[Previously, Nick Young, among others, have wondered about his seeming inability to pass. Now, we are curious about Young's absence from the hyped summertime showcase, Capital Punishment.]

Nick Young’s much ballyhooed participation in Capital Punishment certainly brought the right amount of attention to the circumstance. Young, being the Washington Wizard with the most ties to Los Angeles, was certainly missed, and curiously so. What might remain a mystery is why exactly he didn’t take advantage of the chance to represent this hometown, L.A.’s Drew League team, against his professional city, D.C.’s Goodman League team.

Given that the restricted free agent has made strides playing more within an offensive system and more intelligently on defense over the past two seasons in Washington, efforts which have only gone to greatly increase expectations that will come with the price tag of his next contract, Young might have done himself well to play in the exhibition game held in D.C. No one knows if David Stern had Chinese government-like monitors keeping track of NBA league personnel web traffic, perhaps it being undesired that they, including Wizards brass, even watch Capital Punishment, much less make contact with players. Nonetheless, Young endearing his talents in front of the DMV crowd, albeit for the West Coast squad, could only have been a positive thing. That is, unless, the constant prodding of Young by former teammate and sometimes friend Gilbert Arenas, now publicly available on Twitter, shuttered confidence weary of being overshadowed by the other talent on the court.

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