Isaiah Thomas Strips Down for ESPN

Isaiah Thomas on the cover of ESPN/Photo by Walter Iooss

Get ready to see a lot more of Isaiah Thomas.

The famously 5-foot-9 Celtic is one of the athletes gracing the cover of this year’s ESPN The Magazine Body Issue, which hits newsstands July 7. As is tradition for the annual celebration of athleticism, Thomas bares all—and in the process, finds a very strategic use for a basketball.

In his interview with ESPN, the 28-year-old point guard talks extensively about his height, as he is wont to do. He told the magazine that:

“Being the smallest guy on the court has actually been to my advantage. When I tell people that, they always look at me like I’m crazy. But [former NBA player] Gary Payton, years ago, told me that ‘the guy that’s lowest to the ground usually always wins.’ All of the small guys who played before me and who’ve played during my time, they’ve been special in their own way. I think that’s the difference between the small guys and the giants out there: When you’re small, you’ve got to be special in some way, somehow.”

Hey, a nude magazine cover sure is special.

Photo by Mahala Gaylord