A true professional. First to come to the practice. Always taking care of his body after it. Low post killer. But very calm and silent guy. That kind of feedback followed Will Thomas for years.
So when Thomas terminated his contract with UNICS Kazan on the eve of the season, he shocked European basketball. What had happened?
"It wasn't the right fit for me," Will Thomas told on BasketNews Talks.
What isn't a right fit for Will Thomas?
Thomas took a few seconds to answer this question. Basketball fans, former teammates, and even people from UNICS were intrigued to hear his explanation. But that's not that type of player who would be willing to discuss sensitive things on the record.
"It just wasn't the right fit. We decided to part ways, and that was it. It just wasn't the right situation for me at this stage of my career," Thomas answered.
At this point in his career, a 35-year old EuroLeague veteran is looking for the best chance to win games. However, only the season will show if UNICS or his new team, AS Monaco, had a better shot at making some noise on the highest stage of European basketball.
"For me being around for so long, I might have a little bit of shorter fuse for the bullshit," Thomas said. "I really just want to win. If we win, everybody is happy, the mood around the team, everything."
"I know we can't win every game, but if we win most of the games, it's a fun time, the season goes by easier, everybody is happy and enjoying the season," he added.
Thomas' decision to leave Kazan on the eve of the season put UNICS front office in trouble. Meanwhile, AS Monaco were clapping their hands since one of the best power forwards of the EuroLeague hit the market unexpectedly.
He was the third most efficient player on the Zenit St. Petersburg team (9.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 13.4 PIR), making the EuroLeague playoffs last season.
But after not receiving any offer from Zenit, Thomas joined the promising group of EuroLeague stars or proven players like Mike James, Donatas Motiejunas, and Leo Westermann.
"It's a very new team. We have to come together very quickly if we want to have a successful season," Thomas told BasketNews. "Everybody has to play together. We have to stay healthy, stay focused."
"We have a lot of young guys who haven't played at this level. I can already see that they're leaning on us, the older guys like me, Mike (James), D-Mo (Donatas Motiejunas), because we have the experience and knowledge of how to be successful at this level. So if we just play together, follow the coach's lead, believe in a system, we should be okay," he concluded.
BasketNews invites you to watch the entire conversation with Will Thomas, where he will explain what helped him become one of the most efficient veterans in the EuroLeague.
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Monaco Basket
Panathinaikos Athens
UNIKS Kazan
