Harvard business school student? How can you not like Isaiah Thomas? Yeah, it's great that he's a 5'9 2nd round pick turned All-Star (lowest draft pick ever to be selected) on the court, but it's what he does off the court that makes me respect and like him as much as I do.
Earlier this year, Thomas launched a community program with a burger shop, Tasty Burger, in Boston called #ITHELPDESK, which will allow local schools to nominate kids to be mentored by Thomas. Earlier this month, he hosted his annual backpack giveaway in Tacoma, WA and then gave out more backpacks at a Boston Salvation Army just four days later. His next few days included another back-to-school program with Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream and building benches and painting walls for a local Boston public school.
Then last week, a story about Thomas surprising and shooting around with a 14-year old boy he saw shooting by himself at a puddle-filled basketball court went viral. Th is story was followed up with Thomas surprising the kid again with tickets to a Celtics game and an appearance on Good Morning America.
Did I mention he also got married last month?
And if all of that doesn't make you think Thomas is one awesome guy (who probably needs some sleep), he attended Harvard Business School earlier this week to sit in on a class by Professor Anita Elberse, who is working on a case study about Dwyane Wade and brand building.
The business school professor and author of Blockbusters - a book about the business of entertainment - has had a few other NBA players and celebrities attend her classes in the past, including these four fairly well-known individuals.