Now that he has job security — the kind that comes when you sign a $36million contract — don’t expect Washington Wizards backup center, that’s right backup, Etan Thomas to demand star treatment.
The 26-year-old Thomas, who is nursing an abdominal strain that has kept him out of the team’s first three preseason games, is making “starter’s money” even though he’s going to come off the bench when he’s healthy.
The Wizards are uncertain when Thomas will be healthy enough to resume practicing at full speed, but they will not rush him back. The team learned its lesson last season with Gilbert Arenas and his troublesome abdominal injury, which turned out to be more severe than first diagnosed.
Thomas, a poet and easily the most politically active athlete in the city — and perhaps the entire NBA — hasn’t used the stature of his contract to spout off.
“It is something that I have no control over,” said Thomas, who will come off the bench behind Brendan Haywood. “The coach is the one with the control and I have full trust in the coach. If he says that I’ll be more of an asset coming off of the bench then that is the role that I’ll have, you know. I have confidence in him.”
Although Thomas has expressed his desire to start, coach Eddie Jordan has made it clear Haywood will be the starter and Thomas will come off the bench when the latter is healthy. Jordan said he likes the mix of length (Haywood) and force (Thomas) the two players bring to the team.
It is a decision Thomas can live with, perhaps because he averaged 24.1 minutes a game compared to Haywood’s 19.3 last season. Thomas started just five games last year while Haywood was a starter in 59.
“My mind-set is that when you are presented with a situation you have to make the most out of it,” Thomas said. “If it’s just 10 minutes on the floor, it doesn’t matter when you’re out there. You just have to make the most of it and that’s what I try to do.”
And that’s something the 6-foot-10 Thomas, who came out of Syracuse as the No.12 overall pick in the 2000 draft, did last season. He posted career highs in points (8.9), rebounds (6.7) and blocks (1.6). His 123 blocks ranked sixth in the Eastern Conference. He also finished the season with 12 double-doubles.
Jordan and Wizards president of basketball operations Ernie Grunfeld emphasize competition at all positions, believing the battle for minutes will spur players to go at each other, and eventually the opposing team, more aggressively.
And Haywood, of all the Wizards players, will have more incentive to play harder this season because he will be playing for a new contract. If the Wizards don’t extend his contract by Oct.31, Haywood will become a restricted free agent next summer.
“It’s an important year for me but I can’t put undo pressure on myself,” said Haywood, who averaged a career-high seven points last season. “I just have to go out there and play to the best of my abilities. If I do, the contract will take care of itself.”
Notes — Kwame Brown will have his surgically repaired right foot re-examined Thursday. … The Wizards will conduct their Read to Achieve Program today then have an open scrimmage at MCI Center at 1p.m. Doors open at 12:30.
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