He’s back! Having spent the past few months rehabbing his injured hip, Isaiah Thomas, is finally set to make his debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night against the Portland Trail Blazers.
Announced Monday by coach Tyronn Lue, IT will be held to a minute restriction Tuesday, and won’t be playing the following night against his old team in the Boston Celtics. It’s unclear how many minutes Thomas will exactly play, but a source told ESPN that he may only play 8-to-12 minutes in his debut.
"I know it's going to take time at first and we got to go through the steps of going out there and playing in the game and figuring those things out but once I get comfortable then all the restrictions got to be off soon," Thomas said.
"It's a blessing," Thomas later added. "It's been a long process for me. It's been a frustrating and tough process but at the same time you got to trust it. Each and every day, I just attacked it every day to try to get better and now that day is here. I haven't played in so long so man, it's going to be a weird feeling tomorrow but I'm happy. I'm happy it's here.”
LeBron James is also happy to have IT back as he shared the news to his followers on Instagram Monday afternoon as well. James wrote: “‘IT’ is go ⌚️!! Happy as hell for you @isaiahthomas!!! Been one tough journey to get back to this point but you've put in the work! Patience, passion and perseverance will always prevail. Mighty IT will shine once again! #thelittleguy #thesmallgiant #killer"
Check out the announcements (below) and look for Thomas to make his season debut tomorrow night.