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How Isaiah Thomas made a young Celtics fan's day ... twice

Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics smiles during the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Isaiah Thomas of the Boston Celtics smiles during the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Quarterfinals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

It sounds like something out of a pluck-the-heartstrings commercial, but for young Robbie McNulty, the fantasy became reality last week … and the dream just keeps getting better.

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After finishing his first day of high school, McNulty, a 14-year-old who lives in Cambridge, Mass., was out at a park near his home shooting hoops. He was by himself, thanks to a recent rainstorm that had left puddles on the court and convinced Robbie’s buddies to stay home.

He wasn’t alone for long, though.

Craziest thing @isaiahthomas

A photo posted by Robbie???????? (@german_jesus_41) on Sep 6, 2016 at 6:04pm PDT

Yes, that’s Isaiah Thomas — NBA All-Star, starting point guard for the Boston Celtics and, as luck would have it, McNulty’s favorite player — who just happened to be strolling by and decided to take a few minutes to turn a solo mission into a team activity. From a great story by Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe:

“The thing about Robbie is he’s on the shorter side and hasn’t hit a growth spurt yet,” said his mother, Siri McNulty. “He isn’t always picked for teams because he’s just not as tall as the others, so it’s been a little bit of a bummer for him.”

But he keeps shooting anyway. On this night, he was taking shots and texting his friends about their fantasy football draft when he saw a solitary figure walking toward the court. […]

Thomas and his wife, Kayla, were leaving back-to-school night for parents at Cambridge Montessori School, where their son Jaiden attends pre-K. Thomas saw an adult softball game taking place and told Kayla he wanted to swing a bat there. She told him that was not a good idea. Then he saw Robbie shooting baskets by himself.

“He was the only kid there,” Thomas said. “So I’m like, ‘I’m just going to go get some shots up with him.’ When I walked over, he rebounded his own shot and turned around and I’m like, ‘Can I get a couple shots?’ And he stopped. He didn’t even say a word, like his eyes were so big. He just stopped and froze and I’m like, ‘Pass me the ball.’ ” […]

“I was kind of just like dribbling with my mouth open and looking at him, maybe waiting for him to say something,” Robbie said. “He was like, ‘Can I shoot with you?’ And I’m thinking, ‘Can I shoot with you? Is this actually Isaiah Thomas?’”

It was, and as you might expect, Robbie was more than happy to let Thomas play … provided, of course, he was willing to do the dirty work. Isaiah obliged, and shared as much in the comments of Robbie’s subsequent “OMG YOU GUYS” Instagram post:

After hanging at the playground for a bit, Isaiah Thomas followed up with Robbie McNulty on Instagram.
After hanging at the playground for a bit, Isaiah Thomas followed up with Robbie McNulty on Instagram.

After the 5-foot-9 scoring dynamo’s act of kindness gained widespread attention over the weekend, ABC’s “Good Morning America” reached out to McNulty to have him on Monday morning’s show to discuss the awesome surprise interaction:

“It was really just insane,” said McNulty. “[…] I saw somebody walking towards me but he wasn’t that tall, so I didn’t expect [it to be an NBA player]. I took another look and then, ‘Oh, I know that guy.'”

It was a very cool move by Thomas, who told Himmelsbach that he “was once that kid at games wanting a player to just wave to me and acknowledge me, so I know that feeling and I know that’s my job now.” But Thomas didn’t stop there; at the end of his “GMA” segment, there was another surprise in store for McNulty, as detailed by Chris Forsberg of ESPN Boston:

During a taped appearance from the Celtics’ practice facility on GMA, Thomas told McNulty, “Thanks for letting me shoot hoops for you the other day” and invited McNulty to be his guest at a game this season.

A stunned McNulty asked, “Are you serious?” Which is what all of his friends have been asking him since last week.

Let this be a lesson to you, young hoops fans. When your buddy asks if you want to go to the park to shoot around, think long and hard about whether you want to say no. Staying inside might seem like the move, but you could also be missing out on the kind of experience that can lead to this text: “Mom, you’re not even going to believe this. The best thing ever just happened to me.”

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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