Thomas On Not Being An All-Star Starter: 'Not The End Of The World'
By Brian Robb, CBS Boston
WALTHAM (CBS) -- Isaiah Thomas handled his tiebreaker loss to DeMar DeRozan for the final Eastern Conference All-Star guard with grace on Friday at the Celtics practice facility. The 27-year-old point guard tried to keep things in perspective while crediting DeRozan and Cavs guard Kyrie Irving for earning the starting nods alongside LeBron James, Jimmy Butler and Giannis Antetokounmpo in the East frontcourt.
"It's not the end of the world," Thomas said. "I'm good. I mean, I was disappointed but those guys deserve it as well. I did everything I can under my control to put myself in position to be a starter, so I can't really worry about things I can't control. It's not the end of the world."
Thomas beat out DeRozan in both the media and players vote, but each of those sections of the polling only accounted for 25 percent of the voting pie. The Raptors shooting guard beat the Thomas in fan voting (which accounted for 50 percent of the voting pie) and that category ended up being the eventual overall tiebreaker between the two as well.
While Thomas has reason to feel miffed after averaging 28.7 points per game (fourth-best in the NBA) in the first half of the season, he's not even the biggest snub in this year's voting, as he pointed out.
"I mean if you look in the West, [Russell] Westbrook averages a triple-double and didn't get in," Thomas said of the Oklahoma City Thunder guard. "I'll let everybody else debate for me and argue for me. Those guys that made it to start deserve it and I'll go from there."
While Thomas may try to downplay the missed opportunity, Brad Stevens believes his point guard will use the perceived slight to his advantage.
"It may be a motivating factor for him," Stevens said. "I certainly think he should be starting the game, but he's going to be an All-Star. It's out of his control. There's a ton of people who voted for him, and rightfully so. All of those guys who are starting the game are good players too, and it's not an easy decision in any regard. We're all biased here."
Thomas confirmed that strategy, admitting that being passed over will bug him a little more than he's let in.
"I mean, it does" Thomas said when pressed on whether it bothers him that he didn't make it. "I can't do nothing about it. I'm trying to change it up now where I stop worrying about things I can't control. I've done everything I possibly could to put myself in a position to be able to start in the All-Star game and it didn't happen, so I've just got to get back in the gym and keep working.
"Like I always say, I'm gonna just keep going. I appreciate everybody who voted for me, especially you guys, the media showed me some love. And then my peers, my peers showed me love too. So it hurt, but I'll be all right. I'll just use it as motivation."
All-Star reserves for both conferences will be announced Thursday night.
Brian Robb covers the Celtics for CBS Boston and contributes to NBA.com, among other media outlets. You can follow him on Twitter @CelticsHub.