Malcolm Thomas (basketball, born 1988)

Malcolm Thomas
Born	(1988-11-08) November 8, 1988 Columbia, Missouri, U.S.
Occupation	Professional basketball player

Malcolm Iseiah Thomas (born November 8, 1988) is a professional basketball athlete from the United States, currently playing for Sagesse Club in the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL). He competed at the collegiate level with the San Diego State Aztecs, where he earned second-team All-Mountain West Conference (MWC) recognition on two occasions.

Early life

Born in Columbia, Missouri, Thomas is the son of Malcolm Thomas and Lori Dawson. His father was an honorable mention All-American basketball player at Missouri and was selected in the sixth round of the 1985 NBA draft by the Los Angeles Clippers.

Primarily raised by his mother and aunts, Thomas attended Crawford High School in San Diego, California, where he contributed to winning a California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) section championship during his senior year.

College career

As a freshman at Pepperdine University, Thomas averaged 12.5 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. He then transferred to San Diego City College, posting averages of 21.1 points, 12.9 rebounds, and 3.9 blocks per contest, which earned him co-Most Valuable Player (MVP) honors in the CCCAA along with Pacific Coast Conference Player of the Year accolades. Although he briefly entered the 2009 NBA draft, he withdrew following a single workout.

Thomas spent two seasons at San Diego State University, where he was twice named to the All-MWC second team. In his final year, he secured a spot on the 2011 All-MWC defensive team after finishing second in the conference for both rebounds and blocks. The Aztecs advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16 that season. Thomas concluded his collegiate career as SDSU's second-leading shot blocker and ranked eighth all-time in both rebounding average and field goal percentage.

2011–12

After going undrafted in the 2011 NBA draft, Thomas signed a $350,000 contract during the 2011 NBA lockout to play for Mobis Phoebus in the Korean Basketball League. This salary exceeded the usual $100,000–$150,000 range for rookies overseas. Despite averaging 21 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks, and three assists per game, he was released in November 2011 as the team opted for a more experienced player but agreed to pay out his remaining contract.

On December 13, 2011, Thomas was signed by the Los Angeles Lakers. He had a brief stint with their affiliate, the Los Angeles D-Fenders, before being recalled and subsequently waived prior to the start of the 2011–12 NBA season. He returned to the D-Fenders on December 28.

Thomas inked a deal with the San Antonio Spurs on January 11, 2012, reuniting with former Aztec teammate Kawhi Leonard. He made his Spurs debut two days later against the Portland Trail Blazers. On January 30, he was assigned to the Austin Toros but was waived by San Antonio on February 7. Two days after his release, Thomas rejoined the D-Fenders.

Later that season, Thomas signed with the Houston Rockets, who assigned him to their affiliate, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. He eventually returned to compete with the D-Fenders again and participated in the D-League finals.

2012–13

On October 3, 2012, Thomas inked a one-year deal with Israeli EuroLeague outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv. During domestic league play in Israel, he posted averages of 7.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.3 blocks per game. In the EuroLeague, he delivered a notable double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds in a narrow 70–68 victory over Italian side Montepaschi Siena in mid-October. Nevertheless, after the club acquired 6-foot-11 Croatian player Darko Planinić, Thomas's minutes diminished, leading to his release in February 2013.

Thomas returned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders on March 5. Shortly thereafter, on March 8, he secured a 10-day contract with the Golden State Warriors. He was briefly assigned to their NBA D-League affiliate, the Santa Cruz Warriors, but was recalled the following day.

On March 19, Thomas signed a 10-day contract with the Chicago Bulls. This was extended with a second 10-day contract on March 29, and eventually he signed for the remainder of the season on April 8. The Bulls released him on July 23.

2013–14

Thomas was reacquired by the Los Angeles D-Fenders in November 2013. On December 3 of that year, he signed with the San Antonio Spurs and experienced multiple assignments to their D-League team, the Austin Toros. The Spurs waived him on January 23, 2014, after which he was claimed off waivers by the Utah Jazz two days later. On February 3, Thomas earned selection to the Futures All-Star roster for the NBA D-League All-Star Game held in 2014.

2014–15

On July 22, 2014, Utah traded Thomas along with John Lucas III and Erik Murphy to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Carrick Felix, a second-round pick in the 2015 draft, and cash considerations. Subsequently, on September 25, he was part of a trade package including Lucas, Murphy, Dwight Powell, and Cleveland’s second-round selections for both 2016 and 2017 that sent him to the Boston Celtics in return for Keith Bogans and two future second-round picks. Thomas was waived by Boston four days later.

Thomas signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on October 27, 2014. He appeared in five contests before being waived on November 10 due to a left knee injury characterized by fluid buildup and loose cartilage. He rejoined Philadelphia on December 23 but was released again on February 22, 2015.

In April of that year, Thomas joined Puerto Rican team Piratas de Quebradillas.

2015–16

Thomas returned to the Los Angeles D-Fenders on October 31, marking his fourth tenure with the team. On January 29, 2016, he signed with the Meralco Bolts of the Philippines, but was let go on February 6 before the start of the 2016 PBA Commissioner's Cup due to injury.

2016–17

On July 30, 2016, Thomas agreed to a one-year contract worth $700,000 with China’s Jilin Northeast Tigers for the 2016–17 CBA season.

2017–19

Thomas secured a two-year contract on July 20, 2017, with Russian club Khimki, competing in both the VTB United League and EuroLeague competitions.

2019–20

On December 23, 2019, Thomas signed with Fenerbahçe Beko. Over the course of twelve games, he averaged 2.9 points, grabbed 3.6 rebounds, and contributed 1.1 assists per contest.

2020–21

On July 28, 2020, he signed a one-year deal with Bayern Munich of the Basketball Bundesliga (BBL), which included an option to extend the contract. This collaboration concluded on December 3, 2020.

2021–22

Thomas agreed to a 1.5-month contract on November 17, 2021, with Petkim Spor competing in the Turkish Basketball Super League (BSL), including a clause to prolong the agreement for the remainder of the season.

2022–23

He became a member of BC Samara, participating in the VTB United League, on August 19, 2022.

2023–24

On December 7, 2023, Thomas inked a contract with ONVO Büyükçekmece, a team in the Basketbol Süper Ligi (BSL).

2024–25

Thomas joined Sagesse SC of the Lebanese Basketball League (LBL) by signing on January 12, 2025.

The Basketball Tournament (TBT) (2017–present)

During the summer of 2017, Thomas took part in The Basketball Tournament broadcast on ESPN, representing A Few Good Men (Gonzaga Alumni). He averaged 12.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per contest and contributed to the team's advancement to the Super 16 stage before being eliminated by Team Challenge ALS.

NBA

Source

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 3 || 0 || 5.0 || .000 || – || .500 || 1.0 || .3 || .3 || .3 || .3 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| | style="text-align:left;"| Golden State | 5 || 0 || 4.2 || .000 || – || .750 || 1.0 || .4 || .0 || .2 || .6 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 7 || 0 || 5.1 || .556 || – || .500 || 1.6 || .3 || .3 || .1 || 1.7 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| | style="text-align:left;"| San Antonio | 1 || 0 || 15.0 || .250 || – || .000 || 9.0 || .0 || .0 || 2.0 || 2.0 |- | style="text-align:left;"| Utah Jazz | 7 || 0 || 6.9 || .500 || .250 || – || 1.7 || .3 || .0 || .1 || 1.9 |- | style="text-align:left;"| | style="text-align:left;"| Philadelphia | 17 || 0 || 11.6 || .452 || .000 || .692 || 3.3 || .4 || .2 || .1 || 2.6 |- | style="text-align:center;" colspan="2"| Career | 40 || 0 || 8.2 || .435 || .091 || .600 || 2.4 || .4 || .2 || .2 || 1.9

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2013 | style="text-align:left;"| Chicago | 3||0||2.0||.500||–||.200||1.3||.0||.0||.0||1.0

Regular season

|- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="3"| 2011–12 | style="text-align:left;"| Austin |4||1||28.0||.548||.000||.375||6.8||1.3||.5||2.5||9.3 |- | align="left" | Los Angeles | 19||13||32.2||.650||–||.679||9.3||1.4||.8||2.1||13.7 |- | align="left" | Rio Grande |2||2||40.0||.531||–||.667||11.5||1.5||.5||4.0||19.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| 2012–13 | style="text-align:left;" | Santa Cruz |1||1||39.0||.500||–||–||15.0||4.0||1.0||1.0||8.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" | Los Angeles |1||1|||41.0|||.500|||–|||17.0|||4.0|||3.0|||1.0|||13.0 |- | style="text-align:left;" rowspan="2"| 2013–14 | style="text-align:left;" | Austin |10|||10|||32.7|||.570|||.364|||.600|||9.4|||3.0|||.6|||2.4|||15.2 |- | style="text-align:left;" | Los Angeles |2|||2|||40.0|||.622|||.615|||.684|||15.5|||2..5|||2..5|||2..0|||33..5 |- |- | style="text-align:left;" | 2015–16 NBA Development League season |- | style="text-align:left;" | Los Angeles |- |7 |7 |34..6 |..538 |..375 |..621 |12..0 |2..6 |..9 |2..4 |17..7 |- |-style=text-align:center; colspan=2 Career |- |46 |37 |33..3 |..588 |..413 |..644 |10..2 |2..1 |..9 |2..3 |15..2

Playoffs

|- | style="text-align:left;"| 2012 | style="text-align:left;"| Los Angeles |7||1||34.7||.611||.500||.750||12.3||2.4||1.1||1.0||17.9

Personal life

Thomas is a father to a daughter named Mikeala, who was born in 2009.

External links

• Malcolm Thomas profile on euroleague.net