Isaiah Thomas is never lacking for confidence when it comes to his abilities on the basketball court. That’s the way he’s had to be in order to make it to the NBA at his size, constantly being questioned and overlooked because he’s much shorter than his point guard counterparts.
Despite that height disadvantage, Thomas has had quite the NBA career through seven seasons, earning a pair of All-Star nods during his two seasons in Boston. A big reason for that is his self confidence, which borders on irrational confidence, particularly when he’s not at his best on the court. In Cleveland, while he was still clearly not right after returning from a hip injury, he still tried to play like the same player even though there was clearly rust and it was to the detriment of him and his team. Still, that’s how he has to play, for better or worse, and hopefully a full offseason while healthy can bring back the old IT in Denver this season.
If there were any question of whether he still has that same self belief or if he would be questioning himself after a rough year with the Cavs and Lakers, he answered that in the latest edition of Cold as Balls with Kevin Hart on the Laugh Out Loud Network. Hart and Thomas talked about Thomas’ draft night and career path, and then Hart asked for Thomas to rank the top 5 point guards in the NBA. Thomas put himself No. 1, and then rattled off those he felt belonged next.
Thomas’ list goes:
1. Isaiah Thomas
2. Steph Curry
3. Kyrie Irving (after Hart notes he forgot him initially)
4. Russell Westbrook
5. John Wall
6. Damian Lillard
The absence of Chris Paul is surprising and most would probably still have CP3 somewhere in there in the Irving and Westbrook range. Few outside of Thomas’ kin would have him on the list, much less at the top, but again, that’s the way he views himself and it’s part of why he’s been such a successful player and the Nuggets at least hope he can live up to his own internal expectations.
