Inside The Huskies

Isaiah Thomas Makes Triumphant National-Team Return

The former University of Washington point guard has been battling hip issues for four years.

Dan Raley

Three hundred and eighty-one days, but who's counting?

Isaiah Thomas is, that's who.

The former University of Washington point guard, after having his troublesome hip repaired once more and missing an entire season, made an encouraging basketball return on Friday night for the U.S. national team in the Caribbean.

The 5-foot-9 Thomas scored a team-high 19 points in his first competitive game in more than a year, leading the American squad to a 93-77 victory over the Bahamas in a FIBA AmeriCup Qualifying game in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 

"First real game in 381 years, let that sink in!" he tweeted. "Felt good to be able to compete and put on that jersey."

Thomas, 32, suffered a hip injury with the Boston Celtics late in the 2016-17 season, one in which he scored 28.9 points per game, and he's never been the same, receiving limited basketball opportunities. He last played for the Washington Wizards.

He seemed very encouraged by his national-team outing.

"The world knows I've got what it takes," Thomas said. "So, it's just about showing that I'm healthy. My skill didn't go anywhere. It's just about getting a hundred percent healthy, which I am right now."

A Tacoma native, Thomas played three sensational college seasons for the UW from 2009-11. The school retired his No. 3, one of three from the men's basketball program (Brandon Roy and Bob Houbregs are the others), and it hangs from the rafters in Alaska Airlines Arena.

Thomas, the last player taken in the 2011 draft, has appeared in 525 games for seven teams in nine NBA seasons.

As he auditions in the AmeriCup, he hopes to join another NBA team soon.

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Dan Raley
DAN RALEY

Dan Raley has worked for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, as well as for MSN.com and Boeing, the latter as a global aerospace writer. His sportswriting career spans four decades and he's covered University of Washington football and basketball during much of that time. In a working capacity, he's been to the Super Bowl, the NBA Finals, the MLB playoffs, the Masters, the U.S. Open, the PGA Championship and countless Final Fours and bowl games.

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