For seven months, Isaiah Thomas waited. He was forced to watch as his Celtics were eliminated from the playoffs, rendered powerless by a nasty hip injury. He had no choice but to later accept Boston's cold, shrewd calculus in trading him to a conference rival for another high-level guard. It was then that Thomas, who famously carries every slight with him, bided his time.
The wait must have been excruciating. Thomas is a baller in the Jamal Crawford tradition, and for seven months he was denied both his joy and his primary mode of self-expression.