Boston Celtics star guard Isaiah Thomas led his team out of the tunnel today prior to the start of today’s NBA playoffs game, despite the news that his half sister was killed in a tragic car accident on Saturday.
Chyna Thomas died at 5 a.m. Saturday in a single car crash on I-5 near Tacoma, Washington. She was just 22.
Thomas was driving her 1998 Toyota Camry “normally” when the car began to drift “very casually” off the highway and onto the shoulder.
2 witnesses say the car traveled nearly 50 feet partially on the shoulder when it hit a concrete barrier.
“That vaulted the vehicle head-on into the sign post,” State Patrol spokesman Trooper Nick King said.
King said Thomas was not wearing a seat belt and she may have fallen asleep behind the wheel.
Isaiah was notified of his half sister’s death following the Celtics’ afternoon practice on Saturday, according to ESPN. He was speaking to a reporter when Celtics teammate Avery Bradley, a fellow Tacoma native, pulled him away from the interview and into a trainer’s room to tell him the sad news.
Thomas did not return to the interview.
Isaiah and Chyna shared the same father but different mothers. The half siblings were raised in separate households, which explains why he’s playing today in game 1 against the Chicago Bulls in Boston.
“We are terribly saddened by the tragic loss of Chyna Thomas,” the Celtics organization said in a statement on Saturday afternoon. “The thoughts & prayers of the entire organization are with Isaiah & his family.”
