Etan Thomas

Dedrick Etan Thomas ( born April 1, 1978 in Harlem, New York City ) is a retired American professional basketball player. His height is 208 cm and his weight 117 kg. From 1996 to 2000 he played at Syracuse University. From 2000 to 2011 he was active in the NBA.

High School

Thomas attended Booker T. Washington High School in his hometown of Tulsa. The high school is known for its good basketball program and has NBA players like Wayman Tisdale spawned. Thomas himself played for the basketball team in high school, the Hornets. There he played with Ryan Humphrey, another future NBA player, and the later NFL players De'mond Parker and RW McQuarters in a team. With this team he won the 1995 State Championship. He stood in the shadow of Ryan Humphrey, who was appointed to the McDonald's High School All-American. The following year he finished high school and attended Syracuse University from now on.

College

From 1996 to 2000, Thomas played at Syracuse University in Syracuse Orangemen basketball team at the. In his first year he was rarely used, since he had to give other players. When they had it left the university in the year, he was directly to the starter and was a key player in the team of the Orangemen. Especially with his defensive performance he drew attention to himself and blocked throughout the season 138 litters. The Orangemen reached the NCAA Sweet 16 with him and Thomas was elected at the end of the season for the Big East 's Most Improved Player of the Year. Together with the later NBA player Jason Hart, he completed two more years for the Orangemen. During this time, he reached again the Sweet 16 and was elected to his seniors year for Big East Defensive Player of the Year.

NBA

The Dallas Mavericks selected him in the 2000 NBA Draft out in 12th place. For the Mavericks, he never played a game, however, and was traded in 2001 to the Washington Wizards. Even with the Wizards, he was not initially used and contested in the 2001/ 02 season, his first NBA game. For the Wizards, he was able to prevail and never fell rather by problems with his teammate Brendan Haywood. Statistically graduated from Thomas 2003/ 04 his best season and reached the following season with the Wizards, the second playoff round. For the 2009/10 season he was traded to the Oklahoma City Thunder and denied for this one season in which he reached the playoffs with the team. He was then released in a swap deal to the Atlanta Hawks.

Others

Thomas was born in Harlem and grew up with a younger brother in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on. Through the influence of his mother, a teacher, he worked with the American civil rights movement, politics and especially the 1960s. He writes poems, which he published under the title More Than An Athlete. In 2008, he supported Barack Obama in his candidacy for U.S. President and entered it as a speaker.