Michael Malone praises Isaiah Thomas’s G-league comeback

After coaching Isaiah Thomas in both Sacramento and Denver, Nuggets coach Michael Malone offered some perspective on Thomas’s G-League comeback before his team took on the Celtics at TD Garden on Sunday.

The two-time All-Star, who has played in just 31 NBA games since the 2021 season, hasn’t given up his hoop dreams. That’s just who he is, Malone said.

“He’ll be playing in a gym somewhere when he is 60 years old,” Malone said. “I’ve been around the game a long time, been around a lot of players, and there’s not many players I can think of that love the game of basketball more than I.T.”

Thomas is averaging 28.9 points and 5.5 assists this season for the Salt Lake City Stars, who are affiliated with the Utah Jazz. He’s shooting 40.4 percent from 3-point range.

Thomas, 36, enjoyed the best two seasons of his career during his three-year stint with the Celtics. Malone coached him before and after that time period.

Malone was coaching the Kings during Thomas’s breakout season in 2014, when he averaged 20 points in a season for the first time. He also was coaching the Nuggets when a hip injury limited Thomas to just 12 games in 2019.

Thomas has struggled to stay healthy since he finished fifth in the MVP voting during his final season with the Celtics in 2017. But, his journey still has the ability to inspire.

“He’s good for the game, he really is,” Malone said. “I know he coaches his kids and I’ve had him two different times and I’ve got nothing but love and respect for who he is as a man, as a player, and his journey. I love the fact that it doesn’t matter the level of the league, he’s playing the game because he loves the game of basketball. You really have to respect and admire that.” 

Thomas told the Boston Globe last March that his goal is to get back onto an NBA roster. His most recent stop was with Phoenix, where he played six games last season.

Thomas said his passion for the game still motivates him to give his all.

“I just love this [expletive] too much,” he said. “It would be just so easy to quit and be at the crib. Anybody can do that. I know I got so much more left in the tank. The biggest hill I had to overcome was being hurt. That was depressing because I’ve ever been in a situation where I can’t control what’s going on.”

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.