Seeing that pro basketball fans are essentially suspended from the NBA due to squabbling amongst millionaires and billionaires, passing time might be aided by chronicling all NBA and team suspensions of the Washington Wizards since circa 1995. Why? Well, because we humans love stories about crime and punishment, and to most, the NBA lockout fits the bill for both.  So away we go (with old basketball cards to accompany on occasion)…

[Note: This listing is incomplete and unconfirmed for accuracy; information has been gleaned, copied and pasted from eskimo.com/~pbender and prosportstransactions.com with the understanding that all suspensions and fines might not have been publicized or reflected.]

1/5/95
Bernard King suspended by team for altercation with head coach at practice.

2/3/95
Washington suspended Kevin Duckworth for 3 games for not staying in good physical condition.

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[Emery Rec Center - NW Washington DC - photo: K. Weidie]

I’ve previously used historical statistical analysis in an attempt to determine who were some of the best, and worst, shooters in Wizards/Bullets franchise history.

One post explained that Slick Leonard might have had to worst shooting season in franchise record books. As a member of the ‘61-62 Chicago Packers, Leonard threw up 1,128 shots, second most on the team after Walt Bellamy, but only made 37.5-percent of them. In a nine team league that season 30 players attempted 1,000 or more field-goals, and Slick was the worst of them all.

Others, such as Kevin Loughery and Mitch Richmond, have cemented themselves as some of the worst shooters beyond the window of just one season. Loughery, over 591 career games played with the team in Baltimore, made only 41.5-percent of his 9,209 FG attempts. Richmond, who adeptly bastardized any memories of trading Chris Webber into scorn from fandom toward his aching knees, made just 41.7-percent of the 2,356 shots he took as a Wizard. To note, Loughery and Richmond were two of 26 players in franchise history to play in 160 games or more with the team and average over 15 field-goals attempted per 36 minutes.

Another post noted that Gilbert Arenas is the best long-range bomber in team history, and that some of the franchise’s better shooters — over various time periods, from everywhere on the court… twos, threes and ones — have been Brent Price, Mike Miller, Scott Skiles, Chris Whitney, Tracy Murray, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler.

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The Sacramento Kings closed out their season with a very emotional home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. At the time, there was a strong possibility that it was last game in Sacramento after 23 years as the team‘s owners, Joe and Gavin Maloof, looked to move the franchise to Anaheim, California. The Kings broadcasters broke down on air, and fans organized a protest by refusing to leave the arena after the contest’s conclusion. Kings players returned to the court to address their adoring fans. There was great sense of empathy amongst sports fans online in seeing a team ripped away from a fan base.

Former NBA player and current Sacramento mayor Kevin Johnson, husband to controversial ex-DC school chancellor Michelle Rhee, made a last ditch attempt to save the team in California’s Capital City. His presentation to the NBA was more impressive than the Maloofs‘, the potential TV money from their deal with Anaheim being inflated. Money discrepancies are not surprising with the Maloofs since their bad financial dealings have led them to this current predicament and their financial stake in Palm Casinos Resort, which is now down to a paltry 2-percent.

Johnson was able to convince the NBA’s relocation committee to give him a chance to secure a funding plan for a new arena, and after the Maloofs pulled their bid to relocate, the Kings will remain in Sacramento for at least 2011-12.

When the move appeared imminent, I caught up with Washington Wizards head coach Flip Saunders and swingman Maurice Evans to ask about their personal experiences playing in Sacramento. In the video below, Saunders talks about the Sacramento Cow Bells, and Evans provides a funny antidote about a passionate Kings fan that still supports him every time he returns.

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Pictures, bulleted links, commentary & other stuff…

What are Flip Saunders and Andray Blatche looking at?

Part of me thinks they are looking at a tiny lamb heart, sitting in the palm of Saunders’ hand, barely (magically) holding onto life, while Flip is poking it with a ball-point pin. But I’m probably wrong. They are likely looking at this baggy-clothed Chris Webber from the 90s, perhaps modelling a new concept in comfort garments that eventually led to the invention of the Snuggie or the Slanket. Either way, looks dire.

[via Up North Trips, h/t Your Man Devine]

LINKS!

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A D.C. pic, Wizards memories, and links …

[Takoma Recreation Center - NW Washington, D.C.]

On Wednesday, TAI held another ticket giveaway (courtesy of StubHub), this time involving four suite tickets to next Tuesday’s Wizards-Lakers game. A winner was randomly chosen from all those who left comments about their favorite Wizards memory on the TAI FaceBook page. It was kind of a random means to give tickets away … I almost asked some lame question like ‘name your favorite current Wizard’, but instead went with the memory concept, which seems equally generic. Whatever, I was just trying to find a pool of people to give free tickets to, right?

Well, as it turns out, I had a lot of fun reading the favorite memories of various Wizards fans — not surprisingly, most of them involved Gilbert Arenas. But what’s not a lot of fun is only being able to award the tickets to one person. But it is what it is as Mike Miller would say … so a congrats goes to Devin Krotman, who was chosen at random amongst all those who entered. Devin’s favorite Wizards memory is below, along with some other select memories of entrants. Thanks to all for taking time to share.

Devin Krotman

“I thought long and hard about this and my favorite Wizards moment has to be Gil’s game-winner against the Bucks on January 3, 2007, This is the one where Gil dribbles slowly down the court and bangs the 3 with such swagger that he is actually walking away with his back turned to the basket and hands in the air when the balls goes in…Out of all of the Gil/Wizard moments, this is a classic. I was at this game..and actually bought tickets with my friends for Student Appreciation night; somehow though we weren’t sitting together and I had to sit by myself. To me it didn’t matter though.. I had great seats and probably saw one of the coolest finishes to a NBA game. Come to think of it I would never mind sitting by myself at another Wiz game, that’s how big a fan I am.

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The Washington Wizards held their last preseason practice at the Verizon Center on Tuesday afternoon before heading down to Orlando for Thursday’s regular season opener, a national television showcase against the Magic on TNT.

If you’re a Wizards fan, you might be losing sleep over the match-up nightmares Orlando specifically poses against Washington. Okay, never mind, you’re probably dreaming about John Wall — it’s good be distracted, for now. Plus, I imagine the coach of a rebuilding team is still slightly more concerned with how his own players follow his instructions than countering what a great team like Orlando does.

Of course, match-up-wise, we don’t know who Flip Saunders is going to start just yet, or if Gilbert Arenas will be available because of soreness in his ankle that caused him to sit out of practice on both Monday and Tuesday, which piggy-backed on a groin injury he experienced in the fifth preseason game against the Milwaukee Bucks that caused him to miss the last two games on the slate.

“From what happened before, you’ll know our starters 10 minutes before the game. That’s our new policy,” the coach quipped on Tuesday. ‘Before’ being when Arenas lied about soreness in his knee.

But the three-guard lineup isn’t necessarily the concern in this instance — it’s how Andray Blatche and JaVale McGee will be able to match-up with the inside/outside combination of Rashad Lewis and Dwight Howard. Blatche, who already floats away from the basket too much on offense (for a team that will be desperate for paint scoring), might find himself playing even more away from the basket in keeping track of Lewis on defense.

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Or maybe you can just ask John Wall if he wants to go to Ben’s Chili Bowl. There’s a sign in the famed D.C. haunt that says the only people who eat free are Bill Cosby and the Obama family. Surely an exception can be made should Wall ever bring an NBA title to Washington.

Oh, the Wizards haven’t even drafted the kid yet? Okay, I’ll hold my horses.

The quintessential Ben’s dish:
a chili half-smoke with mustard and onions, and chili-cheese fries.

By the time John Wall actually wears a Wizards uniform we will have heard just about everyone give their opinion about him being in D.C. — we’re talking some Ouija board channeling Abe Lincoln type stuff. Or at least getting DeShawn Stevenson’s neck tattoo to speak on it.

Already in the month of June we’ve had failed Washington Nationals GM Jim Bowden and failed 6’10″ Washington Bullets point guard Chris Webber elicit verbiage about Wall, courtesy of the DC Sports Bog’s Dan Steinberg.

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The Wizards have zero chance of landing the fourth overall pick in tonight’s draft lottery. But the last time the team did have the fourth was in 1995 when they used it to select Rasheed Wallace out of North Carolina.

Those were the days when dreams were big and aims were high — ‘Sheed, Juwan Howard and Chris Webber, a murder’s row of bigs. But instead of success on the court, we are left cherishing the video clip below when Webber (not playing and suited) put a “I’m a rookie, kick me!” sign on Wallace’s back during a game (also not playing and suited). Ahh, the memories. Gheorghe Muresan is also shown not playing and suited.

[via A Stern Warning]

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On April 22nd, I held a Wizards trivia contest to win one of two copies of Stumbling On Wins: Two Economists Expose the Pitfalls on the Road to Victory in Professional Sports by Dave Berri and Martin Schmidt, or some Wizards swag … which, as you can see from the pictures above is a pair of fuzzy Wizards/Zephyrs dice. Fancy, huh?

First, congrats goes to Thomas Pruitt and Wade Smith, the only two respondents to answer all nine trivia questions right. They both win a copy of the book. Also congrats to Marc Salmon, his email address was randomly selected from the entire pool of entries. Marc gets the lucky dice.

Now let’s go over the questions, answers and a bit of team history. In case you didn’t take part in the poll, I’m posting the answers at the bottom so you can take a guess at the questions if you feel so inclined.

#1 Which coach led the Washington Bullets in their ’97 1st round playoff matchup against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls?

• Bob Staak
• Bernie Bickerstaff
• Jim Lynam
• Wes Unseld
• Jim Brovelli

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To dunk, Juwan Howard had to make his body as straight as possible
and daintily place his off hand to his side.

More Cardboard Bullets are below, but first, please read the story of Juwan.

Last Sunday marked the 13th anniversary of Juwan Howard’s first ever NBA playoff game. Yes, that Juwan Howard and the appearance was with those Washington Bullets, who were bounced from the 1997 playoffs in three games by the cigar smoking Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls

Hard to believe Howard is still playing in the current NBA Playoffs. And despite 1,116 career regular season NBA games, he’s only appeared in 28 total playoff games and is set to appear in number 29 with the Portland Trailblazers tomorrow night.

Howard’s tenure in Washington was memorable, but forgettable. Taken fifth in the ’94 NBA Draft, his first year happened just before the NBA’s rookie contract scale, which was implemented in 1995, partially due to Howard, but mostly due to top pick Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson and his $100 million holdout demands.

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{flickr/simplistic.designs}

This Sunday April 25th will mark the 13th anniversary of the Washington Bullets’ 1997 opening first round playoff game against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. That game represented the franchise’s first playoff game since May 8, 1988 … or, the first in eight years, 11 months and 17 days to be exact.

The ’96-97 Bullets team featured the present-day likes of an ESPN NBA analyst (Tim Legler), a special assistant for the Golden State Warriors (Calbert Cheaney), an analyst for NBA TV/TNT (Chris Webber), a guy who is still playing in the NBA playoffs (Juwan Howard, Portland Trailblazers), a Kentucky Wildcats basketball assistant who was recently charged with a DUI (Rod Strickland), a guy who was last year fired as head coach of the D-League’s Fort Wayne Mad Ants (Jaren Jackson), a guy who is currently a community liaison of sorts for the Wizards (Gheorghe Muresan), a guy who attended the March 27, 2010 Wizards-Jazz game with a lady friend (Chris Whitney), and a guy who assists the DeMatha High basketball program because that’s where his sons played (Harvey Grant) … among other cats.

Recently Webber went on the Dan Patrick Show and recounted a story from the ’97 playoff match-up against Jordan’s Bulls (via Sports Radio Interviews):

“One time we played in Washington. We played a five game series against the Bulls. It was the year they won 72 games. We lose all three games by a total of seven points. I saw Michael Jordan come into our locker room with a cigar, while it was lit, and said, ‘Who’s going to check me tonight?’ And we looked at Calbert Cheaney and we were laughing like little school kids knowing that Calbert Cheaney was going to get him, we knew it wasn’t a game for Mike. He was going to be there and he was going to be playing like he said. Game Three we get off the bus and Juwan (Howard) is from Chicago and used to workout there. I’ll never forget, Jordan was sitting on his Ferrari and Pippen was right there and they have a cigar lit. We get off the bus and we have to pass them with a lit cigar. You want to talk about posturing? Forget Phil Jackson. You got Michael Jordan there behind the scenes smoking a cigar before the game, letting us know that he’s the Red Auerbach before the game even started. It was almost like, ‘I lit the cigar. I’m celebrating already. This is just a formality, you guys getting on the court tonight.”

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You think watching the Pistons run over the Wizards with little resistance was hard, try starting to watch it on a two-hour delay (sometimes college basketball takes precedent, especially at this time of year), then accidentally finding out the score, and then watching the second half the next day. Boy it was ugly … but at least it kinda/sorta made for quick work. Below are a couple notes I took from witnessing the carnage.

The game starts with Wizards TV guys Steve Buckhantz and Phil Chenier talking about Gilbert Arenas‘ jersey number change from #0 to Mike Miller‘s current #6. Let’s pick up on their conversation …

Buckhantz: “…. Agent Zero will be no longer, we’ll have to come up with something else.”

Chenier: “New identity.”

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December 7, 1999: Ten years ago today, as Y2K hung over the world, the Washington Wizards lost their 20th game of the season to the Los Angeles Lakers, dropping their record to 5-15. In fact, the game was probably going in L.A. about the time I published this post. Let’s check out the Washington Post game story by Steve Wyche, courtesy of Dan Steinberg:

The Washington Wizards’ entire front court scored 16 fewer points than Los Angeles Lakers center Shaquille O’Neal, and as a result, Washington fell, 91-80, tonight before 15,571 at Staples Center.

O’Neal scored a game-high 30 points and grabbed 16 of his team’s 44 rebounds as the Lakers won their seventh straight game. The Wizards lost their fifth straight, an unflattering mark seeing as they have a seven-game losing streak already to their credit this season.

Washington forward Juwan Howard scored just six points on 3-of-17 shooting. Forward Michael Smith added two points and center Ike Austin had six. Combined they were 7 of 30 from the field, and none of the three attempted a free throw.

“We just couldn’t get anything from our starters in the front court,” Wizards Coach Gar Heard said. “We can’t win any games unless those guys score, and we had opportunities to score. But you’re going to have games like that.”

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David Stern’s Dream Scenario:
Blake Griffin to the Wizards and Ricky Rubio to the Knicks
(that’s right, Stern would rather Griffin in DC than OKC)

Well folks, we made it … to NBA Draft Lottery evening. It’s been a while since I’ve cared about one of these. Four years of Wizards playoff action did it’s job to erase some of the memories. And when the Wizards last won the lottery in ’01, I was away in college, a bit lost in my following of the team.

Part of me has been somewhat giddy as I’ve gone through today, knowing that there is a chance. But then again, I’m a Wizards fan … I’m pretty sure we will NOT be landing in the top two. Guess finding a balance between these two is keeping medium, as Jim Zorn would advise.

I’m not really a superstitious person … no consistent lucky charms, just an odd infatuation with May 19th (so much so that I ran the ESPN lottery machine 19 times today, results below).

But I’ll surely find something “lucky” to do tonight, such as laying out all my Wizards/Bullets jerseys on the floor, starting with a #1 Rod Strickland Wiz jersey, followed by a #2 Chris Webber Bullets jersey, but definitely not a #4 Webber Bullets jersey. C-Webb will be on-stage representing the SacTown Kings, maybe the #4 will bring him bad luck.

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“Taste of Eleven”

Looking for a way to celebrate a Wizards draft lottery victory (or fail)? On Wednesday, Wizards Care will be hosting their 2nd annual “Taste of Eleven” luncheon at the Verizon Center in Chinatown, DC.

Basically, $11 buys you a ticket where you can select six lunch items from a selection provided by a ton of local restaurants. Proceeds from the event will benefit the Capital Area Food Bank.

The event is scheduled to run from 12:00-2:00 pm and tickets will be available to purchase at the door. If you are in the neighborhood, like me, might as well eat some good food while supporting a good cause.

My Pick Six: Cafe Atlantico, Matchbox Vintage Pizza Bistro, Morton’s Steakhouse, Zaytinya, Zengo and Zola.

Email Bag

email #1

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