Omar Abdul Thomas (born February 27, 1982) 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.

Early years

Thomas was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

. Having taken the first steps to Strawberry Mansion High School and at Panola Junior College (Texas), passes to the prestigious

University of Texas El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public university, public research university in El Paso, Texas, United States. Founded in 1913 as the State School of Mines and Metallurgy, it is the third oldest academic component of the Univers ...

(UTEP), taking leave in 2005 with figures of all respect.

Professional career

After the university, Thomas had a tryout with the

Seattle SuperSonics The Seattle SuperSonics (commonly shortened to Sonics) were an American professional basketball team based in Seattle. The SuperSonics competed in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Western Division (1967–1970), and ...

but did not sign contract. Then he went to the

Coca-Cola Tigers Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

in the Philippines. After one year he went to the

NBA Development League The NBA G League, or simply the G League, is a professional basketball league in North America that serves as the developmental league of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league comprises 31 teams; as of the 2024–25 season, ...

(NBDL) with the

Austin Toros Austin refers to: Common meanings * Austin, Texas, United States, a city * Austin (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Austin Motor Company, a British car manufac ...

. His career continued in the Dominican Republic with the Deportivo Naco. In 2006, he was spotted by Giampiero Ticchi who brought him to play in Italy where his first team was

Rimini Rimini ( , ; or ; ) is a city in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. Sprawling along the Adriatic Sea, Rimini is situated at a strategically-important north-south passage along the coast at the southern tip of the Po Valley. It is ...

where he played for two seasons. During the summer of 2008, he signed an agreement with the French club Pau-Orthez, but was cut after three games. Then he went back in Italy and signed with

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

, which debuted in

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

. At Napoli he averaged 11.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. In July 2009, he signed with

Brindisi Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic position ...

of the

Legadue Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian league pyramid, below the first division LBA and above the third division Serie B, with ...

. At the end of the season, he was named the Legadue

MVP MVP most commonly refers to: * Most valuable player, an award, typically for the best performing player in a sport or competition * Minimum viable product, a concept for feature estimating used in business and engineering MVP may also refer to: ...

. On June 24, 2010, Thomas signed with

Sidigas Avellino S.S. Felice Scandone was an Italian professional basketball club based in Avellino, Campania. Founded in 1948, the team has been a regular in the Lega Basket Serie A (LBA), the first tier of basketball in Italy, for 19 years (2000/01 to 2018/19). ...

. In the 2010–11 season, Thomas drag the club in playoff with the fourth place overall at the end of the regular season, and won the title of MVP of the Italian League regular season, with an average of 18.0 points and 6.2 rebounds. On 6 December 2011, the National Commission of Judges of the FIP has suspended the player for 16 months (until April 6, 2013) because he was charged with possession of false passports of

Republic of Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

. However a few days later the player had the permission from

FIBA The International Basketball Federation (FIBA ; French language, French: ) is an association of national organizations which governs the sport of basketball worldwide. FIBA defines the rules of basketball, specifies the Basketball equipment ...

to move to

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

, as the disqualification of the Italian federation had no international effect. While playing with Crvena zvezda he had a good season, leading his team to the final of the playoffs in the

Serbian League The Serbian League () is the third level football league in Serbia. It consists of four groups, namely Belgrade, East, Vojvodina, and West. The winner of each group earns promotion to the Serbian First League. History 1992–1995 In the summer o ...

and the final of

Kup Radivoja Koraća Kup may refer to: * Kup, Hungary * Kup, Poland * Kup, a village in Sangrur district in Punjab, India; site of the 1762 Battle of Kup between the Afghans and Sikhs * Küp, in Turkey * Kup (military rank), a military rank in North Korea * Kup ...

where they lost both times to Partizan. On July 12, 2013, Thomas signed with

Dinamo Sassari Polisportiva Dinamo, commonly known as Dinamo Sassari and currently known as Dinamo Banco di Sardegna Sassari for sponsorship reasons, is an Italian professional basketball club that is based in Sassari, Sardinia. They are the 2018–19 European ...

for the 2013–14 season. On August 23, 2014, he signed with FMC Ferentino of the Italian

Serie A2 Basket Serie A2, known for sponsorship reasons as Serie A2 Old Wild West, is a men's basketball list of basketball leagues, league in Italy. It constitutes the second-tier of the Italian basketball league system, Italian league pyramid, below the firs ...

for the 2014–15 season. In November 2015, he signed with Halcones Rojos Veracruz of the Mexican LNBP. In late December 2015, he left Veracruz and signed with VITA Tbilisi of the

VTB United League The VTB United League () is an international professional men's club basketball league that was founded in 2009. It is made up of mostly Russian clubs, along with one each from Belarus and Kazakhstan. Since 2013, it is the first tier of Russian ...

. On March 1, 2016, he left Tbilisi and signed with

Zenit Saint Petersburg Football Club Zenit (, ), also known as Zenit Saint Petersburg or simply Zenit, is a Russian professional football club based in Saint Petersburg. Founded in 1925 (or in 1914, according to some Russian sources), the club plays in the Russian Pr ...

for the rest of the season. On July 3, 2016, Thomas signed with

Vanoli Cremona Guerino Vanoli Basket, also known as Vanoli Cremona, is a professional basketball team of the city of Cremona. The team played in the Lega Basket Serie A, LBA, the top Italian basketball league, for 12 years until 2021. From 1999 to 2011 the soci ...

for the 2016–17 season. On November 23, 2016, he parted ways with Cremona after appearing in six games. In December 2016, he signed with

Hoops Club Hoops Club () is a Lebanese sports club. It is based in Beirut, Lebanon, with branches in Antelias, Tyre, and southern suburbs of Beirut ( Dahieh). The basketball team is part of the Lebanese Basketball League The Lebanese Basketball League ...

. In 2017, he played in Mexico with the Náuticos de Mazatlán of the

Circuito de Baloncesto de la Costa del Pacífico The Pacific Coast Basketball Circuit ( or CIBACOPA), officially known as the Liga Chevron CIBACOPA for sponsorship reasons, is a ten team basketball league based in Northwestern Mexico. The matches take place from March to June. History A leag ...

(CIBACOPA).Mazatlan signs Omar Thomas, ex Hoops
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References

External links