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Malcolm Thomas
Malcolm Thomas (basketball, born 1988) 23 BC Khimki EuroLeague 20180321 (3).jpg
Thomas dunking for Khimki in 2018
Free Agent
Power forward
Personal information
Born (1988-11-08) November 8, 1988 (age 36)
San Diego, California, U.S.
High school Crawford (San Diego, California)
Listed height 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)
Listed weight 225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
College
  • Pepperdine (2007–2008)
  • San Diego CC (2008–2009)
  • San Diego State (2009–2011)
NBA Draft 2011 / Undrafted
Pro career 2011–present
Career history
2011 Mobis Phoebus
2011–2012 Los Angeles D-Fenders
2012 San Antonio Spurs
2012 →Austin Toros
2012 Los Angeles D-Fenders
2012 Rio Grande Valley Vipers
2012 Los Angeles D-Fenders
2012–2013 Maccabi Tel Aviv
2013 Los Angeles D-Fenders
2013 Golden State Warriors
2013 →Santa Cruz Warriors
2013 Chicago Bulls
2013 Los Angeles D-Fenders
2013–2014 San Antonio Spurs
2013–2014 →Austin Toros
2014 Utah Jazz
2014–2015 Philadelphia 76ers
2015 Piratas de Quebradillas
2015–2016 Los Angeles D-Fenders
2016–2017 Jilin Northeast Tigers
2017–2019 Khimki
2019 Shanxi Loongs
2019–2020 Fenerbahçe
2020 Bayern Munich
2021 Unicaja
Career highlights and awards
  • Turkish Cup winner (2020)
  • NBA D-League All-Star (2014)
  • 2× Second-team All-MWC (2010, 2011)
  • MWC All-Defensive team (2011)

Malcolm Iseiah Thomas (born November 8, 1988) is an American professional basketball player who last played for ONVO Büyükçekmece of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL). He played college basketball for the San Diego State Aztecs, where he twice earned All-Mountain West Conference (MWC) second-team honors.

Early life

Thomas was born in Columbia, Missouri, to his father, also named Malcolm Thomas, and Lori Dawson. His father was an honorable mention All-American basketball player at Missouri and drafted in the sixth round of the 1985 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

The younger Thomas was raised by his mother and aunts, while his father was not always around. Thomas played at Crawford High School in San Diego, California, helping Crawford to a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) section title in his senior year.

College career

Malcolm Thomas dunking cropped
Thomas dunking

Thomas averaged 12.5 points and 8.8 rebounds as freshman at Pepperdine University. He transferred to San Diego City College and averaged 21.1 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.9 blocks and was named California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA) co-Most Valuable Player (MVP) and the Pacific Coast Conference Player of the Year. He declared early for the 2009 NBA draft, but withdrew after one NBA workout.

He went on to play two seasons at SDSU and twice earned All-MWC second team honors. In his senior year, he was named 2011 All-MWC defensive team after finishing second in the conference in rebounding and blocked shots. The team advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 that season. He ended his two-year career with the Aztecs as the school's second leading all-time shot blocker and ranked eighth all-time in both rebound average and field goal percentage.

Professional career

2011–12

Thomas went undrafted in the 2011 NBA draft. During the NBA lockout that summer, he signed a $350,000 contract to play a season for Mobis Phoebus in the Korean Basketball League. Most overseas rookies made about $100,000–$150,000. The team released him in November 2011, despite his averaging 21 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, and three assists. They wanted a more veteran player, but agreed to pay the remainder of Thomas' salary.

Thomas was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers on December 13, 2011. On December 17, he was assigned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders by the Lakers, and was recalled the next day. He was waived by the Lakers before the start of the 2011–12 season. He was signed by the D-Fenders on December 28.

On January 11, 2012, Thomas was then signed by the San Antonio Spurs, where he was reunited with former Aztec teammate Kawhi Leonard. He played in his first NBA game on January 13 against the Portland Trail Blazers, getting one rebound in two minutes of garbage time. Thomas was assigned to the Austin Toros on January 30. On February 7, the Spurs waived Thomas. He joined the D-Fenders again on February 9.

Later that season, he signed with the Houston Rockets, who assigned him to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He then rejoined the D-Fenders, with whom he played in the D-League finals.

2012–13

On October 3, 2012, Thomas signed a one-year contract with EuroLeague club Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel. In competition in Israel, he averaged 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks, and in EuroLeague competition he had a double-double of 14 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes in a 70–68 victory over Italian Montepaschi Siena in mid-October. However, after Tel Aviv signed 6-foot-11 Croatian Darko Planinić, his minutes decreased. Thomas was waived by Maccabi Tel Aviv in February 2013.

On March 5, he rejoined the Los Angeles D-Fenders. On March 8, Thomas was called up from the D-League and signed a 10-day contract with the Golden State Warriors. He was assigned to the Santa Cruz Warriors of the NBA D-League on March 12, 2013. He was recalled a day later.

On March 19, 2013, Thomas signed a 10-day contract with the Chicago Bulls. He signed a second 10-day contract on March 29, and signed for the remainder of the season on April 8. On July 23, he was waived by the Bulls.

2013–14

In November 2013, Thomas was reacquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders.

On December 3, 2013, Thomas signed with the San Antonio Spurs and was assigned multiple time to the Austin Toros. On January 23, 2014, he was waived by the Spurs. Two days later, he was claimed off waivers by the Utah Jazz.

On February 3, 2014, Thomas was named to the Futures All-Star roster for the 2014 NBA D-League All-Star Game.

2014–15

On July 22, 2014, Thomas was traded by Utah, along with John Lucas III and Erik Murphy, to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Carrick Felix, a 2015 second round draft pick, and cash considerations. On September 25, he was traded, along with John Lucas III, Erik Murphy, Dwight Powell, and the Cavaliers' 2016 and 2017 second-round picks, to the Boston Celtics in exchange for Keith Bogans and two future second-round picks. Four days later, he was waived by the Celtics.

On October 27, 2014, Thomas signed with the Philadelphia 76ers. On November 10, he was waived by the 76ers after appearing in five games. He had been playing with fluid and loose cartilage in his left knee. On December 23, 2014, he re-signed with the 76ers. On February 22, 2015, he was waived again by the 76ers.

In April 2015, Thomas signed with the Piratas de Quebradillas of Puerto Rico.

2015–16

On October 31, 2015, Thomas was acquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders, returning to the franchise for a fourth stint. On January 29, 2016, he left the D-Fenders to sign with the Meralco Bolts of the Philippines. However, on February 6, 2016, he was released by the Bolts after suffering an injury before the start of the 2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup.

2016–17

On July 30, 2016, Thomas signed with Jilin Northeast Tigers of China for the 2016–17 CBA season.

2017–19

On July 20, 2017, Thomas signed a two-year deal with Russian club Khimki of the VTB United League and the EuroLeague.

2019–20

On December 23, 2019, Thomas was reported to have signed with Fenerbahçe Beko. He averaged 2.9 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 12 games.

2020–21

On July 28, 2020, he signed a one-year deal with Bayern Munich of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL) with the option for another season. On December 3, 2020, Thomas and Bayern Munich parted ways.

2021–22

On November 17, 2021, he has signed 1,5 month contract with Petkim Spor of the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL) with an option to extend until end of season.

2022–23

On August 19, 2022, he has signed with BC Samara of the VTB United League.

2023–24

On December 7, 2023, he signed with ONVO Büyükçekmece of the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).

The Basketball Tournament (TBT) (2017–present)

In the summer of 2017, Thomas played in The Basketball Tournament on ESPN for team A Few Good Men (Gonzaga Alumni). He competed for the $2 million prize, and for team A Few Good Men, he averaged 12.3 points per game and 7.5 rebounds per game. Thomas helped take team A Few Good Men to the Super 16 round, where they then lost to Team Challenge ALS 77-60.

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

NBA

Source

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011–12 San Antonio 3 0 5.0 .000 .500 1.0 .3 .3 .3 .3
2012–13 Golden State 5 0 4.2 .000 .750 1.0 .4 .0 .2 .6
2012–13 Chicago 7 0 5.1 .556 .500 1.6 .3 .3 .1 1.7
2013–14 San Antonio 1 0 15.0 .250 .000 9.0 .0 .0 2.0 2.0
2013–14 Utah Jazz 7 0 6.9 .500 .250 1.7 .3 .0 .1 1.9
2014–15 Philadelphia 17 0 11.6 .452 .000 .692 3.3 .4 .2 .1 2.6
Career 40 0 8.2 .435 .091 .600 2.4 .4 .2 .2 1.9

Playoffs

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2013 Chicago 3 0 2.0 .500 .200 1.3 .0 .0 .0 1.0

NBA D-League

Regular season

Source

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2011-12 Austin 4 1 28.0 .548 .000 .375 6.8 1.3 .5 2.5 9.3
2011–12 Los Angeles 19 13 32.2 .650 .679 9.3 1.4 .8 2.1 13.7
2011–12 Rio Grande 2 2 40.0 .531 .667 11.5 1.5 .5 4.0 19.0
2012–13 Santa Cruz 1 1 39.0 .500 15.0 4.0 1.0 1.0 8.0
2012–13 Los Angeles 1 1 41.0 .500 .750 17.0 4.0 3.0 1.0 13.0
2013–14 Austin 10 10 32.7 .570 .364 .600 9.4 3.0 .6 2.4 15.2
2013–14 Los Angeles 2 2 40.0 .622 .615 .684 15.5 2.5 2.5 2.0 33.5
2015–16 Los Angeles 7 7 34.6 .538 .375 .621 12.0 2.6 .9 2.4 17.7
Career 46 37 33.3 .588 .413 .644 10.2 2.1 .9 2.3 15.2

Playoffs

Source

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG PPG
2012 Los Angeles 7 1 34.7 .611 .500 .750 12.3 2.4 1.1 1.0 17.9

Personal

Thomas has a daughter, Mikeala, who was born in 2009.

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Malcolm Thomas para niños

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