NBA veteran Etan Thomas pens another powerful book

By LOIS ELFMAN January 6, 2022

As a follow-up to his 2018 book, “We Matter: Athletes and Activism,” NBA veteran Etan Thomas tackles a pressing issue of the day with “Police Brutality and White Supremacy: The Fight Against American Traditions,” which will be available Jan. 11. The book includes both personal reflections as well as extensive interviews with people such as Rodney King’s daughter, Lora Dene King, and exonerated Central Park Five survivor Raymond Santana.

“There has been so much consistently going on in the area of police brutality,” said Thomas. “From when I wrote ‘We Matter,’ I wanted to capture the reasons that so many athletes were now having this resurgence of athlete activism. Using their voices, and it all centered around police brutality and what was being shown. With the invention of social media and cell phones, now you’re seeing it on a recurring reel. I wanted to dig a little bit deeper into the origins of it.”

Thomas reflects on his first memories of police brutality and how the Rodney King beating affected him. King died in 2012, so Thomas reached out to his daughter to understand how this traumatic event in her father’s life impacted not only him, but his whole family.

“I wanted to go back to those [events] from my time frame and look at solution-oriented possibilities, so I interviewed police officers,” said Thomas, who played 11 years in the NBA. “I’ve been doing this work for a while, and I’ve involved police officers in this work. A lot of the things that I’ve heard them say…are common sense things that should have been implemented a long time ago.

“The whole goal of [the book] was to be able to see solution-oriented possibilities towards police accountability,” he added.

Writing has become a vital part of Thomas’ activism and he appreciates interviewing others to hear their perspectives. For “Police Brutality and White Supremacy,” he interweaves his thoughts and opinions with those of people such as Steph Curry, Chuck D., Isiah Thomas, Sue Bird, Breanna Stewart, Jake Tapper, Jemele Hill, Stan Van Gundy, Kyle Korver, Mark Cuban, Rick Strom and more.

“Hearing people’s perspectives and the way that they’re navigating through multiple, non-stop cases of police brutality and the impact of white supremacy, I wanted it to be eye-opening for everyone who reads it,” said Thomas. “I include my opinions, my stories and my interactions with my children and the impact they have from it. Having to talk with our children, which all Black parents have to do, and the questions that they ask.

“The group that you don’t really hear a lot from is how the family members are impacted,” he added. “That’s why I really wanted to lean heavy on that. … Hearing from them is a different level of impact.”

The chapter Sisters of the Movement features the sisters of Botham Jean, Atatiana Jefferson and Sean Monterrosa. He wanted them to not only tell their stories, but also highlight what they’re trying to do to not see what happened to their family member happen to another family.

Thomas was born in Harlem, raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and spent summers in New York City, which included playing basketball at the Boys’ Club. A lot of his early writing was about what he saw in the summers in New York.

Thomas makes it clear that Black athletes and entertainers are not immune from police brutality. When he was traveling and speaking on college campuses about “We Matter,” that conversation always came up. At some predominantly white institutions, there were only a few people of color in the audience. Sometimes people were shocked that superstars such as Carmelo Anthony and Dwyane Wade had had encounters with police.

“They thought we were in this protective bubble,” Thomas said. “Hearing athletes talk about the fear that we have for our children every time we see a case of police brutality, the same way that every Black family in this country has the same fear for their children, made it resonate a bit more.”

A long-time athlete activist, Thomas joined with other Syracuse University alumni to form a group called the Black Oranges (Syracuse athletics is known as the Orange) to support current student-athletes of color. They met with the Syracuse police chief and plan to have other meetings and events in the future.

For now, he looks forward to seeing how Mayor Eric Adams works with the NYPD. Thomas also hopes people will read his book and understand the narrative. He addresses white allyship, which became much more prevalent after the murder of George Floyd.

“I want people to come away not saying that it’s a Black problem or a people of color problem,” Thomas said. “I want them to see this is a problem in America that has been a problem for a long time and something needs to change.”

How Etan Thomas became a natural in sports media

By Anish VasudevanASST. DIGITAL EDITOR

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When Etan Thomas was a freshman at Syracuse in 1996, he read an article questioning SU’s decision to recruit him. Disheartened, he was approached by a veteran on the team, Otis Hill, who said, “The media are not your fans, and the fans are not your friends, and both will turn on you in the blink of an eye.” That made Thomas realize that if he was going to go into media, he would want to do it differently. He finished his four-year career with 1,340 points and was drafted 12th overall.

Later in his career, then with the Washington Wizards, a journalist from The Washington Post wrote an article disagreeing with Thomas’ views on the Iraq War. Thomas said he felt as if the reporter was mocking him. He sent an open letter to the editor clarifying his views that was later published. 

During his NBA career, Thomas shared his views when he wasn’t on the court through writing and slam poetry, according to Dave Zirin. Zirin, who now co-hosts the podcast and radio show “The Collision: Sports and Politics” with Thomas, said that he was like the Michael Jordan of slam poetry when he was on stage.

Thomas retired from the league in 2011, but his voice and influence in the sports world continues in the mediascape. He’s part of a new-age of player-led sports media, giving voices and platforms to players that may not have that chance otherwise. Thomas has always been political, and he shares his voice through a multitude of written works and podcasts.

“The combination of the knowledge of a former player, with the ability to speak that he’s trained himself to do by being a poet,” Zirin said. “You can look at those two factors combining to make him very effective in media.”

Alex Kennedy, who helped start BasketballNews.com, has known Thomas since he was a columnist at HoopsHype. While he was still playing for the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2009, Thomas started writing columns for HoopsHype, focusing on changes that should be made in the NCAA and NBA. Thomas was one of the first NBA players to actually speak out politically and tell his own story, Kennedy said. 

“At that time, it was rare to see an athlete who was so outspoken,” Kennedy said. “Back then, many professional athletes avoided any polarizing topics, but Etan was constantly sharing his beliefs and trying to effect change.”

Moments when Thomas felt misunderstood influenced him to use his platform to give players a chance to speak about themselves and “clear their name.” He started a podcast in October 2020 called “The Rematch” for BasketballNews.com, giving ex-players the ability to speak beyond what they do on the court and retell stories from their points of view. 

The podcast’s latest episode featured former NBA player Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf as the guest. Thomas called it one of the most important interviews he has ever done, as he had seen how Abdul-Rauf was “white balled” during his time in the league and ridiculed for standing and praying during the national anthem. 

“They acted like he was burning the flag at mid court before tip off,” Thomas said. “He was (Colin) Kaepernick before Kaepernick.”

Thomas and Zirin’s show also gives a platform for ex-players to share their stories of their personal identity intersections. Zirin said one of the most pressing interviews the two had was with former Duke player and now associate head coach Nolan Smith. Smith spoke about an experience where he was pulled over by the cops, and when the police officer realized that he had pulled over a basketball player, he put the gun away. 

“We want people to understand that athletes have the right to be political and have the right to use the platform they built to speak about political issues,” Zirin said. “That needs to be taken seriously by the media.”

Published on March 14, 2021 at 10:36 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu

Ex NBA Player: Trump literally REPRESENTS Every single one of the seven deadly sins

By Mica Soellner

Retired NBA player Etan Thomas rebuked President Trump's criticism of the professional basketball league becoming like "a political organization."

Thomas, an 11-year NBA veteran, writer, and activist, insisted the people who oppose sports protests are mostly Trump supporters, who he claims act morally superior to the unrest occurring following the police killing of George Floyd and the shooting of Jacob Blake.

"You’re not in a moral position to take any kind of moral high ground on anything. But, still, you do," Thomas said. "That’s the definition of a hypocrite. And it's not just Jerry Falwell Jr. It's the entire Republican, conservative, evangelical party."

Thomas, who was a member of former President Barack Obama's Fatherhood Initiative, also hit at Trump on several allegations he faced in the past, most of which the president denied.

"The same people who have the audacity to take the moral high ground, who actually claim to be Christians, who attack Joe Biden for not being Catholic enough, whatever that means ... are the same people who, you know, support Donald Trump," Thomas said. "If we go into his priors, I mean there's a pretty long, extensive list. He’s been accused of some kind of sexual crime against women more than ... 20 times, including a 13-year-old girl. He’s paying off mistresses. He's dealing with prostitutes. He literally represents 
every single one of the seven deadly sins ... All of them."

Trump attacked the NBA this week after players took part in back-and-forth boycotts of their games to stand in solidarity with Blake, a black man who was shot seven times by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin, during an arrest as he reached into his car where investigators later found a knife. Blake remains hospitalized, and his family says he is paralyzed from the shooting.

Thomas has been a staunch advocate for high-profile organizations, such as the NBA, to use their influence to inspire social change. 

"It is a huge moment," Thomas said. "I know a lot of people are kind of concerned with their games are going to start or not, but they have to understand the real reason why they had the boycott in the first place. First of all, that a black man should not have to be perfect in order to be viewed as human. That’s number one."

Thomas also suggested there is a double standard by conservative media in the ways they covered Blake and white, 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse, who has been arrested and charged in connection to a shooting that killed two people during the unrest that followed in Kenosha.

"You know what would happen to me or Lebron James or Kawhi Leonard or Giannis or James Harden or Westbrook if we walked anywhere in America with an AR-15 on our shoulders?"

Thomas asked. "Open carry state or not, let's just say that it wouldn’t end well for any of us. And nobody, not the NRA, Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, none of them would champion us because of our Second Amendment rights."

Keynote At The University Of Mary Washington

It was a game-changing moment for Etan Thomas. Pulled over by the police, he sat silently on the road as an officer fixated on him. The policeman’s fingertips hovered over his holster, ready to grab his gun, while his partners tried to pinpoint why the black teen looked so familiar.

It must be from a mugshot, they said. When they demanded he pop his trunk, revealing high school basketball gear inside, they finally recognized the star athlete whose achievements were often splashed across the local newspaper.

Retired NBA player, activist and motivational speaker Etan Thomas delivered the Black History Month keynote last Wednesday at UMW. Photo by Suzanne Carr Rossi.

The former Washington Wizard shared that story during his Black History Month keynote Wednesday at the University of Mary Washington. Packed into the UC’s Chandler Ballroom, students, UMW athletes and coaches, faculty, staff, university administrators, President Troy Paino and wife Kelly, and community members listened raptly as Thomas discussed systemic racism, police brutality, the school-to-prison pipeline, stop-and-frisk and more. Thomas’ appearance came as the University celebrates Farmer Legacy 2020, honoring Dr. James L. Farmer Jr., the civil rights icon and late Mary Washington professor, who would have been 100 this year.

Thomas’ activism was borne out of that teenage incident, he said, buoyed by his mother’s passion for social justice, and a speech teacher who encouraged him to channel his emotions into an oratory, which he delivered at regional and national competitions, garnering media attention.

“I realized I could use this basketball thing to speak for people who can’t speak for themselves,” said Thomas, whose advocacy work earned him prestigious awards from the National Basketball Players Association and the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Foundation.

A published poet and author of several books, including 2018’s We Matter: Athletes and Activism, Thomas began the evening with a free-flowing, imagery-rich, spoken-word poem, which served as a springboard for the ensuing discussion.

In his poem, Thomas lamented the murders of Trayvon Martin, Eric Garner, Terence Crutcher, Philando Castile and other victims of police brutality, as well as the pain felt by their families, whom Thomas interviewed for his book and supported in their quest for justice. He spoke of juries who failed to convict, politicians and pundits who attack athletes for speaking out against oppression and “a system that was built for us to fail.” Throughout, listeners snapped their fingers in agreement. Thomas’ poem ended with, “we are going to keep pursuing justice.”