7’1 Thon Maker gave up his legroom on a flight just to be nice

Thon Maker may be a ruthless defender when he swats opponents’ shot attempts on the basketball court, but off the floor, he’s as kind as they come. The Milwaukee Bucks big man proved as much when he traded his Economy Plus seat on a flight to parts unknown for the worst seat in the house: The very last row next to the bathroom.

The story goes something like this: Maker missed his original flight to Milwaukee and had to catch the next one. He sat in a first-class seat, but the person whose seat he took eventually boarded the flight. United Airlines bumped Maker up to Economy Plus — after all, he’s 7’1 and can use all the legroom he can get.

But then, flight attendants went row by row, asking if anyone would relocate to the very last row of the plane. Maker accepted the attendant’s offer and trotted to the back of the plane. He shared that row with Paul Kuzma, who told the entire story on Facebook.

Kuzma wrote:

He couldn’t even fit his knees into the Economy seat! Every time the snack cart came by or someone had to use the restroom, he had to get up and move out of their way.

The entire flight, there was not a hint of resentment in his voice. He was even happy to allow me a picture with him and an autograph. Class act, Thon!

If I was 7’1, I probably wouldn’t have traded my relatively cozy, comfy seat for the worst one on the flight. But it appears Maker was grateful he made that flight so he could be on time for a Bucks practice he had the next morning.

As Kuzma wrote, that’s a class act, Thon. Now, go take some of that pent-up anger out on the rim.