Michael Jordan's ex-teammate Etan Thomas slams disparity after police take Florida State shooter alive

On Thursday, another mass shooting took place as a 20-year-old student named Phoenix Ikner killed two people and injured six at Florida State University. Michael Jordan’s ex-teammate Etan Thomas was one of the first to react to the Florida State shooting incident on his X account.

Thomas pointed to the alleged disparity of treatment of suspects in mass shootings as the Florida State Police took the shooter alive out of the campus, following an hours-long rescue operation.

“Imagine the Right Wing uproar if the Florida State shooter was an immigrant and not a white student who promoted right wing conspiracy theories and white supremacist views per his classmates. There would’ve been calls for him to be sent to El Salvador,” he wrote on X hours after the shooting.

“It didn’t go unnoticed that after killing two people and injuring six others, the police took the Florida State Shooter alive. Interesting how that happens in certain situations but not others,” Thomas added.

Thomas played for 10 years in the NBA, mostly with the Washington Wizards, from 2001 to 2009, where he played alongside basketball great Michael Jordan from 2001 to 2003.

Thomas also played one season with Russell Westbrook, James Harden and Kevin Durant in the OKC Thunder in the 2009-10 NBA season.

He has been a political activist, joining protests about social issues and other topics since his playing days with the Wizards up until his retirement.

Etan Thomas realizes Michael Jordan is an activist in his silent way

During his time with the Wizards, Etan Thomas was a mere backdrop as Michael Jordan played his final years in the NBA. Being a young player back then, Thomas did not know much about Jordan’s personal ventures, and what he did outside of the court.

In an interview with the New York Times in 2023, Thomas, a vocal activist outside the court, recalled a time when he realized that Jordan is also an activist in his own way whenever he is outside the sport.

“That got a conversation going and Michael’s guy started talking about the charitable things he did without publicity … He mentioned an event at an all-white golf club, where, of course, they let Michael play, but there were no Black members, and how Michael threatened at the last minute to back out if they didn’t change their policy,” Thomas said.

“I told Michael, ‘That’s something people should know and then maybe they wouldn’t be saying the things they do about you.’ He just said‌, ‘I don’t do that.’ And his guy said‌‌, ‘See what I mean?’ After that, I could never hold him up as the antithesis of the activist athlete, the opposite of Muhammad Ali and Bill Russell. It’s not that simple,” he added.

From there, Thomas understood Jordan’s principles. Jordan was more known for his time with the Chicago Bulls, winning six titles for the franchise in the 1990s.