Dedrick Etan Thomas (born April 1, 1978) is an American former professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

player who played for the

Washington Wizards The Washington Wizards are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Wizards compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference. The team plays i ...

Oklahoma City Thunder The Oklahoma City Thunder are an American professional basketball team based in Oklahoma City. The Thunder compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Division (NBA), Northwest Division of the Western Confer ...

, and

Atlanta Hawks The Atlanta Hawks are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta. The Hawks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NBA), Easte ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

(NBA). He is also a published poet, freelance writer, activist, and motivational speaker, as well as a co-host of ''Centers of Attention'', a sports talk show on ESPN Radio Syracuse in

Syracuse Syracuse most commonly refers to: * Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; in the province of Syracuse * Syracuse, New York, USA; in the Syracuse metropolitan area Syracuse may also refer to: Places * Syracuse railway station (disambiguation) Italy * Provi ...

, New York, alongside former professional basketball player

Danny Schayes Daniel Leslie Schayes (born May 10, 1959) is an American former professional basketball player who played for Syracuse University and played 18 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA), from 1981 until 1999. At 6' 11" and 235 pounds ...

Early life

His name is derived from the

18th dynasty The Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt (notated Dynasty XVIII, alternatively 18th Dynasty or Dynasty 18) is classified as the first dynasty of the New Kingdom of Egypt, the era in which ancient Egypt achieved the peak of its power. The Eighteenth Dynasty ...

"heretic pharaoh"

Akhenaten Akhenaten (pronounced ), also spelled Akhenaton or Echnaton ( ''ʾŪḫə-nə-yātəy'', , meaning 'Effective for the Aten'), was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh reigning or 1351–1334 BC, the tenth ruler of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt, Eig ...

, an ancient Egyptian king.

Career

College

Thomas played his

college basketball College basketball is basketball that is played by teams of Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. In the Higher education in the United States, United States, colleges and universities are governed by collegiate athle ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

from 1996 to 2000, where he averaged 11 points per game and almost seven rebounds per game and graduated with a degree in business management. In his sophomore season, he was named the Big East Most Improved Player; in his junior and senior years he was named Big East Defensive Player of the Year. At the end of his Syracuse career, Thomas was drafted 12th overall in the

2000 NBA draft The 2000 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2000, at the Target Center in Minneapolis. It was the last draft held at the home arena of an NBA team until 2011; the following and subsequent drafts (through 2010) all took place at The Theater at Madis ...

by the

Dallas Mavericks The Dallas Mavericks (often referred to as the Mavs) are an American professional basketball team based in Dallas. The Mavericks compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southwest Division (NBA), Southwest Divisi ...

. He also played basketball at Booker T. Washington High School in Tulsa, OK, where he was a teammate of De'mond Parker, R. W. McQuarters and Ryan Humphrey.

Professional career

Without ever playing a game for the Mavericks, he was traded to the

in 2001. He would play for Washington for the next 8 years (technically 7, as he sat out the entire 2007–2008 season due to injury), with his best season being in 2003–2004 when he averaged 8.9 points and 6.7 rebounds. Although Thomas never averaged 1.0 assists in a season, that 03–04 season was the closest he came to it, recording 68 assists in 79 games, for a season average of 0.9. During the Wizards' training camp for the

2007–08 NBA season The 2007–08 NBA season was the 62nd season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 131–92 to win the 2008 NBA Finals, four games to two. The 2007 NBA draft was held on June 28, 2007, a ...

, a routine physical examination discovered that he had a leaking

aortic valve The aortic valve is a valve in the heart of humans and most other animals, located between the left ventricle and the aorta. It is one of the four valves of the heart and one of the two semilunar valves, the other being the pulmonary valve. ...

. On October 11, 2007, Thomas successfully underwent open heart surgery. He returned to play for the Wizards on October 29, 2008, a full year after his surgery. In his first game back, he had 10 points and eight rebounds. On June 23, 2009, he was traded along with

Oleksiy Pecherov Oleksiy Ivanovych Pecherov (; born 8 December 1985) is a Ukrainian former professional basketball player. He was also a member of the Ukraine national basketball team. Professional career The Washington Wizards selected him with the 18th pick i ...

Darius Songaila Darius Songaila (born February 14, 1978) is a Lithuanian professional basketball coach and former player. He serves as an assistant coach for Manisa Basket of Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He has represented the Lithuania national team. He play ...

, and a first-round draft pick to the

Minnesota Timberwolves The Minnesota Timberwolves (often referred to as the Wolves or T-wolves) are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Timberwolves compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Northwest Divisio ...

for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. A month later on July 27, 2009, he was traded to the

along with a 2010 second-round draft pick and a conditional 2010 second-round draft pick in exchange for guards Chucky Atkins and Damien Wilkins. On September 2, 2010, it was announced that the

had signed Thomas. His tenure with the Hawks (2010–2011) would be his final season in the NBA. That season, he played 13 games for Atlanta while averaging 2.5 points and 1.8 rebounds. His final NBA game was played on April 16, 2011, in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference First Round against the Orlando Magic. Thomas played for 6 and half minutes and the only stat he recorded was 1 rebound in a 103–93 victory over Orlando. He would sit out for the remainder of the playoffs and the Atlanta Hawks were eventually eliminated in the Semi-Finals in 6 games by the Chicago Bulls.

Other work

In 2005, Thomas released a book of poetry titled ''More Than an Athlete: Poems by Etan Thomas'' which included works critical of former Wizards head coach Doug Collins.Boren, Cindy (May 22, 2016)
"Ex-NBA center shames woman he says wouldn’t let him sit by her due to race"
''The Washington Post''. In 2012, Thomas co-authored the autobiography ''Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge'', which he discusses his fatherless childhood and the importance of fatherhood. Since 2020, Thomas has been a writer and podcaster for Basketballnews.com. In 2022 he published: Police Brutality and White Supremacy: The Fight Against American Traditions.

Personal life

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

, Thomas is a member of the First Baptist Church of Glenarden and is involved in facilitating youth forums.

Political activism and social causes

Thomas says that he became an oralist when, after he was detained and humiliated by police officers in high school, his speech teacher had him sort and verbalize his feelings into a speech. The Tulsa World Newspaper published a story on his experience. His mother spoke with him about activists who used their positions as athletes to amplify their reach, such as

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Kareem Abdul-Jabbar ( ; born Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor Jr. , April 16, 1947) is an American former basketball player. He played professionally for 20 seasons for the Milwaukee Bucks and Los Angeles Lakers in the National Basketball Associatio ...

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...

Bill Russell William Felton Russell (February 12, 1934 – July 31, 2022) was an American professional basketball player who played Center (basketball), center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1956 to 1969. He was t ...

, and

Jim Brown James Nathaniel Brown (February 17, 1936 – May 18, 2023) was an American professional American football, football player, civil rights activist, and actor. He played as a Fullback (gridiron football), fullback for the Cleveland Browns of the ...

. In his book, ''More Than an Athlete'', Thomas discusses how the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) runs as a business, and not to the service of the student athletes. After his wife was injured in college, the NCAA fought to take away her scholarship, and therefore, her ability to pay for and attend college. He points out the hypocrisy in an organization who makes billions a year and claims that there is not enough funding available for their main sources of profit, the athletes. In September 2005, Thomas was one of several celebrities to speak at an anti-war rally in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

He also spoke out at the September 15, 2007 anti-war protest in Washington, D.C. He blogs for ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''. Thomas said he was inclined to be against the Iraq War, as he felt there was no clear reason to invade the country and the fact that some of his brother's friends who were deployed to Iraq, and upon learning about how terrified they were, decided to begin speaking out. Thomas actively supported

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

's 2008 campaign for

U.S. president The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...

. On August 16, 2008, he appeared with

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

chair

Howard Dean Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

at stops in northern Virginia as part of the Democratic National Committee's "Register for Change" bus tour to encourage local voter registration drives. Thomas gave speeches at two stops in

Fairfax County Fairfax County, officially the County of Fairfax, is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. With a population of 1,150,309 as of the 2020 census, it is the most populous county in Virginia, the most populous jurisdiction in the Washington ...

and the City of Alexandria. In January 2010, Thomas donated $30,000 to the Haiti relief efforts after the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

. Thomas is an advocate against

police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or Public order policing, a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, b ...

NBA career statistics

Regular season

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Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

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, 38 , , 0 , , 13.5 , , .492 , , , , .638 , , 4.3 , , .1 , , .2 , , .6 , , 4.8 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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, 47 , , 10 , , 20.8 , , .502 , , , , .528 , , 5.2 , , .4 , , .4 , , 1.1 , , 7.1 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

, 13 , , 0 , , 6.3 , , .476 , , , , .800 , , 1.8 , , .2 , , .1 , , .3 , , 2.5 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2", Career , 409 , , 74 , , 17.3 , , .513 , , , , .603 , , 4.8 , , .4 , , .3 , , 1.0 , , 5.7

Playoffs

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2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

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2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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, 3 , , 0 , , 6.0 , , .400 , , , , .500 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .7 , , .7 , , 2.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

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, 4 , , 4 , , 21.0 , , .412 , , , , .667 , , 5.5 , , .3 , , .5 , , .8 , , 5.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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, 2 , , 0 , , 8.5 , , .833 , , , , 1.000 , , 2.0 , , .0 , , .0 , , .0 , , 6.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

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References

External links

*
Etan Thomas on Huffington Post
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Etan 1978 births Living people All-American college men's basketball players American men's basketball players American people of Grenadian descent American people of Sierra Leonean descent Sportspeople of Sierra Leonean descent Atlanta Hawks players Booker T. Washington High School (Tulsa, Oklahoma) alumni Centers (basketball) Dallas Mavericks draft picks Oklahoma City Thunder players Parade High School All-Americans (boys' basketball) People from Harlem Basketball players from Manhattan Syracuse Orange men's basketball players Washington Wizards players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 20th-century African-American sportsmen

Early life

Career

College

Professional career

Other work

Personal life

Political activism and social causes

NBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

See also

References

External links