Etan Thomas

ETAN THOMAS – GRENADIAN MAKING WAVES

Etan Thomas the former NBA star who is of Grenadian heritage is a rare jewel, stated L.A. Lakers Guard Derek Fisher. Ethan who is 6 ft 10 inches is committed to life outside the NBA. Etan believes there’s a higher purpose, a higher calling for his life. He’s committed to using his platform to influencing young people and impacting their lives that will transcend any contributions he had on the court. While Etan Thomas had a 9-year career in the NBA (2000-2011), it’s clear that he’s driven by the desire to give back. In 2010, he won the National Basketball Players Association Community Contribution Award and in 2009 he received the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation Inc Legacy Award.

When asked about his connection to the Spice Isle, Thomas stated, “Actually my grandmother was the one from Grenada, but I knew about my history and my heritage. I had a pride about that instilled in me from an early age. It’s a special connection even though it was two generations removed. I didn’t feel like just my grandmother was from Grenada, I felt like I was from there as well. I would say things like, I have spice in my blood. I remembered my MySpace name was ‘SonOfGrenada’. I definitely felt connected.”

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In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, Etan donated US$40,000 to funding youth programs and repairing basketball courts across the country. And he got the NBA and other players to donate US $100,000 too.  Aside from giving money, he also took time to visit his grandmother’s parish of St Patrick’s, where he spoke to young people. In an interview with CANA News he said: My reason for contributing was for the people of Sauteurs. I’m concerned that the court gets utilized in the way that it is supposed to be for young people to have a place where they can play and take them off the streets, a place where they can learn organizational skills, learning together and working together, that should be the only thing that matters.”

Beyond Grenada’s shores, Etan has also made a great impact in the US through books, campaigning and working towards social justice and youth empowerment.  In 2012, he released his second book, Fatherhood – Rising to the Ultimate Challenge, and launched the Fatherhood Movement which saw the father-of-three tour across America. The movement, which continues to grow, features an impressive line-up of celebrities and influential figures who have joined forces to inspire an entire young generation who are growing up without fathers in their homes.

In an article for the Huffington Post, Etan wrote, “There are too many examples of men who are unable to be successful and make the right decisions, who came from so-called “broken homes. His experiences of racism at an early age may have been the grit from which grew his pearls of wisdom on the black experience in contemporary America. He is more likely to be found commenting on America’s racial and social ills than on his former sport.

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Indeed, he hasn’t held back in criticizing the way in which the $6 billion-a-year National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) exploits young, predominantly black, athletes by refusing to pay them salaries in the expectation students should be grateful for an academic scholarship. Etan has also shown an unwavering commitment to using his position to speak out about the injustices that many black people face in America. Through his media appearances and work for organizations like the NAACP he is an example that helps in dispelling the myth that black sports stars’ “disconnect from the black community and the retaliation black athletes face from reactionary sports media has fractured the “common cause” that once united all black athletes when they stood for causes for social justice.”

College

Thomas played his college basketball at Syracuse University from 1996–2000, where he averaged 11 points per game and almost 7 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 by the Dallas Mavericks. 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 Washington Wizards in 2001. He averaged 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds throughout the 2001–02 season. During the Wizards’ training camp for the 2007–08 NBA season, a routine physical examination discovered that he had a leaking aortic 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 8 rebounds. On June 23, 2009, he was traded along with Oleksiy Pecherov, Darius Songaila, and a first-round draft pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Randy Foye and Mike Miller. On July 27, 2009, he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder 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 Atlanta Hawks had signed Thomas.

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Other work

In the summer of 2011, Thomas starred in the dramatic production of Our Town by Thorton Wilder, alongside former Wizards teammates Gilbert Arenas and Jared Jeffries, as well as Boost Mobile spokesman Faizon Love. 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. In 2012, Thomas co-authored the autobiography Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge, which he discusses his fatherless childhood and the importance of fatherhood.

Thomas is devoted to his family and his Faith. He is also an active member of First Baptist Church of Glenarden located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland. He had plans to co-direct a Nike Basketball Camp at the FBCG Family Life Center in the summer of 2020 but due to social distancing guidelines it was postponed until summer 2021.

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Political activism and social causes

Thomas says that he became an orator 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, Muhammad Ali, Bill Russell, and Jim Brown. 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 which 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 who spoke at an anti-war rally in Washington, D.C. He also spoke out at the September 15, 2007 anti-war protest in Washington D.C. He blogs for The Huffington Post. 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 were deployed to Iraq, and upon learning about how terrified they were, decided to begin speaking out.

Thomas supported Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign for U.S. president. On August 16, 2008, he appeared with Democratic National Committee chair Howard Dean 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 and the City of Alexandria. In January 2010, Thomas donated $30,000 to the Haiti relief efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Thomas is an advocate against police brutality.

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This Son of the Soil has a net worth of $16 million. He is now known as an author and a motivational speaker trying to make an impact on society. As an author he wrote multiple books and is still an advocate for athletes playing a role and joining the conversation on race, politics, and civil rights. He appears on different shows and speaks at many events regarding various topics about activism around the world.

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Aaron Antoine Resil.i.ent