Athletes who give their all for the sake of the team are said to have invested their blood, sweat, and tears for the greater good. After an incident involving Celtics guard Isaiah Thomas on Sunday afternoon, you can add "their teeth" to that list.
Thomas' Celtics kicked off their Eastern Conference Semifinal series against the Washington Wizards with a Sunday matinee in Boston. While chasing Wizards forward Otto Porter around a screen in the first quarter of Game One, Thomas caught an errant elbow to the mouth. One of his teeth was the unfortunate victim of the incident, which you can see in the video up top.
Here's what Thomas looked like with the gap in his teeth:
Thomas inexplicably went on a bit of a hot streak from the field after he lost the tooth, and his misfortune turned into a gain for wisecracks everywhere, as everyone had a little fun at his tooth's expense:
Don't fret too much for Thomas; he was able to retrieve the tooth shortly after it was knocked out, and ESPN analyst Doris Burke told people watching the broadcast that Thomas had his tooth repositioned during a stoppage in play in the second quarter. The Celtics confirmed this on the team's official Twitter account:
I'm not entirely sure you can just plop a tooth back into someone's mouth and pretend like nothing happened, but kudos to Boston's medical/dental staff if they figured out a workaround. Thomas has overcome the odds to be an impact NBA player at only 5'9" tall and has pesrsevered despite the tragic death of his younger sister—he can probably overcome a messed-up tooth.
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