Skip to content

Celtics' Thomas surprises teen on playground

Robbie McNulty/Courtesy Boston Globe

You know the feeling you get when you're shooting hoops alone on a playground and an unidentified person approaches?

Are they going to want to play, you think? If so, can I take this person?

Well, 14-year-old Robbie McNulty of Cambridge, Mass., saw a figure approaching him on the playground last Tuesday and probably thought the same thing. That's why his back was turned when Boston Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas asked him if he could get some run.

"He was the only kid there," Thomas told the Boston Globe's Adam Himmelsbach of the encounter. "So I'm like, 'I'm just going to go get some shots up with him.' When I walked over, he rebounded his own shot and turned around and I’m like, 'Can I get a couple shots?' And he stopped. He didn't even say a word, like his eyes were so big. He just stopped and froze and I'm like, 'Pass me the ball.'"

Thomas just happened to be in the neighborhood after a parents' night at his kids' school. And he just happens to be McNulty's favorite player.

"I was kind of just like dribbling with my mouth open and looking at him, maybe waiting for him to say something,” McNulty said. "He was like, 'Can I shoot with you?' And I'm thinking, 'Can I shoot with you? Is this actually Isaiah Thomas?'"

In addition to scoring some major credibility points with peers on social media after Snapchatting the encounter, McNulty can perhaps take something else away from it. According to his mother, the teen hasn't hit a growth spurt yet and "isn't always picked for teams."

A few minutes hooping with Thomas, an NBA All-Star despite being 5-foot-9 (listed) and the last player picked in the 2011 draft, could equate to timeless inspiration.

"I love just little interactions like that," Thomas said. "I know it means a lot, because I was once in his shoes. I was once that kid at games wanting a player to just wave to me and acknowledge me, so I know that feeling and I know that's my job now."

Daily Newsletter

Get the latest trending sports news daily in your inbox