Etan Thomas Speaks His Mind

SLAMonline.com launched a fascinating new feature today — a weekly column written by Washington Wizards center (and poet) Etan Thomas.

In his virgin post, Etan talks about the frequent, unabashed stereotyping and profiling he’s experienced — both on and off the basketball court.

Here’s a quick on-court example to make you go click:

We were playing a home game against Cleveland, and after a timeout a referee with dark, slicked-back hair (who shall remain nameless) approached me. He said that he had heard that I write poetry, have a book, speak at universities, am into politics, etcetera, and he asked me if this was true.

I replied, Yes.

To my surprise, he responded: “You’re not as dumb as you look.”

Type Casting [SLAMonline.com]
More Than An Athlete: Poems By Etan Thomas [Amazon]

[Note: A quick look tells us James Capers, Ken Mauer, and Mark Ayotte officiated the last Cavs at Wiz game. I’m thinking Mauer’s the slick-dick Etan’s referring too…]

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By J.E. Skeets at 2:29 pm on 11.28.2006 — Tags: Etan Thomas, Writers, Referees, Wizards

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9 Responses to “Etan Thomas Speaks His Mind”

  1. KD at 3:27 pm on 11.28.2006

    I offered this at Henry’s site, but it’s not up yet:

    Etan: “But would [Mauer] have had the same reaction to Darko Milicic, Rasho Nesterovic or Nenad Krstic?”

    No, but he would have said it to Scot Pollard, Brian Scalabrine, David Lee, or Austin Croshere. And, probably, Michael Ruffin, Marc Jackson, or Brian Cook. It was a lame joke, get over yourself.

  2. David Brenner at 3:31 pm on 11.28.2006

    I’ll give you a real joke:

    What’s black and blue and deathly afraid of sex?

    Give up?

    The 12-year old in my trunk.

    Goodnight everybody!

  3. Wes at 4:15 pm on 11.28.2006

    It’s like Paul Shirley minus the funny.

  4. jeffpotts77 at 5:00 pm on 11.28.2006

    I’m in total agreement with KD here. That’s an old-school type dumb joke. The kind my grandpa would say. You can’t get mad at old men and their dumb attempts at being funny unless they are being overtly racist.

  5. Seth at 5:03 pm on 11.28.2006

    As far as Darko, Rasho, and Nenad go…I’d say that the ref probably woulda said the same thing. I know I’d be impressed with poetry, public speaking, and books from three guys who hardly speak English.

  6. jeffpotts77 at 6:33 pm on 11.28.2006

    I’d also add that the ref likely would have said the same thing to Chris Kaman and wouldn’t have said it to Grant Hill, Kobe Bryant, or Dwyane Wade.

  7. Unsilent Majority at 12:36 am on 11.29.2006

    This is where I get all of my necessary information on basketball refs

  8. Ian Cameron at 6:53 pm on 11.29.2006

    To quote my high school football coach, Eton is “the dumbest smart kid I know.”

  9. Unsilent Majority at 11:38 pm on 11.29.2006

    You’re football coach couldn’t spell.

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