Former NBA player Kenny Thomas visits Santo Domingo School

SANTO DOMINGO PUEBLO — Santo Domingo middle schoolers had quite the guest Dec. 4.

“It was really awesome to meet an NBA player, and it was really thoughtful of him to come over here to meet us,” sixth grader Elliot Lovato said.

Former NBA player and University of New Mexico Hall of Famer Kenny Thomas visited the school to speak with the students.

“It’s an honor to be able to come out here and support the Santo Domingo Pueblo. Like I said when I was talking to the kids, I always drive by here going between Albuquerque and Santa Fe,” Thomas said. “Thank you, to Coca-Cola Santa Fe for bringing me out.”

Students crowded the gymnasium and were very excited the second Thomas walked in.

“No other person has ever come to our school to talk to our kids. As you saw earlier, everybody was all in uproar and everything,” said Michael Quintana, president of Kewa Enterprises Inc. and general manager for Kewa Gas, LLC.

Quintana worked with Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Santa Fe to make the whole event happen.

“We are partnered with the Kewa gas stations, and when they said that they wanted some more support for their school system, well, we have a partnership with Kenny Thomas, and so we thought that that would be inspirational for the students,” said Gracie Griego, Coca-Cola’s sales small format manager.

Thomas, who graduated from Albuquerque High School, played four years for the UNM basketball team. During the Thomas era, the Lobos were 73-3 at the Pit. Now, Thomas has his own post-game UNM basketball radio show on 96.5.

Thomas was drafted by the Houston Rockets in the first round of the 1999 NBA Draft (22nd overall). During his 13-year NBA career, Thomas also played for the Philadelphia 76ers and the Sacramento Kings.

The students watched Thomas’ NBA highlights and listened to his presentation, which focused on responsibility and the importance of an education.

Thomas also credited Lakers Legend Magic Johnson for his life after the NBA as an entrepreneur.

“Magic Johnson is my mentor. I am a businessman and an entrepreneur. There’s a lot of things that I do in the community, and that’s why I am here visiting you all here today,” Thomas said.

After his presentation, Thomas answered many questions, like if he played against NBA Icon Michael Jordan, “Yes, I did. If you go online and Google, ‘Kenny Thomas and Michael Jordan,’ you’ll see me with him, but it was an honor to be able to play against him,” Thomas said.

Another student asked, “What is your favorite candy bar?” to which Thomas said, “That’s a great question. I like the almond Snickers right now.”

An adult asked what his shoe size is. Thomas responded that he wears a size 15, and it led to a fun guessing game of the size of Shaquille O’Neal’s shoes.

A couple students asked if he could shoot a half court shot, which Thomas did after all of the questions were asked.

“Its’ nice that he came out here and talked to our students about the dos and don’ts, how to succeed, what to expect, you know. Advocated how school is important ... to stay away from any substance abuse,” Santo Domingo Lt. Gov. Jonathan Garcia said.

At the end of the visit, Thomas signed autographs for all the students in attendance and took pictures with teachers.

“Being able to come back and impact a community is one of the things that I am big on. I try and go around and try and touch every community that I can,” Thomas said.