New Cavaliers starting point guard Isaiah Thomas had his introductory press conference on Thursday. Thomas is happy to be a member of the Cavs and is looking forward to playing with LeBron. During his press conference Thomas was bullish about the Cavs upcoming season, given all the talent on the team. Following the presser Thomas took to Twitter and accepted a challenge from Kobe Bryant to make the All NBA first team.
I got you fam! https://t.co/lnnCQCYRJV
— Isaiah Thomas (@Isaiah_Thomas) September 8, 2017
The challenge was laid down by Kobe with the #MambaMentality. Presumably Bryant was trying to motivate Thomas to set no limits as he recovers from his hip injury and gets ready to play his first season with the Cavs. Kobe has been playing “mentor” to several of the league’s stars during his retirement.
If Thomas didn’t have this uncertain hip injury, I would say that’s definitely something he could shoot for. He made the second team last year, and this season he’s playing with LeBron. But we have no idea when he’s coming back. At Thursday’s press conference, the Cavs made it clear that they weren’t going to discuss the hip. Assuming he doesn’t play the first month or so of the season, Thomas will have to go on a serious run to make first team.
The chances of Thomas outplaying Harden, Curry, Westbrook, Wall, and Irving is highly unlikely. But, you know what they say. Shoot for the stars, if you hit the street light, at least you got off the ground.