UConn won the NCAA tourney in April and Denver won the NBA Finals in June but there is still 1 more basketball champion to be crowned this summer. The Basketball Tournament (aka the TBT) kicks off on July 19th with 8 regions of 8 teams playing in Dayton/Louisville/Lubbock/Syracuse/West Virginia/Wichita 1/Wichita 2/Xavier. Each region will send 1 team to the quarterfinals, with the championship game taking place during the 1st week of August, and the winning team walking away with $1 million in prize money. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel will spend the weeks ahead interviewing as many TBT participants as possible. We continue our coverage with Kenny Thomas, who will be coaching The Enchantment after playing in the NBA for more than a decade.
You were born in Atlanta, started high school in El Paso, and finished high school in Albuquerque: what made you choose New Mexico for college? I am a military brat whose dad was in the Army. He was stationed at Fort Bliss in El Paso and I was playing for an AAU team called Flight. I was part of the organization until I went to college. I had an unbelievable summer right before my junior year and started to get a lot of attention.
In 1995 you were named a Parade All-American as part of an amazing class: which of your fellow honorees impressed you the most (Kobe Bryant/Vince Carter/Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce/other)? That class was spectacular, especially when seeing what some of those guys went on to do with their careers.
You went 71-3 at home during your college career: how were you able to have such an incredible home court advantage in the Pit? When I was there in the late-1990s I came in at the right time because we had all the right pieces: a shooter in Royce Olney, a 3/4 combo player in Clayton Shields, and I played the 5. We were right behind Kansas in terms of home court record. The atmosphere/environment is unreal: they had to create a standing room only section and we were ranked in the top-25 during all 4 of my years there. I had to sue the NCAA since they took a half-credit off my transcript so I showed up a month late.
You won an NCAA tourney game during each of your 4 years in college: what is the key to winning games in March? It has never happened again in New Mexico history. The key is hard work: you have to be committed and work on your game and be united as a team. Everyone played a certain role and the goal was to win as many conference tourneys as we could so that we could make it to the NCAA tourney.
You still remain top-2 in school history in PTS/REB/BLK: how were you able to be such a productive big man despite standing 6’7”? The nice thing is that I could shoot the ball so I did not just stand on the block the whole time. I would get cross-screens and down-screens so that I could pop out to the top of the key and shoot threes. During the course of the game there was so much more that I could have done but I just did what was needed.
In the spring of 1999 you were drafted 22nd overall by Houston (2 spots ahead of Andrei Kirilenko): did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? It is a little bit of both. It was surreal because if you are not a lottery pick then you have no idea when your name will be called. To have that opportunity was huge: I had always dreamed about it.
You spent more than a decade in the NBA: what is your favorite memory from your time in the league? I have so many memories! Playing with guys like Charles Barkley/Hakeem Olajuwon/Allen Iverson was great. I got to stand next to Shaq and see Kobe progress. I even played against Michael Jordan when he was on the Wizards: I asked him if he would sign his shoes for me…and he just gave me that famous smile.
Since retiring as a player you have established multiple businesses, hosted multiple basketball tournaments/camps, and set up a foundation to provide kids with college scholarships and help families in need of assistance: are you prouder of your basketball career or your post-basketball career? God gave me an ability to play a game even though baseball was my 1st love…until that ball started to come too quick! I was raised that you cannot get more blessings until you give back to people so I follow that game plan to a T. It makes my heart feel good to give back to folks in all of the different markets that I played in and I am very satisfied with where I am at. People ask me if I want to play in the Big3 but I do not want to be defined by basketball because I have so many other interests like my mentor (Magic Johnson).
You have a birthday next month: what are your plans for the big day? Our 1st TBT game is on the 19th so I will have to see how it goes. My birthday is on a Tuesday so it is not that exciting.
You are head coach of The Enchantment team in the TBT: how is the team looking so far, and what will you do with your share of the $1 million prize money if you win it all? We have to win 6-7 games before we can think about the prize money: we were up big in the past before it got away from us. I work for NBC Sports California now and split the season with Matt Barnes: 41 games apiece. I was able to get on ESPN in the past and we beat New Mexico State last year. We are playing for JB White, a kid in the Santa Fe area who was supposed to go to UNM before he was shot and killed back in 2020. I am just trying to put the game plan together and take it 1 game at a time. A lot of teams are stacked but if I win then I will just put the money away for my kids.
For more information about Kenny you can find him on Instagram/Twitter at: @kennythomasnba
