Isaiah Thomas on Celtics trade: ‘I might not ever talk to Danny [Ainge] again’

Isaiah Thomas may not hold a grudge against the entire Boston Celtics organization that traded him months after he played through injury and his sister’s death, but there’s one person he may not have words for should they cross paths: general manager Danny Ainge.

Thomas said as much in an interview with Sports Illustrated’s Lee Jenkins, where he concedes his relationship with Boston “is going to be all love,” with an exception:

“I might not ever talk to Danny again,” he said. “That might not happen. I’ll talk to everybody else. But what he did, knowing everything I went through, you don’t do that, bro. That’s not right. I’m not saying eff you. But every team in this situation comes out a year or two later and says, ‘We made a mistake.’ That’s what they’ll say, too.”

The 5’9 point guard was last year’s third-highest scorer in the NBA, averaging 28.9 points per game to lead Boston to the East’s No. 1 seed — yes, ahead of LeBron James and the Cavaliers. In the playoffs, Thomas played through his tooth being knocked out before catching wind of car accident that killed his sister back in Washington state.

He played through that, too.

Then he re-aggravated a hip injury he originally sustained in a March 15 regular season game against the Timberwolves. That one shut him down for good.

Thomas put his body, mind, and soul on the line for a franchise that turned around and traded him — and others — to Cleveland for Kyrie Irving, and ultimately, it was Ainge’s call to pull the trigger on the deal.

You can’t be mad at the man for moving like this given everything he’s been through.