Isaiah Thomas hasn't even been on the Cleveland Cavaliers for 24 hours and reports are already surfacing out of Boston, claiming his Celtics teammates "weren't really that fond of him."
On today's taping of "Undisputed" on Fox Sports 1, Chris Broussard said he had chatted with NBA executives who claimed Celtics players "really weren't that fond of Isaiah," citing his "Napoleon complex" and "huge ego." Broussard said, per NESN,
“I will tell you this, I spoke to several executives, or texted with several executives (Tuesday night), and a lot of them were saying that a lot of the players in Boston really weren’t that fond of Isaiah,” Broussard said on FS1’s “Undisputed” while discussing the trade with Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless. “We know he had those problems in Sacramento and in Phoenix. I didn’t know he was having those issues — before (talking with) these executives — in Boston.”
Broussard's claims are much different than the way Celtics GM Danny Ainge spoke about Thomas today, and how hard it was to trade him. During a conference call with reporters today, Ainge praised Isaiah and said "everybody fell in love with him."
“Trading both (Thomas and Crowder) was tough. But Isaiah had just an amazing season this year, and entertained us all – the whole city of Boston, and everybody fell in love with him. You know, he’s such an underdog because of his size, and his heart, and his spirit in which he plays. It was very challenging to make this decision.”
Jared Sullinger, for one, does not agree.
The Celtics agreed to trade Isaiah Thomas, as well as Jae Crowder, center Ante Zizic and the Brooklyn Nets' unprotected 2018 first round pick to the Cleveland Cavaliers yesterday in exchange for 25-year old 4x All-Star point guard, Kyrie Irving.
Isaiah, 28, is entering the final year of his contract and is coming off a season where he averaged 28.9 points and 5.9 assists over 33.8 minutes per game. He has spent the offseason recovering from a right hip injury that kept him on the sidelines for the final three games of the Eastern Conference Finals, but the Cavs reportedly have "no short-term concerns about his health."
Check out video of Chris Broussard's comments below.