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However, former NBA veteran Etan Thomas, the No. 12 pick in the 2000 draft, contrasts how white Americans view the two based on their stark differences in speaking out against racial injustice. "Perhaps it’s because, unlike Clark, Bueckers has always been outspoken about issues off the court," Thomas wrote in a Guardian article. "At the 2021 ESPYs, Bueckers was named the college athlete of the year. She used her acceptance speech to celebrate and honor Black women in particular."
Etan Thomas: If you were outraged when Kaepernick took a knee, told him to stay in his place, screamed he should never play in the NFL again etc etc but are praising Nick Bosa for having the courage to use his platform as an athlete to stand up for what he believes in…. YOU ARE A HYPOCRITE
Etan Thomas: And Giannis, he’s MVP status again this year and, like you said, has actually improved since last year. Kenyon Martin: "Listen, Giannis is the new Lebron. He can be in the MVP convo every season. And the only reason you don’t give it to him is because someone else is playing out of their mind that season. So yeah a lot has to happen before they’re the favorites over Milwaukee."
Etan Thomas was a basketball star at Syracuse and then spent more than a decade in the NBA with the Wizards, Thunder and Hawks. But basketball has only been part of his focus. A social justice advocate, journalist, interviewer and media commentator, Thomas’ latest book is called “Police Brutality and White Supremacy: The Fight Against American Traditions.”
Etan Thomas: I didn’t want to touch on any of this. I even tweeted that I was going to mind my business on this. However, since Kwame Brown posted that first video on his IG account (plus additional videos on IG Live and his YouTube page "Bust Life"), there have been multiple media outlets that have reached out to me to inquire if I would come on their show. They want me to get in the middle of what was going on with Kwame and Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes, and my answer has consistently been an adamant, "No." I told them that they were not going to use me to fan the flames of this beef. When I first caught wind of it, I immediately tweeted that I hated seeing good Brothas beef to this level over something that could’ve (and should’ve) been fixed with a phone call, and I still stand by that.
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Etan Thomas: I also have a lot of respect for all of them. I am still amazed at all of the work that Stephen Jackson has done around the world after George Floyd was murdered. I’ve interviewed both Stak and Matt for my show, "The Rematch," and for my new book on white supremacy and police brutality that I’m currently putting the finishing touches on (shout out to Haymarket Books). Kwame and I have been friends since we were teammates with the Washington Wizards for four seasons, so I have always been in his corner. I immediately ordered some shirts from his clothing line for me and my son. (We got "Momma’s Cooking" and "My Momma’s Son" shirts).
Etan Thomas: I support all of these Brothas. I do believe they will eventually reach peace in their own time and show all of the world how Brothas can resolve differences peacefully, and then, maybe even work together and achieve something that Pac and Biggie never got the chance to do. Again, I fully believe that will happen in time. And when they do squash the beef and make peace, I want to hear all of the media who have been fanning these flames to be just as loud as they are now... but I doubt we will hear a peep out of the media about that. They love to promote drama and infighting, especially with Black people. It gets ratings and that’s why I emphatically told them all, "No." I’m not coming on any of your shows to join you in fanning these flames.
Etan Thomas: Listen, I love what y’all are doing, you and Stak. I love the fact that y’all have gone into this area of media. For me, I didn’t really like the media when I was playing and I feel kinda similar with y’all but y’all are doing it differently to give guys an opportunity. So, I love it. I love what y’all are doing. Matt Barnes: I appreciate it. As athletes, we always thought there was some sort of motive. There was a handful of people that you kind of trusted, but for the most part, you had to watch yourself with the media. That’s something Jack and I are trying to change, obviously. We’ve experienced pretty much everything that our guests have experienced and that gives us an easier intro and a different approach, which allows most of our guests to really let their wall down and feel comfortable speaking to us.
Thomas: What I want to talk about is not really a whole lot with basketball, it’s other stuff. So, you’ve been doing a lot with using your voice and platform, in particular after Stephon Clark’s murder. Now, you didn’t know him personally, but it hit home for you because it was in your hometown of Sacramento. First, let’s remind everybody of what happened with the case. Matt Barnes: Yeah, I mean basically there was some calls about someone breaking into cars and Stephon happened to be out, they chased him down into his grandmother’s backyard and shot him several times. I think there were six to eight shots in his back, but I don’t know how many rounds they let go. And like 99% of the cases in the United States the cops were not held responsible for the situation. I had happened to just be watching CNN that morning in my room with my twins and they heard Sacramento, so I was watching it and they were playing on their iPads, they heard Sacramento so they started paying attention and was like dad, did you know him? I’m like ‘Nah I didn’t know him,’ and they were kind of just confused and their confusion and hurt is what really made me kind of want to be like ‘Let me see if there’s something that I can do to show my kids that there’s ways to help in situations like this.’
Matt Barnes: So, myself, DeMarcus Cousins, I think the Sacramento Kings helped a little bit, a handful of people helped and we just made the experience a little easier for the family by helping with the funeral, getting people situated in hotels, and really kind of doing everything we possibly can to try to ease as much pain as possible from the family. With me continuing to use my platform and calling out the DA out there, Anne Marie Schubert, she’s a very crooked DA -- takes money from the police department all the time -- and has never really dropped the hammer on any situation out there, which is very unfortunate. But I think me with the platform I have and the voice that I have to be able to call stuff like that out it allows other people to see it and then other people start calling it. Hopefully, this will be her last term as DA because now everyone’s really awake about voting and how important voting is and hopefully we’ll be able to get her out after this last term she’s serving right now.
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NBA: “Generational trauma has reverberated through my family’s history.” Descended from survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Dr. @TiffanyCrutcher draws the connection between Tulsa’s history and the 2016 murder of her brother Terence. #BHM Virtual Teach-in - 12pm/et on @NBA
“Generational trauma has reverberated through my family’s history.”
— NBA (@NBA) February 12, 2021
Descended from survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, Dr. @TiffanyCrutcher draws the connection between Tulsa’s history and the 2016 murder of her brother Terence.#BHM Virtual Teach-in - 12pm/et on @NBA pic.twitter.com/cJi2eWMyx5
Kevin Durant on Charles Barkley: I don't know why they still ask for this idiot's opinion
Now, in a recent Instagram post, Durant was less reserved in his criticism of Barkley. BasketballNews.com's Etan Thomas posted about Barkley's recent comment that NBA players "deserve some preferential treatment" when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine because of how much they pay in taxes. "Yea, that'll go over well Barkley smh," Thomas wrote in the caption. In the comments, Durant responded: "I don’t know why they still ask for this idiot's opinion."
To say that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban regrets letting Steve Nash walk away from the Mavs back in 2004 would be a complete understatement. So much so, that the billionaire still has one specific calendar note from nearly two decades ago that he’s refused to remove since that fateful day. Cuban recently opened up about how he continues to punish himself from what he considers to be the biggest regret he’s ever had as a team owner: “We made them what we thought was a great offer but Phoenix just came in and beat that offer,” Cuban said about the Mavs’ initial offer for Nash, via Etan Thomas of BasketballNews.com. “I’ll never forget it because he just called me up and he goes ‘They just offered me more than Mike Bibby’. You know Bibby just got a new contract and I have in town this calendar on my office still in the arena that I refuse to move and it’s still there and it says ‘Nash = Mike Bibby money’. My biggest mistake ever. Nash hated me for a long time because of it.”
Etan Thomas: He focused on their education, enforced discipline and structure, and educated them about society and being a Black man in America. He was a father figure in that he actually cared about his players far beyond wins and losses (although he definitely wanted to win). He made sure he stressed that his players graduate and not squander their time allowing the system to use them. Of course that was the coach and program I wanted to be a part of. Also, he coached one of my favorite players, Alonzo Mourning - someone who I wanted to pattern my game after. He also coached Patrick Ewing, one of my favorite players growing up (as a New York Knicks fan). I wanted to be able to block shots like Dikembe Mutombo and have defenses literally draw plans to avoid bringing the ball inside. I wanted to carry on the tradition and wear No. 33 at Georgetown (which is one of the reasons why I wore No. 33 at Syracuse, but I’ll explain that later).
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