It's not about what his sister would want, or what Thomas "wants" to do. It's about what he's able to do. It's extremely easy for all of us who are personally disaffected to say we would go out and play our best as a tribute, just as it's easy to say you would sacrifice your life for a cause when death isn't on the horizon. But that's just not how it works when you are actually living it out.
I'm willing to bet the person raising this question of "what would his sister want" has never suffered an unexpected family member loss. When that happens, your emotions are running all over the place, a single memory or a passing thought can suddenly overwhelm you out of nowhere, and focusing on a completely unrelated issue like a basketball game is the hardest thing to do.
Don't try to suggest Thomas is under any obligation to play tonight, whether to honor his sister or for any other reason. This is very probably the single biggest shock of his life, and the least we can give him is 24 hours (time from the accident to the game) without any pithy, presumptuous implicit suggestions about what his dead sister would want. That's just insensitive.
