Isaiah Thomas Really, Really Wants to Meet Tom Brady

Image via AP

Ever since arriving in Boston last February, Isaiah Thomas has ascended from relative anonymity to superstardom. The 5-foot-8 point guard is the unequivocal leader of the upstart Celtics and became the lowest draft pick in NBA history to make the All-Star Game this season.

It’s been a wildly successful 13 months for Thomas, but there remains one item still on his bucket list: meeting Tom Brady.

I want to sit down and talk to Tom Brady… I need to pick his brain

— Isaiah Thomas (@Isaiah_Thomas) March 8, 2016

Thomas expanded on his tweet at practice Tuesday, telling reporters he would relish the opportunity to learn from Brady.

“I got the chance to talk to Kobe. I’m real good friends with Floyd Mayweather, so I get to pick guys-like-that’s brains,” Thomas said. “I just would like to sit down and actually meet [Brady] and also just pick his brain about winning championships and how he goes about his day, how he prepares. I like his preparation to everything. I like to pick guys’ brains, especially the best in the business, best in their field, and see what he has to say to me. Hopefully I can make it happen.”

Brady and Thomas both have managed to succeed in leagues that weren’t initially too interested in them. Brady infamously was a sixth-round draft pick who ran the slowest 40-yard dash among quarterbacks in NFL Combine history, and Thomas was thought to be too undersized to have a big impact in the NBA. They’ve both defied the odds.

Brady may now an A-list celebrity with a supermodel wife, but he hasn’t forgotten his humble beginnings. After the AFC Championship, for example, he shared some words of wisdom with undrafted Denver Broncos running back C.J. Anderson.

That’s not to say Brady always acts like a mentor, though. While he maintains a close friendship with former backup Matt Cassel, there are some questions about the extent of his relationship with Jimmy Garoppolo. Brady snubbed Garoppolo after his first career touchdown drive two years ago at the tail end of the Patriots’ infamous Monday night blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, but defended himself afterwards, saying he doesn’t “pay attention to any of those things.”

But assuming Thomas isn’t lining up to take Brady’s job one day—like Garoppolo was thought of at the time—a meeting between the two seems to be overdue. Brady is chummy with David Ortiz, whose run of excellence has coincided with his. It only makes sense for Brady, the present king of the Boston sports scene, to sit down with Thomas, who may be the future.