From the time Matt Thomas was a student at Onalaska Middle School in Wisconsin, in the early days of the Raptor’s budding career, he knew he could really shoot.
Thomas didn’t know where basketball would take him, but even at nine years old he realized he had a skill that some of his peers didn’t possess. And as he honed that talent by himself in the gym, shot after shot after shot, he discovered a refuge that would mean as much to him as the points he piled up when those buckets fell come game time.
“For me, being alone in the gym is incredible,” Thomas said after practice Thursday, as the Raptors prepared to host the Charlotte Hornets on Friday night.