Krystal Thomas (born June 10, 1989) 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 in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA).

USA Basketball

Thomas was selected as a member of the USA Women's U19 team which won the gold medal at the FIBA U19 World Championship in

Bratislava, Slovakia Bratislava (German: ''Pressburg'', Hungarian: ''Pozsony'') is the capital and largest city of the Slovak Republic and the fourth largest of all cities on the river Danube. Officially, the population of the city is about 475,000; however, ...

. The event was held in July and August 2007, when the USA team defeated Sweden to win the championship. She averaged 7.8 points per game.

Duke statistics

Source

Professional career

WNBA

Thomas was selected in the third round of the

2011 WNBA draft The 2011 WNBA draft is the league's annual process for determining which teams receive the rights to negotiate with players entering the league. The draft was held on April 11, 2011, at the ESPN studios in Bristol, Connecticut. The first round ...

(36th overall) by the

Seattle Storm The Seattle Storm are an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The Storm compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team was founded by Gi ...

.http://www.wnba.com draft2011/draft_board.html 2011 WNBA Draft board After 7 games played with the Storm, she was waived and then signed with the

Phoenix Mercury The Phoenix Mercury are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Mercury compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. One of eight original franchises, it wa ...

. In her second season with the Mercury, she averaged career-highs in scoring and rebounding and set franchise records for most consecutive double-digit rebound games and most offensive rebounds in a season. In 2014, Thomas was waived by the Mercury and then signed with the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis. The Fever compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was founded for ...

. After becoming a free agent in 2015, she opted to sit out the entire season and took an assistant coach job offer from

Grand Canyon University Grand Canyon University (GCU) is a Private university, private For-profit higher education in the United States, for-profit Christian university in Phoenix, Arizona. The university offers degrees in over 200 areas of study and is administrativel ...

. In 2016, Thomas signed a training camp contract with the Storm but was waived before the start of the season. Eventually the Storm would re-acquire Thomas one month into the 2016 season. In February 2017, Thomas signed with the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference. The team was ...

. During the 2017 season, Thomas would have the best season of her career. After the first four games of the season, Thomas was moved from the bench to starting center in the Mystics lineup. On August 4, 2017, Thomas scored 3 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds in a 76–74 loss to the

San Antonio Stars The San Antonio Stars were a professional basketball team based in San Antonio, playing in the Western Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded in Salt Lake City, Utah, as the Utah Starzz before th ...

. On August 12, 2017, Thomas scored a career-high 20 points along with 14 rebounds in a 100–80 win over the Indiana Fever. By the end of the season, Thomas would average new career-highs in scoring, rebounding, steals, assists and blocks. Following the league's new playoff format from the previous season, the Mystics would finish as the 6th seed in the league with an 18–16 record. In the first round elimination game, the Mystics defeated the

Dallas Wings The Dallas Wings are an American professional basketball team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Wings compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team is owned by a group ...

86–76. Thomas scored 5 points along with 17 rebounds in the win. In the second round elimination game, the Mystics defeated the number-3 seeded

New York Liberty The New York Liberty are an American professional basketball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Brooklyn. The Liberty compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Confer ...

82–68, advancing past the second round for the first time in franchise history. Thomas scored 11 points along with 6 rebounds in the win. In the semi-finals, the Mystics would be defeated by the

Minnesota Lynx The Minnesota Lynx are an American professional basketball team based in Minneapolis. The Lynx compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference (WNBA), Western Conference. The team won the WNBA ...

in a 3-game sweep. In 2018, Thomas would have reduced role on the team. Her reduced role would help for the betterment of the team as the Mystics finished 22–12 with the number 3 seed, receiving a bye to the second round. In the second round elimination game, the Mystics defeated the

Los Angeles Sparks The Los Angeles Sparks are an American professional basketball team based in Los Angeles. The Sparks compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at Crypto.co ...

96–64 to advance to the semi-finals again. In the semi-finals, they would defeat the number 2 seeded

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Dream compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was founded for the ...

in five games to advance to the WNBA Finals for the first time in franchise history. In the Finals, the Mystics would fall short as they were swept by the Seattle Storm.

Overseas

In the 2011-12 WNBA off-season, Thomas played in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

for Union Lyon Basket Feminin. In the 2012-13 WNBA off-season, Thomas played in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

for the Jiangsu Phonenix. In the 2013-14 WNBA off-season, Thomas played in

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

for Perfumerias Avenida and won a championship with the team. In 2017, Thomas signed with Mersin BBSK for the 2017-18 WNBA off-season.

WNBA career statistics

WNBA regular season

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Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

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Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

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, 19 , , 0 , , 9.3 , , .579 , , .000 , , .714 , , 2.3 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 1.4 , - , style="text-align:left;", , style="text-align:left;",

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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, 24, , 7 , , 9.9 , , .429 , , .000 , , .636 , , 2.5 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 1.8 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 176 , , 68 , , 16.2 , , .516 , , .000 , , .532 , , 4.9 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 0.6 , , 3.6

WNBA postseason

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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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2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, style="text-align:left;", Phoenix , , 5, , 0, , 7.9, , .667, , .000, , .500, , 2.2, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.2, , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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, , 2, , 0, , 5.8, , .500, , .000, , .000, , 1.5, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 0.0, , 1.0 , - , style="text-align:left;",

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

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, 3 , , 0 , , 2.4 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 1.3 , , 0.3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - class="sortbottom" , style="text-align:center;" colspan="2" , Career , 19 , , 5 , , 11.1 , , .517 , , .000 , , .529 , , 3.5 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 2.1

Personal life

Thomas is the oldest of five siblings. She has a sister that plays professional

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

overseas. While at

Duke University Duke University is a Private university, private research university in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity, North Carolina, Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1 ...

, Thomas majored in

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. Other than professional basketball, Thomas is also an assistant coach at Grand Canyon University in her spare time.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Krystal 1989 births Living people American expatriate basketball people in China American expatriate basketball people in Spain American women's basketball players Basketball players from Orlando, Florida Centers (basketball) Duke Blue Devils women's basketball players Indiana Fever players Jiangsu Phoenix players Phoenix Mercury players Seattle Storm draft picks Seattle Storm players Washington Mystics players