Etan Thomas

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Etan Thomas bigraphy, stories - American basketball player

Etan Thomas : biography

April 1, 1978 –

Dedreck Etan Thomas, commonly referred to as Etan Thomas (born April 1, 1978 in Harlem, New York), is a former professional basketball player who played 10 seasons in the NBA.

NBA career statistics

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 47 || 0 || 13.1 || .536 || .000 || .554 || 3.9 || .1 || .4 || .7 || 4.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 38 || 0 || 13.5 || .492 || .000 || .638 || 4.3 || .1 || .2 || .6 || 4.8 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 79 || 15 || 24.1 || .489 || .000 || .647 || 6.7 || .9 || .5 || 1.6 || 8.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 47 || 10 || 20.8 || .502 || .000 || .528 || 5.2 || .4 || .4 || 1.1 || 7.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 71 || 9 || 15.8 || .533 || .000 || .600 || 3.9 || .2 || .3 || 1.0 || 4.7 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 65 || 32 || 19.2 || .574 || .000 || .558 || 5.8 || .4 || .3 || 1.4 || 6.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 26 || 7 || 11.8 || .485 || .000 || .696 || 2.5 || .2 || .1 || .7 || 3.1 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 23 || 1 || 14.0 || .456 || .000 || .591 || 2.8 || .0 || .2 || .7 || 3.3 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 13 || 0 || 6.3 || .476 || .000 || .800 || 1.8 || .2 || .1 || .3 || 2.5 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 409 || 74 || 17.3 || .513 || .000 || .603 || 4.8 || .4 || .3 || 1.0 || 5.7

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2005 | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 8 || 0 || 15.8 || .655 || .000 || .455 || 4.5 || .3 || .0 || .9 || 6.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2006 | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 3 || 0 || 6.0 || .400 || .000 || .500 || 2.0 || .0 || .7 || .7 || 2.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2007 | style="text-align:left;"| Washington | 4 || 4 || 21.0 || .412 || .000 || .667 || 5.5 || .3 || .5 || .8 || 5.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2010 | style="text-align:left;"| Oklahoma City | 2 || 0 || 8.5 || .833 || .000 || 1.000 || 2.0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || 6.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| 2011 | style="text-align:left;"| Atlanta | 1 || 0 || 7.0 || .000 || .000 || .000 || 1.0 || .0 || .0 || .0 || .0 |- class="sortbottom" | style="text-align:left;"| Career | style="text-align:left;"| | 18 || 4 || 14.0 || .559 || .000 || .541 || 3.8 || .2 || .2 || .7 || 4.8

College

Etan Thomas played 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. His senior year 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 and has averaged 6.7 points and 5.3 rebounds throughout his career.

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.

Health concerns

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 eight rebounds. SI.com, November 6, 2008

Personal life

His name is derived from the 18th dynasty "heretic pharaoh" Akhenaten, an ancient Egyptian king.

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.

Political activism and social causes

In September 2005, Thomas was one of several celebrities to speak 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 regularly blogs on the Huffington Post. Huffingtonpost.com

Thomas actively supported President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign. 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.http://www.democrats.org/a/2008/08/howard_dean_pub.php

In January 2010, Thomas donated $30,000 to the Haiti relief efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

In 2012, Thomas co-authored the book “Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge” on his fatherless childhood and the importance of fatherhood.