When Etan Thomas asks, “Who’s your daddy?” it is not a rhetorical question.
The 11-year-NBA veteran and former Syracuse standout center explores all angles of male parentage in his latest book, “Fatherhood: Rising to the Ultimate Challenge,” out Tuesday.
In the prime of his NBA career, Etan Thomas did his best to stay connected to his young children. When he found himself on grueling six-game road trips, Thomas would rely on Skype and phone calls from his wife Nichole, who would videotape the exploits of their kids.
Since the release of my book Fatherhood Rising To The Ultimate Challenge last year, I have traveled the country to encourage young people who they can be anything they want to be in life no matter what their circumstances.
Etan Thomas is more than a retired professional basketball star who can reflect on spending 11 seasons in the NBA.
Etan: Thanks again for doing this interview for me. Its really an honor because I have like 3 of your paintings. I have the one with the DJ, the boroughs of New York, the one with the break dancer, and the one of Kareem. You are really talented
Etan Thomas: J Dub how you doin man. Thanks for doing this interview for me. First, tell me how you grew up and describe your relationship with your father growing up.
Etan Thomas: How are you doing sir. Much respect to you. And thank you for doing this interview for me. If you could tell me about what helped you growing up and who were some of your role models growing up and did you have your father as a role model growing up?
When I talk about my family, I’m not just thinking about my parents and my siblings. For Christmas, we had more than 80 of my family members gathered in California. For Easter, it was easily 150 people.
Etan Thomas: You are the eldest brother of three. And all of you appear to be very close, help each other, and are all very successful.
Etan: Tell me how important it is to instill a “you can do it” mentality into young people. As we discussed, my main reason for writing this book was to combat all of the negativity that young people are bombarded with. Tell me how crucial it is not to tear young people down but to encourage them to really believe that they can make it no matter what their situation is