Tim Thomas (basketball)

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For the NHL goaltender, see Tim Thomas (ice hockey).

Timothy Mark Thomas (born on February 26, 1977 in Paterson, New Jersey) is a professional basketball player in the NBA for the Los Angeles Clippers. He has most recently played for the Phoenix Suns.

After spending one year at Villanova he was drafted seventh overall by the New Jersey Nets in the 1997 NBA Draft and immediately traded to the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for the Sixers' draft pick Keith Van Horn. In 1999, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks. In 2004, he was traded, again in exchange for Van Horn, to the New York Knicks. On the eve of training camp in 2005, he was again traded, to the Chicago Bulls along with Michael Sweetney in a package that brought Eddy Curry to New York. Chicago then waived him in early 2006, and he ended up with Phoenix.

Thomas stands at 208 cm (6 ft 10 in) and weighs 108.9 kg (240 lb). Thomas can play shooting guard, small forward and power forward, but spends most of his time at small forward. He has tremendous range and athleticism, and can still make an impact after coming into a game cold. His career stats are 11.9 points per game, 1.4 assists per game, and four rebounds per game.

On May 4, 2006, Thomas hit a game-tying three pointer at the end of regulation to spare the Phoenix Suns from elimination from the first round of the NBA playoffs against the Los Angeles Lakers. The Suns won that game in overtime, when Thomas hit another important three pointer, and forced game 7, which they also won to claim the series and complete a 3-1 series comeback.

Thomas was at his prime in particular the 2000-01 season where he averaged a career high 13.4 ppg. During his time with the Bucks, then teammate Ray Allen was quoted as saying "Tim Thomas could be the best player in the league".^{[citation needed]} After that year, Thomas was rewarded with a large contract by then GM Herb Kohl, with deal worth roughly 6 years at $66 million. While bouncing around from team to team, Thomas has rejuvenated his career in the 2006 playoffs playing alongside 2-time MVP Steve Nash. Tim Thomas has agreed to a contract with the Los Angeles Clippers, which he signed on July 13th. The Clippers offered approximately 24 million dollars for four years.

[edit] Awards

Thomas was on the Second NBA All-Rookie Team in 1997-98 season.
He won the The Sporting News Freshman of the Year during the 1996-97 season.

[edit] Trivia

The title of American indie rock band Yo La Tengo's 2006 album I Am Not Afraid of You and I Will Beat Your Ass is rumored to have been derived from a (paraphrased) quote of Thomas's during an altercation between him and Stephon Marbury while both players were with the New York Knicks. In the profane exchange, which was caught on camera by the MSG Network, Thomas exclaimed "Everyone in this organization is afraid of you, but I’m not, and I will beat your ass." ^{[citation needed]}