Is Isaiah Thomas a superstar who can get the job done for the Celtics? This is the central question that plenty of people have asked about Boston all year, whether or not Thomas is the kind of player who can lead a team past the Cleveland Cavaliers and win the Eastern Conference.
Take, for instance, LeBron James. The best basketball player in the world believes that Thomas is a “clear-cut star.” On the other side of the coin, there is Charles Barkley, who is skeptical about the Celtics’ chances to win the East, partly because of how much they lean on Thomas.
During Thursday night’s NBA Tip-Off, the crew was discussing the teams in the Eastern Conference who aren’t the Cavaliers, and Kenny Smith asked if there are any teams that are better than the Celtics. Barkley responded by saying he does not know, then specifically pointed out two things: the additions that the Toronto Raptors made at the trade deadline, and the load that Thomas has to carry for the team. Barkley articulated that he is a “second, third MVP candidate,” but then dove into his skepticism over the Celtics’ guard.
"Isaiah Thomas has to make every important basket. That to me is the weakness of the Boston Celtics."
Chuck on IT4 pic.twitter.com/u4Wuc3wyDn
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) March 10, 2017
“That’s their weakness,” Barkley said after Smith mentioned that Thomas is the kind of player who can do things in the clutch. “Isaiah Thomas has to do so much heavy lifting just like Russell Westbrook. Toronto – Kyle Lowry, he’s out right now. DeRozan. Vucecic … not Vucevic, Valanciunas, excuse me. Washington – Wall, Beal, Morris, Gortat, Bogdanovic.
“That to me is the problem and the weakness of the Boston Celtics,” Barkley continued. “Isaiah Thomas has to do … he has to make every important basket. That to me is the weakness of the Boston Celtics.”
Barkley makes a point in that Thomas does have to do a lot for the Celtics – only Russell Westbrook and DeMarcus Cousins have higher usage rates, and unlike them, he’s not exactly a big dude. But on the other hand, Thomas has time and time again come up huge for Boston, especially late in games.
This is certainly one thing that can stay up for debate, and we won’t really have a resolution until the Celtics make it to the postseason.
