9 and rsquo & everybody;s big brother, Joe Pesci with a jump shooter. Occasionally it’s a tip. Occasionally it’s a nudge. Occasionally it’s a joke. Occasionally it’s a kick at the crown jewels.
“He’s just one who’s definitely planning to mention anything such as, ‘You’re not playing good. You have to step upward,’ or anything like this,” Nuggets center Nikola Jokic said recently when asked to explain what it’so like to share a locker room with Isaiah Thomas. “I think that’s what veterans do, and that’s what he does. ”
Which resulted in the followup query out of the scribes: What did he ever say to youpersonally?
The Joker grinned at that one.
“He informed me at the preseason,” the man recalled, “he informed me, ‘Are you really gonna start playing what? ’ ”
[WATCH: Isaiah Thomas turns 30 and also the Nuggets rookies sing “Happy Birthday” to him]
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Which, funny enough, is precisely the identical question on the mind of NBA wonks and Nuggets fans nowadays, actually since reports bubbled last month the 30-year-old point guard, that has been rehabbing from hip operation, had targeted this pre-all-star-break mini-homestand using Miami (on Monday) and Sacramento (on Wednesday) to create his possible season introduction. Coach Michael Malone noticed the eight-year NBA vet didn’t participate in 5-on-5 practice sessions Sunday morning in the Pepsi Center but is keeping the remaining cards clutched tightly to his chest.
We don’t know for certain when it’s this week. Or another. But we do know that: The Nuggets (37-18 entering Monday night’s game) aren’t turning the screws on the remaining Western Conference without big brother Isaiah forcing his younger teammates, be it at the locker room, in practice, or by his seat in the end of the bench.
“We likely wouldn’t be so high along in the West when he wasn’t at our locker room,” point protector Monte Morris, among those franchise’s — and also the Celtics ’s — good narratives of 2019, said of Thomas. “(He’s) giving us hints on men he played and just understanding how to pull . I look up to him a lot, not just because he’s at my place, only what he’s been what and through. So we’re looking forward to having him backagain. Everyone knows what he brings to the desk, we should be really, really great, and if you add we now & rsquo; re doing at the moment. ”
What’s impressive is how really, really good theyrsquo;ve been without Thomas, a career 18.1-points-per-game scorer, about the ground through the summer ’s 55 contests. That leads to questions regarding the way in which the veteran matches in the backcourt spinning, at which the development of Morris and Malik Beasley has been the silver lining that’s dwarfed what has been supposed to function as cloud made by his lack of
“(He attracts ) a lot of leadership,” Nuggets swing man Will Barton said of Thomas. “A former invisibly. Scorer. A guy that could close games. Toughness. He’s just (been) on the major stage in big moments.
“I.T. attracts a lot of energy. Like I said, leadership. He’s comfy talking, trying to let us know what he sees on the market. You understand , he’s been in the league through a great deal. Anytime you have a guy like you and this ’re going to add him will be quite good. ”
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Even though more Thomas — and, presumably, much more Thomas and Gary Harris, eventually — means fewer minutes for Morris and Beasley down the stretch.
“Naw,” Morris countered when he’d regret a smaller role when asked.
“I mean, the thing about us (is), no one ’s got egos on this team. This ’s it’s always someone different every evening. Besides Nikola. Every evening, he does it. ”
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