Inside The Huskies

No-Quit Isaiah Thomas Lands 10-Day Contract with Phoenix Suns

The former UW guard won't entertain any thoughts of retirement.

Dan Raley

No-Quit Isaiah Thomas Lands 10-Day Contract with Phoenix Suns
No-Quit Isaiah Thomas Lands 10-Day Contract with Phoenix Suns /
In this story:

He's 35 years old and hasn't played in the NBA in two years, but Isaiah Thomas only listens to himself when it comes to his basketball career and how it should play out.

On Saturday, the former University of Washington guard — with his number retired and hanging in Alaska Airlines Arena, which usually means he should be, too, retired that is — agreed to a 10-day contract with the Phoenix Suns, several media outlets reported.

Thomas only recently mounted another basketball comeback, joining the Salt Lake City Stars in the G League, and he was so productive in four games, the NBA simply couldn't say no to him. He averaged 33 points per game and shot 45 percent from 3-point range.

“It would be so easy to just quit and be at the crib, anybody can do that," he told reporters in Utah. "I know I got so much more left in the tank. I’m just super thankful to be out here, for real. I’m appreciative of everybody that’s been pulling for me.”

The 5-foot-9 Thomas previously played for the Suns during the 2014-15 season, appearing in 46 games and all in but one as a reserve, and he averaged 15.1 points per game.

The Tacoma native, whose UW career spanned 2009-11 and was a three-time All-Pac-10 selection, has been employed by 10 different NBA franchises. 

Thomas last played a full NBA season in 2016-17 when he appeared in and started 76 games, averaged 28.9 points an outing and was selected as an All-Star for the Boston Celtics before hip issues derailed his career, leading to surgery and multiple comebacks.

He's played in 550 NBA games so far, made 3,167 of 7,219 shots and scored 9,715 points in what's been an 11-year career so far soon to be 12.

Go to si.com/college/washington to read the latest Inside the Huskies stories.

Follow Dan Raley of Inside the Huskies on X — @DanRaley1 or @UWFanNation.

Find Inside the Huskies on Facebook — at Inside the Huskies/FanNation at SI.com or https://www.facebook.com/dan.raley.12

Published
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.

Home/Husky Legends