In the wake of Isaiah Thomas' trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers, some confused Boston Celtics fans shared video of themselves burning their #4 Celtics jerseys as a final goodbye to the 28-year old All-Star point guard. Mind you, this is the same guy that gave the team everything he had for two and a half seasons and played in a playoff game after the tragic death of his sister. Not to mention, HE WAS TRADED.
There are only a handful of these videos circulating right now but it has Isaiah's former teammates, as well as his current teammates, calling out these fools. In a series of tweets, LeBron condemned the burning of NBA players' uniforms in general, not just Isaiah's #4 Celtics jersey.
His message reads,
"The burning of the jersey thing is getting ridiculous now! The man was traded. What do u not understand? & played in a game after... sister tragic death. Gordon Hayward paid he's dues as well and decided to do what's best for him and his family. Put in the work, got better... Became an All-Star, etc!! If these guys weren't good, u guys would be the first to say "get them up out of here." Man beat it! When "we".... decide to do what best for us it's "cowardly" "traitor," etc but when it's on the other side it's "business" huh!?!? Ooh ok. Man do... what u feel is best for your profession, love, family, happiness and continue to #StriveForGreatness #Salute."
Obviously, LeBron has plenty of experience with fans burning his jersey - when he made "The Decision" in July of 2010, Cavs fans were burning his #23 jersey left and right after he left his home state to play for the Miami Heat. If I remember correctly, some Cavs fans were even going out of their way to buy LeBron's jersey just so they could torch it.
Celtics forward Jaylen Brown also called attention to the stupidity of these jersey burning videos, simply calling it "pathetic."
On the flip side, there are still fans out there that had a reasonable approach to the trade, including twitter user Tony Hartman who posted a video of a Kyrie Irving Cavs jersey with a "Thank You" note on top of it.
Check out LeBron's tweets about the jersey burnings below.
