The story behind the Celtics-inspired shoes Isaiah Thomas wore in Boston return
The shoes have actually been hanging around I.T’s closet since May 2017, back when Thomas was still on the Celtics and had big plans.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MARCH 18: The shoes of Isaiah Thomas #0 of the Denver Nuggets during the second half of the game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden on March 18, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Nuggets defeat the Celtics 114-105. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Maddie Meyer/Getty ImagesDenver Nuggets guard Isaiah Thomas looked like a double agent when the Nuggets took to the Garden parquet on Monday night. Despite wearing Denver blue and gold as a benchwarmer for Mike Malone's squad, the 5-foot-9 Thomas rocked some green and gold Kobes on his feet beyond just the pregame shootaround.
But there was a method to Isaiah's shoe-game madness in this one.
According to Thomas, these shoes were made for him in anticipation of the Celtics playing in the 2017 NBA Finals. That obviously didn't happen, though, as hip issues knocked Thomas out of the team's 2017 Eastern Conference Finals series against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who would go on to win the series in five games before falling to the Golden State Warriors in five.
Thomas, of course, was then traded to Cleveland during the 2017 offseason, leaving little use for the green and gold shoes.
A stop in Los Angeles kept them in the closet, and same for the 30-year-old's current run with the Nuggets.
Until Monday night at TD Garden, anyway.
"I knew coming back here and I was going to wear something Celtics Green," Thomas admitted.
Thomas made sure the shoes went to a good home by the night's end, though, and gave them to one lucky fan in the stands.
