“I Was HOT When I Was Traded”: Isaiah Thomas Expresses Frustration Over Being Forced to Leave His ‘Favorite’ City

Former Phoenix Suns star Isaiah Thomas has been out of play from the NBA for over a year. Being relatively active on his Twitter (now X) profile, Thomas often shares insights from his experiences in the NBA as well as his opinions on the current state of the league. In a recently shared post, Thomas expressed his frustration regarding getting traded from the Phoenix Suns to the Boston Celtics in 2015, when he was in his prime.

The Sacramento Kings initially drafted Thomas as a 2nd round pick in 2011. Being just 5’9″, Thomas’ height made people severely doubt his basketball skills despite showing flashes of brilliance for the teams he played for. After spending three seasons in Sacramento, Thomas was traded to the Phoenix Suns, where he played for just one season.

Thomas recently revealed that Phoenix was by far his favorite city to live in. In a tweet, he wrote, “Phx was my favorite city to live in!! I was HOT when I got traded lol” 

Phx was my favorite city to live in!!! I was HOT when I got traded lol https://t.co/b7oUP8gyE8

— Isaiah Thomas (@isaiahthomas) November 27, 2023

In February 2015, Thomas was traded to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Marcus Thornton and a 2016 first-round pick. Although now we know he was frustrated with this move, it was playing for the Celtics that Thomas emerged as a star and an ‘elite crunch-time scorer.’ In fact, the 2x All-Star finished third in the MVP voting in the 2016-17 season during his time at Boston.

Isaiah Thomas became an NBA sensation despite being a second round pick

Isaiah Thomas gave hope to several hoopers worldwide regarding height not being the end of everything in basketball. With his skills in Boston, he proved to the league that he was a force to be reckoned with.

Unfortunately, during a regular season game against the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2017, Thomas suffered an injury that made him miss the two subsequent games. Subsequently, after the two games against the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Finals, Thomas suffered a hip injury and was ruled out for the rest of the postseason.

Since then, IT has found it difficult to find a permanent place in any NBA team. While playing for all eight teams since the Celtics, Thomas had to undergo several surgeries that compromised his minutes and form on the court.

Thomas’ last appearance in the NBA was in the 2021-22 season with the Charlotte Hornets. Since then, he missed the entirety of the 2022-23 season but hopes to return to the NBA in the future.