Isaiah Thomas Credits Former Celtics Assistant Coach for His Surprising NBA Success

Getty Isaiah Thomas with the Boston Celtics in 2017.

Very few 5-foot-9 players thrive in the NBA. There aren’t many who reached All-Star-level success. Former Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas did just that.

Thomas, selected by the Sacramento Kings with the final pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, played two full seasons with the Celtics, earning All-Star honors both years. Thomas credited his success as a small guard in the NBA to former star Damon Stoudemire, who played 13 NBA seasons and later became an assistant coach with the Celtics.

Isaiah Thomas Modeled His Game After Damon Stoudemire

Thomas was considered a longshot to make the NBA after played college basketball at Washington. The 60th pick in 2011, Thomas played three years with the Kings and a half-season with the Phoenix Suns before joining the Celtics in the middle of the 20014-15 season.

A left-hander, Thomas knew he could play in a big-man’s league. He needed a full-time chance. The Celtics gave it to him.

After starting just one game in the 2014-15 season, Thomas played all 82 games the following season, starting 79 of them. He averaged 22.2 points and 6.2 assists and earned the first of his two All-Star selections. He knew it wouldn’t be easy, but he said Stoudemire played a key role in Thomas’ success at the pro level.

“Damon Stoudemire was a big one for me,” Thomas said during an episode of the “Knuckleheads” podcast of the player nicknamed Mighty Mouse. “He’s a lefty. He’s from Portland, which is close to Tacoma and Seattle.

“That was kind of who I emulated my game after, a lefty that could shoot it, had super handles, was really quick. I got a Mighty Mouse tattoo because of him. He was a big inspiration to my life and my career. Once I got older, especially when I got to college, he was a guy who really paved the way and helped me in things that I was searching for, like what I had to do to make it into the NBA as a small guard.”

Thomas and Stoudemire Had Plenty of Impact With the Celtics

Although Stoudemire never played for the Celtics, he became an assistant coach with the team in July 2021. He left Boston in 2023 to become the head men’s basketball coach at Georgia Tech. Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said Stoudemire’s ability to connect with the players was key to the success of the Celtics.

“Damon is a great person, successful leader, and will be a great head coach,” Mazzulla said, per MassLive in 2023. “He has an ability to build genuine relationships, connect with players, and bring an organization together for a common goal. His loyalty, basketball experience, work ethic and personality made the Celtics better. We will miss him as a person and coach. Georgia Tech is lucky to have him.”

Thomas understands where Mazzulla is coming from, especially when it came to connecting with small guards.

“He’s a guy that was like, you gotta be able to knock down shots,” he said. “You gotta be able to be creative in the paint. You gotta be able to be unpredictable. That was the first guy who kind of was giving me the game of how to make it as a small guy. It’s tough. You have to be super special. You have to do things at a high level that most guys don’t have to do. I’ve got to be exceptional every time I step on the floor.”

During his two full seasons in Boston, Thomas was exceptional. In his second year with the team, he averaged a career-high 28.9 points and finished fifth in the MVP voting.

Stoudemire played 13 seasons in the NBA, eight of them coming with the Portland Trail Blazers.