NEW YORK — Brooklyn Nets guard Cam Thomas went through the kind of offseason that most players dread when they’re looking to cash in on their play on the court. Brooklyn had taken their time in negotiations with Thomas as they were looking to get him re-signed at a certain number, but Thomas took some time to address how he feels about some of his critics.
“I think people just want to have something to talk about, because last year when I was out there playing we were the sixth or seventh seed in the East and everybody wanted us to lose and tank,” Thomas said during Nets Media Day on Tuesday when asked about criticism of his game. The most popular example of what Thomas was addressing happened during this offseason when The Ringer’s Zach Lowe communicated what some people think of Thomas’ game as he went through his free-agency.
“So that’s not really a fair fact that you could give out about the way I play. Plus I think it was just people wanting to get clicks during the offseason,” Thomas continued. “There wasn’t much going on, so they just wanted to bring me up in that aspect. I didn’t really put to much into it, but at the same time, it gets frustrating, whether you want to admit it or not, that people keep trying to spread these narratives and lies about you that just isn’t true without actually looking at the facts and watching our games.”
During an episode of “The Zach Lowe Show” earlier this offseason, Lowe said that “the consensus on Cam Thomas, if there is one, and he’s got some fans, and he’s got some mega-detractors, but the consensus is kind of like empty calories ball hog.” To that statement, Thomas responded on X by saying in part “The consensus? (expletive) you and the consensus.”
Thomas, 23, was coming off his best season in the NBA after averaging 24.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game while shooting 43.8% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land. Thomas is back in Brooklyn after accepting his $6 million qualifying offer (QO) due to negotiations with the Nets not working in his favor, but he peeled back the curtain on why he responded to Lowe the way he did earlier this offseason.