Ex-Husky guard Isaiah Thomas watches the Phoenix Suns face the Minnesota Timberwolves in the 2024 NBA playoffs. Brad Rempel-Imagn Images

Isaiah Thomas Isn't Done Yet -- Signs G League Contract, Eyeballs NBA Return

Originally posted on Washington Huskies on SI
By Dan Raley | Last updated Jan 27, 2025 2:19 PM ET

With Isaiah Thomas, you have to admire his innate desire to play basketball.

It never wanes. Motivates him every day. Keeps him dreaming.

On Monday, ESPN's Shams Charania reported that the former University of Washington guard -- a 13-season NBA veteran and who will turn 36 years old on Feb. 7 -- has signed with the G League's Salt Lake City Stars with sole intention of making it back to the big show one more time.

The 5-foot-9 Thomas, a two-time NBA All-Star, did something similar last year, as well, joining the Stars for four games and averaging 32.5 points and 5.3 assists, enabling him to join the Phoenix Suns for six outings on a pair of 10-day contracts.

Two-time All-Star Isaiah Thomas is pursuing another NBA return, signing into the G League and rejoining the Utah Jazz's Salt Lake City affiliate, sources tell ESPN. Last season, Thomas averaged 33 points in four G League games en route to a call up to the Suns.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) January 27, 2025

The Tacoma native has never been far from the game, working out at the UW during the offseason and showing up for recent Husky outings against fellow Big Ten opponents.

First-year UW coach Danny Sprinkle even had Thomas speak to the current team and share his motivations for playing the game.

When he took the job, Sprinkle said he would pursue the best local players available and he went out and signed guard Zoom Diallo, who played for Thomas' alma mater, Curtis High School.

Thomas has been on the active roster for 10 different NBA franchises, averaging a career-best 28.9 points per game for the Boston Celtics during the 2016-17 season. He was an All-Star selection in 2016 and 2017.

Hip problems eventually curtailed Thomas's NBA career, eventually leading to multiple corrective procedures, including a right hip resurfacing surgery in 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, but didn't put him into immediate retirement..

Thomas was born in 1989, the same year the Detroit Pistons won an NBA championship, and he was named after Isiah Thomas, the Pistons' standout guard, under the condition set by his mother that the biblical spelling would be used.

This article first appeared on Washington Huskies on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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