Antawn Jamison is on his own level and you can’t get on it, atleast that’s what the promotional party flier above seems to indicate. Jamison’s level these days involves sitting out the past 13 games — likely the rest of the year — due to a broken pinkie finger; and he has to watch the 15-58 Cleveland Cavaliers all the time, which probably isn’t that much different than watching the 18-55 Wizards. Jamison’s level also involves getting paid over $13.3 million this season, which is a pretty nice level regardless of the environment. Back to the promotional flier … Jamison’s level will evidently be on display this Thursday at the Shadow Room, as he is welcomed back to D.C. with a party the night before his Cavs take on the Wizards. Speaking of the Shadow Room, that’s the venue where Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee once got on the level of fighting with each other outside the club on Christmas Eve. The Wizards are just a classic team, on so many levels.
In other team party news, Josh Howard, who has appeared in 409 minutes over 18 games this season, has lent his name to the Wizards-Heat post-game party at Oxygen tonight. The most recently injured Wizard, Trevor Booker, had provided his name for use as well. Wale will also be performing … I still wonder if he roots for the Cavaliers and/or Nuggets.
Links.
Washington will likely be with Andray Blatche as they play the Miami Heat tonight and without Trevor Booker, who could miss the last nine games of the season with a crack in the bottom of his right foot. It all sounds rather splendid.
[Washington Examiner]
Recently, the two first-named Michelle Marie of YoungHollywood.com caught up with Antawn Jamison at some location in the world … and it wasn’t in a dark room featuring an old wooden table, an uncomfortable stool, and a solo Jamison sitting and sipping on some Jameson.
Marie asked ‘Twan how the Cleveland Cavaliers were going to transition without LeBron. The gist of his answer: “It’s going to be interesting.”
Indeed it is, Antawn, indeed it is. He also spit out some generic clichés such as, “It’s a business,” and “It’s not going to be easy.” I don’t think the Gentleman will ever change, and he shouldn’t. In any case, you can watch the video yourself via Yahoo! Sports.
Antawn Jamison doesn’t get Twitter. Neither does my 70-year old dad (okay, he’s 69, will be 70 next June).
He, my dad, was recently in town and Twitter came up in the dinner conversation. I tried to justify its relevancy by citing how it provides those in the media, bloggers, such as myself, the ability to extend personal branding (as HRO would call it), and even more so, how it’s great for late-breaking news, especially in the sports world. I trailed off and cut the list of merits short after seeing the look on my dad’s face, not mentioning how I’ve actually made friends with people via Twitter.
My pops, mind you, is not completely tech oblivious. He does have a ‘net book’. And I suppose Antawn is in the same boat.
Tom Sorenson of the Charlotte Observer has the first Antawn Jamison, ‘Here I Am’ article of the summer. Sorenson recently caught up with the Gentleman Jamison at his basketball camp in North Carolina. You should read the whole piece, but here are a couple select quotes:
But the Cavaliers crashed and burned in the Eastern Conference semifinals against Boston and crashed and burned again two weeks ago when LeBron giddily announced he was leaving Cleveland for the Miami Heat.
It’s tough to truly remember Antawn Jamison’s time in D.C., yet hard to do it enough. Wish I were around to cover him when times were good, but this year had to happen. Still, Antawn did it with dignity. He did it with class, emulating the owner he looked up to so much. An owner whose family is making a classy move with a free “Living for the City” Stevie Wonder concert for some of the people touched by Abe Pollin’s spirit for his community. Antawn was the Gentleman Jamison. He deserves an Unsilent tribute. Hence, Jack Kogod (aka Unsilent Majority) of Kissing Suzy Kobler, and occasional Wizards correspondent for Mr. Irrelevant, (not to mention that he sits in some really good season tickets for a ton of Wizards games), agreed to share his thoughts. Here’s what @Unsilent had to say:
>>>>>>>>>
I miss Antawn Jamison more than I thought I would. When the house cleaning commenced I thought it would be Caron Butler I missed the most, but I was wrong. Of course I’m wrong a lot. I was wrong in my belief that the Wizards should have held on to the fifth pick in the ’04 draft to select Luol Deng (although I couldn’t be too upset with any trade that sent Jerry Stackhouse packing), and I was wrong to think that Jamison wasn’t the right guy at the right time. It only took one season for him to prove me wrong. Jamison made his All Star Game debut in that first season, and he helped lead the Wizards on a fantastic turnaround. The Wizards won their first playoff series of my lifetime that year, and that wouldn’t have happened without Jamison.
A lot changed in the years between the ’05 playoffs and the ’10 trade deadline, but Jamison never did. Throughout his time in Washington he was the most consistent player on the team, and one of the most reliable performers in the entire league (defensive shortcomings notwithstanding). There is a reason why Abe Pollin considered Jamison to be the Wes Unseld of the modern Wizards, because he have all of himself to the organization. I hope for nothing but the best from Jamison, just short of winning a ring of course. Afterall, he is a Cav now.
Now that the franchise worst 16-game losing streak has departed, it’s time to remember the players who have departed the Wizards this season — via trade or release, not suspension or injury, and only those who actually received minutes.
Below you will find portraits of the departed along with their story from the night pictured and a video clip of a selected quote. Enjoy … I think.
{DeShawn Stevenson}
Depart Date: February 13, 2010
On Halloween Night after the Wizards defeated the New Jersey Nets 123-104 in their home opener, pushing their record to 2-1, (the only time it would be better than .500 this season), Stevenson spoke about how, unlike last season, everybody now wants tickets to Wizards games and that he wasn’t going to dress up for All Hallows Eve.
Has a franchise ever been at a crossroads like the Washington Wizards? As some analysts predicted Washington to compete for a fourth seed this season, no NBA team has fallen further from expectations. That should be enough. Now, the once face of the team has been cast aside, partially due to his irresponsibility in bringing guns into the locker room and partially due to his resulting immature treatment of a serious situation.
Antawn Jamison is the consummate veteran, a Gentleman, as goes his nickname. Caron Butler is the during-game straw chewing guy, former mass consumer of Mountain Dew who arose from 15 arrests before 15 years on this earth to make the NBA, one whom his former coach Eddie Jordan nicknamed, “Tough Juice.” Gilbert Arenas was once the guy who went to Barry Farms, D.C.’s equivalent of Rucker Park, by himself sans entourage just because he liked being around regular people. All three of these massive basketball figures in the Nation’s Capital — each playing a role in the four-year playoff run that resuscitated basketball in the DMV, are on the verge of being set afloat down the Potomac.
Now, one is making vain attempts for a team wrought with futility. Another only provides waning memories of a past All-Star self. A third has created an unfathomable situation, with pranks, guns, shoe turds, and exposing the issue of guns and NBA players via the quiet, polite kid from Atlanta whom no one would expect to lock and load his own gun while singing. All could be gone by February. Question is, will management gut the house, bulldoze the structure and give everything away? Or will Ernie Grunfeld get some ‘Bubs from The Wire’-like ingenuity and receive assets in return for his valuable scrap metal. Either way, if cap room is the direction, the Wizards better hope they get lucky in the draft and overpay the right veteran free-agent, else the future is a long time away.
I started tinkering around with this trade idea last Wednesday, but never followed up with publishing a post. Today, with Yahoo!’s Marc Spears reporting that the Utah Jazz could face a roster shake-up and Mike Jones, of Mike Jones Sports, reporting that multiple Wizards have asked to be traded, i.e., more than just Mike James, it seems like an appropriate time to float this proposal out there. And no, this is not like Bill Simmons’ silly Utah-Washington-Cleveland idea where the Wizards would lose Haywood, Jamison, Butler and James and only get Shaq and Boozer in return … although my idea is almost as drastic.
So here goes …
Utah has the Carlos Boozer issue hanging over their head, the desire to remain cheap, and is a decent team unwilling to take a big step backwards.
Washington is not in a good way. If you read this blog site, you know this. Shot out to any readers in the Philippines who know this (they really, really like the NBA over in the Phillippines).
Antawn Jamison just might go crazy. His words, not mine.
It was about a year ago (I think) when Jamison first referenced the movie Groundhog Day in regard to the Wizards’ losing ways after they fell to the Dallas Mavericks in the 25th game of the season, putting their record at 4-21.
This spawned the creation of the image above, Jamison as Bill Murray … with a groundhog. As the 2008-09 season carried on and the Wizards kept losing, Antawn’s evoking of the Groundhog Day theme became a reoccurring event, much like the movie itself.
“It’s like Groundhog Day,” ingrained itself into Jamison’s lexicon, joining one of his other oft-used phrases, “[blah-blah-blah] … and things of that nature.”
As we’ve moved into another season, now ready to turn the calendar to 2010, Jamison still finds himself trapped in a repetitive loop of losing.
Flip Saunders talks about the opening night win against the Mavericks and looks to Friday’s game against the Hawks in Atlanta. He also praises JaVale McGee for a hard practice and relates how his rotation can always change if players want to earn time.
Jamison talks about his shoulder feeling good, shooting for the first time, and being a cheerleader in Dallas.
Also, NBC 4′s Lindsay Czarniak sat down with Irene Pollin to talk about her involvement in professional sports with her husband Abe.
Washington Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld announced today that forward Antawn Jamison’s right shoulder has been re-evaluated and that the findings were consistent with the original diagnosis of a subluxation. He is expected to miss from four to six weeks from the date of the injury (Jamison sustained the injury in the Wizards’ 109-104 win in Cleveland on Oct. 14).
Honestly, I kinda expected this to be the case … especially when a shoulder briefly pops out of place. Better to be safe than sorry I guess.
Flip Saunders said he would probably start Fabricio Oberto tonight against the Bulls so that Andray Blatche can get used to his role of coming off the bench … wonder if this now changes the plan.
Antawn Jamison could be out until around December. Damn.
Now, after transcribing all of my interview recordings, I wanted to share some of the quotes/pictures that have been relatively unheard/unseen.
{Note: I will be in Richmond for training camp on Saturday and Sunday. There’s limited media access, but I’ll be updating some of the goings-ons via Twitter}
Did the Caps depress you this weekend? Did you spend time drinking on it? Sorry. The series isn’t over,
but you’re always welcome to pull up next to a Wizards fan at the bar.
So … time for a good ol’ Monday Wizards link fest.
First a couple Wizards-related pieces I wrote for NBC Washington (shameless self promotion):
“[Ernie Grunfeld is] panicking and that whole franchise is panicking, they are a dumb blockbuster trade waiting to happen,” said ESPN columnist Bill Simmons. ESPN Columnist Wants To Fleece Wizards [NBC Washington]
I’m a huge Antawn Jamison fan. He’s a classy dude, I’ve nicknamed him ‘The Gentlemen’ (hasn’t caught on), and the women folk say he’s got eyebrows for days.
Jamison is the current patriarchal cornerstone of the franchise. This year’s team MVP? Unquestionably. He possesses the never-quit attitude that should be infecting the locker room via leadership by example … Jamison is quite the opposite of past clubhouse cancers, like Christian Laettner.
But sometimes, everyone needs to be questioned, Jamison being no exception.
1) What’s with the defense? 2) Will Antawn be flexible in his future role with the team?
Jamison’s struggles on defense are no secret. He has aging lateral movement, and as discovered this year, he’s not an adequate substitute for Brendan Haywood‘s post defensive communication. Are we to just accept Jamison’s “unique” scoring ability, rebounding numbers, and minimal turnovers as big pluses? Or should Flip Saunders seek improved defense out of the starting lineup?
The Wizards were out of the game before it even started, and I really wish I had bet online. They came out lacking a ton of focus and turning the ball over….key ingredients to a disaster pie.
Cleveland was also aware of everything the Wiz wanted to do offensively before they did it. Javaris Crittenton would come down the court tapping his chin and Mo Williams would do the same. Guess the “intricate” offense (simplified for the youth, I know) of Ed Tapscott and Wes Unseld, Jr. won’t fool many.
To make matters worse, Washington was always a second behind on open passes, a telltale sign of the team going through the motions….a “we got this team in DC, so who cares about Cleveland?” type attitude.
Not to belittle the effort of some individuals, but as a team, it sucked a big one last night….what’s new? The game was no where close to the final 12 point margin.
Enjoy the screen shots.
Ed Tapscott was all smiles despite a 17-50 (now 51) record.
