Indeed, not to become a team member, but to visit the Žalgiris Arena in Kaunas.
“What about visiting the Žalgiris Arena and experiencing the best basketball atmosphere in Europe?” – the Kaunas club responded to I. Thomas’s message with this question.
I. Thomas himself previously publicly wrote that he would like to try himself abroad: “I want to play basketball abroad for a year! I want that experience! I want to go out on the court and humble those guys.”
The 175 cm tall American, who became a scout for the Boston Celtics club this May, reacted this way to Patrick Beverley’s statement that not all NBA players could successfully compete in Europe.
The 37-year-old point guard last played in the NBA in the 2023–2024 season when he represented the Phoenix Suns.
Overall, he has not played basketball since 2025, when he briefly represented the Salt Lake City Stars team in the G League.
Having spent a total of 11 seasons in the NBA, I. Thomas played most successfully in the 2016–2017 season, when representing the Celtics he scored as much as 28.9 points and 5.9 assists per game and seriously contended for the MVP award, ultimately finishing fifth in the voting.
However, later his career was halted by a club injury, after which I. Thomas never returned to the All-Star level. In total, he played 556 NBA games and averaged 17.5 points and 4.8 assists.
