Kurt Thomas (basketball)

Kurt Thomas
Thomas in 2009
Personal information
Born (1972-10-04) October 4, 1972
Dallas, Texas
Nationality American
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 240 lb (109 kg)
Career information
High school Hillcrest (Dallas, Texas)
College TCU (1990–1995)
NBA draft 1995 / Round: 1 / Pick: 10th overall
Selected by the Miami Heat
Playing career 1995–2013
Position Power forward / Center
Number 40, 44
Career history
1995–1997 Miami Heat
1997–1998 Dallas Mavericks
1998–2005 New York Knicks
2005–2007 Phoenix Suns
2007–2008 Seattle SuperSonics
2008–2009 San Antonio Spurs
2009–2010 Milwaukee Bucks
2010–2011 Chicago Bulls
2011–2012 Portland Trail Blazers
2012–2013 New York Knicks
Career highlights and awards
Career statistics
Points 8,973 (8.1 ppg)
Rebounds 7,328 (6.6 rpg)
Assists 1,204 (1.1 apg)
Stats at Basketball-Reference.com

Kurt Vincent Thomas (born October 4, 1972) is an American retired professional basketball player. Thomas is a 6'9", 230 lb. power forward-center known for his hard-nosed playing style and tough defense. Drafted by the Miami Heat in 1995, Thomas played college basketball at Texas Christian University.

High school and college

Kurt began his basketball career on the playgrounds at Dallas Birdie Alexander Elementary, D.A. Hulcy Middle School, and there after on to Dallas Carter High before transferring to Hillcrest High.Thomas grew up in Dallas, and after graduating from Dallas's Hillcrest High School, he attended Texas Christian University, where he led the NCAA Division I in scoring and rebounding in the 1994–95 season with 28.9 PPG and 14.6 RPG, becoming only the third player in history to accomplish this feat (the other two being Hank Gathers and Xavier McDaniel).[1]

NBA career

Miami Heat (1995-1997)

Thomas began his NBA career with the Miami Heat from 1995 to 1997. In his rookie season, he started 42 of his 74 games played. The following season, he only played 18 games before suffering a stress fracture in his right ankle, which required surgery. He would miss the rest of the season.[2] During his rehab, Thomas, along with Sasha Danilović and Martin Müürsepp, were traded to the Dallas Mavericks for Jamal Mashburn.[3]

Dallas Mavericks (1997-1998)

Thomas's playing career with Dallas was short. He only played 5 games before suffering another stress fracture in the same ankle he had previously injured. This placed him on the injured list for the remainder of the season. Then-coach and general manager Don Nelson went out of his way to hire Thomas as an assistant coach.[4] In the offseason, Thomas decided to become a free agent, signing with the New York Knicks.[5]

New York Knicks (1998–2005)

Thomas played seven seasons with the New York Knicks from 1998 to 2005,[6] during which the team went to the playoffs four times, including two trips to the Eastern Conference Finals (1999 and 2000) and one trip to the NBA Finals (1999).[7]

Phoenix Suns (2005–2007)

Thomas played two seasons with the Phoenix Suns from 2005 to 2007.[6]

Seattle SuperSonics (2007–2008)

On July 20, 2007, Thomas, along with the Suns' first-round draft choices in 2008 and 2010, was traded by the Suns to the Seattle SuperSonics in exchange for a conditional second-round draft choice and an $8 million trade exception.[8]

San Antonio Spurs (2008–2009)

Thomas was traded by the Sonics to the San Antonio Spurs on February 20, 2008, for Francisco Elson, Brent Barry, and a 2009 first round draft pick.[9]

Milwaukee Bucks (2009–2010)

On June 23, 2009, Thomas was traded along with Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto to the Milwaukee Bucks for Richard Jefferson.[10]

Chicago Bulls (2010–2011)

On July 26, 2010, the Chicago Bulls announced that they had signed Kurt Thomas.[11] Because of injuries to the Bulls' starting center Joakim Noah and power forward Carlos Boozer, Kurt Thomas saw some significant playing time, including 37 starts.[12] When Noah and Boozer came back, he experienced minimal playing time with Ömer Aşık playing in front of him on the bench. Although his playing time was slim during this span, Kurt Thomas won the appeal of Chicago fans with some emphatic highlights which were referred to as "Turning back the Clock" and eventually earned him the nickname "Big Sexy". Thomas averaged more than 20 minutes per game during the 2010-11 season along with 4.1 points and 5.8 rebounds.

Portland Trail Blazers (2011–2012)

On December 11, 2011, the Portland Trail Blazers signed Thomas for the shortened 2011-2012 season.[13] Though terms for the deal were not disclosed officially, it was reported to be a two-year contract.[14]

Return to the Knicks (2012–2013)

On July 16, 2012, Thomas and Raymond Felton were traded to the New York Knicks for Jared Jeffries, Dan Gadzuric, the rights to Kostas Papanikolaou and Giorgos Printezis, and a second round draft pick.[15] On April 12, 2013, the Knicks waived Thomas.[16]

NBA career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game
 FG%  Field goal percentage  3P%  3-point field goal percentage  FT%  Free throw percentage
 RPG  Rebounds per game  APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game
 BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game  Bold  Career high

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1995–96 Miami 744222.4.501.000.6635.9.6.6.59.0
1996–97 Miami 18920.8.371.000.7615.9.5.7.56.3
1997–98 Dallas 5014.6.378-1.0004.8.6.2.07.4
1998–99 New York 504423.6.462.000.6115.71.1.9.38.1
1999–00 New York 802124.6.505.333.7816.31.0.6.58.0
2000–01 New York 772927.6.511.333.8146.7.8.8.910.4
2001–02 New York 828233.8.494.167.8159.11.1.91.013.9
2002–03 New York 818131.8.483.667.7507.92.01.01.214.0
2003–04 New York 807531.9.473.000.8358.31.9.71.011.1
2004–05 New York 808035.7.471.500.78610.42.0.91.011.5
2005–06 Phoenix 535026.6.486-.8157.81.1.41.08.6
2006–07 Phoenix 671318.0.486.000.7895.7.4.4.44.6
2007–08 Seattle 423925.2.513-.6968.81.3.81.07.5
2007–08 San Antonio 28918.7.448.000.5834.9.5.8.54.5
2008–09 San Antonio 791017.8.503.000.8225.1.8.4.74.3
2009–10 Milwaukee 70915.0.476-.8004.2.7.4.73.0
2010–11 Chicago 523722.7.5111.000.6305.81.2.6.84.1
2011–12 Portland 53315.2.465-.7003.5.9.5.63.0
2012–13 New York 391710.1.5421.000.4622.3.5.3.42.5
Career 111065024.5.486.281.7606.61.1.7.88.1

Playoffs

Thomas with the Milwaukee Bucks
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
1996 Miami 3320.0.400-1.0005.31.0.7.34.0
1999 New York 201221.0.381-.6965.5.4.8.65.3
2000 New York 16015.7.508-.7003.1.3.2.44.3
2001 New York 5537.2.532-.71011.21.8.41.014.4
2004 New York 4434.8.429-.75011.51.51.8.812.8
2006 Phoenix 106.0.000-.5001.0.0.0.01.0
2007 Phoenix 11519.3.523-.8824.91.1.5.87.5
2008 San Antonio 17815.8.457-.7144.9.4.1.44.1
2009 San Antonio 5016.0.455-.7504.6.4.2.42.6
2010 Milwaukee 7728.4.486-.8007.91.6.4.65.4
2011 Chicago 7010.6.556.000.0002.7.4.1.42.9
Career 964419.7.463.000.7485.4.7.4.55.6

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Kurt Thomas". NBA.com. Archived from the original on 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  2. ↑ "Kurt Thomas - MavsWiki".
  3. ↑ "Miami Acquires Mashburn From Dallas to Bolster Its Firepower".
  4. ↑ "THOMAS GIVES MAVS KURT REPLY NOTCHES 20 VS. OLD TEAM".
  5. ↑ ""1998-99 New York Knicks Transactions at Basketball-Reference.com"".
  6. 1 2 "Kurt Thomas Career Stats Page". Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  7. ↑ "Kurt Thomas Bio Page". Archived from the original on 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
  8. ↑ Suns gain $8M trade exception by trading Thomas, posted July 20, 2007
  9. ↑ Spurs get Thomas from Sonics for Barry, Elson
  10. ↑ "Bucks source confirms Jefferson deal". 2009-06-23. Retrieved 2010-07-24.
  11. ↑ http://www.nba.com/bulls/news/thomas_signs_100726.html
  12. ↑ "Kurt Thomas Stats".
  13. ↑ "Team adds NBA veteran to frontcourt". 2011-12-11. Archived from the original on 2012-01-19.
  14. ↑ "Blazers to add Kurt Thomas". 2011-12-11.
  15. ↑ KNICKS ACQUIRE FELTON & THOMAS Archived April 19, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  16. ↑ New York Knicks waive Kurt Thomas
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