When I set out to explore Isaiah Thomas’s incendiary 2016-17 season, I tumbled down a rabbit hole of strawman arguments defending Thomas against invisible naysayers. As I probed deeper, I found the source of my own simplistic defensiveness in a quote of Thomas’ in a piece from January of 2016 written by Vice Sports’ Howard Megdal. The following quote is as telling about Thomas as it is about many people that were raised in this Judeo-Christian America where we so frequently pass judgments on appearances alone. We are pre-conditioned to David versus Goliath narratives as a way of communicating within a shared language and we occasion to do it to the point that we overlook true causes and actual achievement.
Or, as Isaiah responded when asked why he doesn’t believe he gets enough respect: “Because I’m 5-foot-9. That’s why. It’ll always be like this.”
Without coming out in saying it in every interview, the belief that the credit he has earned will never be given is always there in the background, like Michael Jordan’s perceived slights as a fuel to be used against foes both real and imagined. Thomas has referred to himself as a “killer,” relishes fourth quarter scoring (he leads the league) by saying “it ain’t for everybody” and has generally elevated his attack to become one of the most dominant and dynamic scorers in the league.
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His exuberant confidence and driven competitiveness are like a watered-down version of the bombast embodied by his friend and all-time great boxer, Floyd Mayweather. But unlike Mayweather, Thomas doesn’t have the benefit of weight classes against like-sized opponents. In order to survive and then succeed, he’s had to evolve perceived disadvantages and adapt them into advantages which, if his 2016-17 season is any indicator, he’s done in spades.
To be clear, Isaiah Thomas is an elite world class athlete. Per DraftExpress.com’s combine measurement database, his combination of max vertical (40”), bench reps (13), and agility (10.49 seconds) have been accomplished by just a handful of players in the 20-plus years for which they have data. He’s not quite Nate Robinson, but he has the strength and explosiveness of a perfectly-designed NBA player.
That he’s making a statistical leap on par with the leap Steph Curry made last season is the story; not that he’s doing it as a 5-foot-8 or 5-foot-9 guard or that he was the 60th pick in the 2011 NBA Draft. That’s all prologue at this point; a well-known, never-changing prequel while the present story unfolds in front of us one night at a time with what have become must-watch performances.
Statistically, Thomas has gone from very good (19.6-points on a 57 true shooting percentage with a 21 PER) to great over a single off-season. Like Curry did last year, he’s found a way to lift volume and efficiency without sacrifice. The biggest sources of his increased offensive impact are at the free throw line and from deep. At the stripe, he’s taking nearly 35 percent more attempts-per-game and shooting at a career-best 90.7 percent. From beyond the arc, his attempts are up 28.1 percent alongside a career-best 37.9 3-point percentage. Those increases in volume and efficiency are accounting for over four more points each game.
And those career-bests from the free throw-line? Only two players prior to Isaiah have averaged at least 8.5 trips to the line while shooting over 90 percent: Kevin Durant and Dolph Schayes.
Without permission, Thomas is barging his way into some rarified company with these volume and efficiency combinations. Thanks to the Dunc’d On podcast, I was exposed to the 30/60 club (usage rate and true shooting) which is the ultimate in volume scoring efficiency. Thomas is comfortably in the club right now with a 33.1 percent usage and 61.3 true shooting percentage; both of which are quality rates on their own. But in the context of previous 30/60 club members, the combo gets to an even more hallowed group of greats. It’s been accomplished 17 times prior to this season by just eight players including Larry Bird, LeBron, Shaq, Jordan, James Harden, Curry, and Karl Malone — all Hall of Famers and/or MVPs except Harden who’s well on his way to the MVP this season.
Amidst all this scoring, Thomas has pieced together a career-best season as a playmaker. Boston ranks third in the league in total 3s made and Thomas is regularly surrounded by guys who can make 3s. It’s a small sample size of just 51-minutes, but per 100-possessions, the biggest scoring margin (+19.2 per 100 possessions) Boston has when Thomas is on the court includes four 3-point shooters: Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Al Horford, and Kelly Olynyk. It’s not a surprise Thomas thrives with that lineup as driving lanes are wide unless the defense wants to wander off one of those plus-3-point shooters. Within this spread environment, Thomas is averaging both the highest assist percentage in his six-year career (32.6 percent) along with the lowest turnover percentage (9.2 percent). To give you a sense of how rare this is, Thomas is the only player in Basketball-Reference’s database with this combination.
We’re halfway through the season and Thomas has this huge laundry list of statistical accomplishments accompanied by all-time great players. Offensively, he’s been an absolute wrecking ball and punctuates these stats with just-past-the-fingertips floaters, Curry-range 3s, and fearless careening into the flailing tentacles of the opposition. Just a couple nights ago, he 86’d the Hawks in Atlanta with a game-winning jumper — after waving off the coach’s requested timeout.
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This entire time I’ve sought to emphasize Thomas’s season by placing him on a staggering pyramid of stats and descriptions that are of his own hard work and creation; an objective, indisputable stack that refutes any assault on his size. But the further I sussed it out, the closer I came back to what I strove to escape: Isaiah Thomas is short by NBA standards. He slays giants, defies convention, and refuses to be pigeon holed. He’s learned not only to live with whatever chip may or may not be on his shoulder, but to harness it and exploit opponent perceptions.
It took me exploring his 2016-17 ascension to figure out what Isaiah has always known, to understand why he was drafted 60th and why two teams have sent him packing for weaker options. It’s always there, whether we want to admit it, or whether it’s fair, or any of that. “It’s because I’m 5-foot-9. That’s why. It’ll always be like this.”