It's pretty much impossible not to like Isaiah Thomas. Even when the 5-foot-9 assassin is taking aim at your team, you have to appreciate watching a guy that was the 60th (last) pick in the NBA Draft put up nearly 30 points per game for the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.

A lot of times older players like to disparage the younger group of stars, saying that players are softer now and they wouldn't be able to handle the physicality of the game they played.

But don't count Celtics great John Havlicek among those haters.

He had nothing but praise for what Thomas is doing, including his pursuit of one of Havlicek's records. Thomas had scored 20 or more points in 37 consecutive games entering Monday night. Havlicek set the Celtics record by scoring 20+ in 40 straight games.

The Hall of Famer announced his support for Thomas' pursuit of his record in The Boston Globe, but definitely threw in an important caveat.

"I never considered it a record or thought about it until someone came up with it, and more power to him if he breaks the record," Havlicek said. "It's a different era, a different game because of the 3-point shot. But I'll take my 2-pointers and be happy with it."

He makes a good point, but it's nice to see an older player throwing support behind a current player instead of shade. Havlicek also said he enjoys watching Thomas play and thinks he's special.

"I think the thing that separates [Thomas] from other players is his quickness," Havlicek said. "Red Auerbach always said it's not how fast you are, it's how quick you are. He certainly is quick with the ball and he's also low to the ground and gets to places where other people can't because of their size. I think he's been an absolute delight to watch.

"I know that's going to continue to score because he has that ability to avoid the tall trees, you might say. He certainly knows all the angles around the basket. That's something that Sam Jones did probably better than anyone. [Thomas] is a special player, no question about it."

Thomas will participate in the All-Star game for the second time on Sunday in New Orleans, but he has a long way to go to catch Havlicek, who was a 13-time All-Star and an eight-time NBA champion.