Respect is often the name of the game in sports, and this desire for respect can make strange things happen sometimes. One obvious example is the weird interpersonal conflict between Isaiah Thomas and Paul Pierce.
The two former Boston Celtics players starred in Boston during different eras and rank anywhere from beloved to generally well-liked depending on who you ask. But when Isaiah Thomas asked the Celtics to wait on a tribute video for him until he was actually on the floor, things got messy right away.
The next possible opportunity to honor Thomas was a night to honor Paul Pierce by retiring his jersey. That didn’t fly with Pierce, who wanted that night for himself. And since then, other former Celtics players have had their say about the situation. Former Pierce teammate Rajon Rondo says Thomas hasn’t done anything to warrant celebration by the Celtics.
Pierce himself has said that the Celtics are only doing this because they feel guilty about how they shipped Thomas out of town, and that may be true. But that didn’t matter much to Jalen Rose, who called out Pierce live on ESPN Wednesday night while the two were on camera together.
Rose called Pierce “petty” and then explained why one video during a night filled with a bunch of different announcements wouldn’t much matter in the grand scheme of things.
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“I gotta say a word for you fam,” Rose said before pausing a moment. “I think it was petty.”
The camera panned to Pierce staring blankly as Rose explained why Pierce is being petty about the video.
“There are going to be all types of announcements that happen during the 48 minutes of that game. All types. Including celebrating Isaiah Thomas could be one of them. It does not take away from your situation like Kobe’s was during the game because they’re doing yours postgame.”
Calling a member of the 2008 Celtics petty may be redundant when you look at the track record that team has shown with other former teammates like Ray Allen, but the point remains. This seems like much ado about nothing, but respect trumps all reason in sports sometimes.
Thomas has already backed down and said a video doesn’t matter, which is as close to the truth as anyone has gotten here: none of it really matters all that much. But Thomas cited respect as the reason he backed down. And on Wednesday, it’s clear that Rose thinks Pierce isn’t paying Thomas the same respect the now-Cavalier is paying the Celtics legend.
