Cam Thomas? Who Is That?

Cam Thomas was drafted 27th overall by the Brooklyn Nets in 2021. He came out of LSU and was projected to be a solid bench scorer for the Nets’ future. Throughout his first season, he didn’t get many minutes, but whenever he did, he was nearly unstoppable. NBA fans everywhere were begging for him to get more playing time, but the Nets’ staff must have just thought that he was a shot-chucker and not much more than that.

Fast forward to February 4th, right after Kyrie Irving was traded and the Nets were panicking because their championship hopes looked dead. The Nets had to give Cam Thomas the occasional start due to injuries and holes in the guard positions. Thomas was waiting for this opportunity though; in his start, he shot 23 shots and 16 of them landed. He ended the game with 44 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. People did not think much of this incredible performance, as many NBA players will have a game like this once or twice in their career. This was no fluke though. Two nights later, he shot 29 times and 15 of them found the bottom of the net, giving him 47 points! Back-to-back 40-point games? There is no way he will continue to do this, right? Wrong. The following night he scored 43 points out of 11 of 23 shots.

NBA fans were amazed by what they were witnessing, a player that gets little to no minutes had three straight 40-point games! With Thomas accomplishing this, he became the youngest player in NBA history to score 40+ in three straight games. He also became the first player in Nets history to score 40+ in three straight games.

Cam Thomas has joined Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Moses Malone, Bernard King, Adrian Dantley, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Devin Booker, Dame Lillard, James Harden, Carmelo Anthony, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Steph Curry as the only players to score 40+ in three straight games (since the 3-point area). They are all-time greats we are talking about.

So, has Cam Thomas saved the Nets’ season? Is he the next Kobe Bryant? Or is this just “Linsanity” all over again?