Life as a rookie during the NBA lockout. From ESPN:
On the other end is Isaiah Thomas, the rookie from the University of Washington. He’s still waiting for his first NBA game — and first NBA paycheck. He’s here, but it’s not like he hasn’t played with NBA players before; he regularly hoops with locals such as Jason Terry, Jamal Crawford and Nate Robinson in his hometown of Seattle. They look after him enough to provide for his travel to Las Vegas for the Impact League. Right now he doesn’t quite feel like he’s left college yet. He is staying at home and even enrolled in a couple of courses this fall. He can’t wait to become a professional.
“It’s frustrating,” he said. “But at the same time, I’ve just got to be patient. Usually with basketball players, you know what’s next. With this, you don’t know when you’re going to be playing or if you’re going to be playing at all.”
He admits to not being versed in the details of the labor negotiations, much like Lewis 13 years ago. But Thomas knows enough to realize he can’t expect the lavish paydays of the past.
“They were giving money away,” Thomas said. “That’s one thing. Being around the NBA players up in Seattle and just looking at guys’ contracts, they were giving it away. I guess they’re definitely not going to do that anymore.”
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