Isaiah Thomas made his first return to Boston on Wednesday night since he was traded by the Celtics to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the summer.The point guard didn't take to the floor, however, as the Cavs chose not to risk him in a back-to-back and was merely a spectator.But whether he was due to play or not, the C's were planning to honor their former star with a video tribute on the night but decided to scrap it at his personal request.Thomas kindly asked the Celtics to feature the video the next time he visits TD Garden so he can be on the floor and with his family present.It is expected that the franchise will look to honor IT in their next meeting with the Cavaliers on February 11 when he is likely to be in the lineup.But that clash with Cleveland will also coincide with the jersey retirement of one of Boston's greatest ever players; Paul Pierce.The organization earmarked this occasion as the night to send their legend's number 34 to the rafters and pay tribute to his achievements in the green uniform.Speaking on ESPN's 'The Jump', Pierce made it clear, though, that he wants the night to belong to him and prefers that the Celtics don't run a video for Isaiah."I'm not saying Isaiah shouldn't get a tribute video ... but on February 11, the night I get my jersey retired, I'm not sure I want to look up at the JumboTron and see Isaiah highlights," Pierce said.

The 40-year-old - who won an NBA championship with Boston in 2008 - said he was recently present at Kobe Bryant's jersey retirement ceremony at Staples Center and he liked the way the Los Angeles Lakers played his highlights during time-outs.

"I enjoyed watching that throughout the game," Pierce said. "Hopefully the Boston Celtics will do that for me. I'm not sure I want to see an Isaiah video that night."

Thomas doesn't believe one in-game video will take the spotlight away from Pierce and explained why he didn't want it to be done on Wednesday night.

"That's Pierce's night. But, like, the video tribute ain't the whole night," Thomas said, per ESPN's Chris Forsberg. "I just wanted my family to be here to see it. That's what it came down to. I wanted to be able to play.

"And I wanted my family to experience the love and appreciation this city and this organization is going to give me on that night. And when my representatives reached out to these guys, [the Celtics] were all for it. They agreed on it.

"I don't know why [some people are] so mad about it. I'm not taking nothing from Paul Pierce. He did 15 years here so there's nothing that I can take from him. But if they choose to do it that night, that would be great and I would be honored. And my family and friends can see how much they appreciated me here."

During a radio interview on Thursday, Celtics general manager Danny Ainge said he didn't see any problem with a brief tribute to their former guard and confirmed that they still plan to run with it.