http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/story/13690424p-14533273c.html
Sacramento will be his proving ground
Jamal Sampson hopes to show the Kings and the NBA that he belongs.
By San Amick
Ear to ear is a long way if you're Jamal Sampson, who stands just a tad under 7 feet and looks ever so happy to do it.
He smiles quite a bit, this new and most curious of Kings - for pictures, for interviews, for the fun of it. But bring up one of those dreaded B-words - namely "Bobcats" or "Bickerstaff" - and the mile-long grin disappears. He groans quietly, takes a deep breath and begins to explain what went wrong in Charlotte.
"It just didn't work out," said Sampson, the 6-11 forward out of Cal who is in the Kings' camp. "I came to Charlotte with a pretty clean name, and a situation with a friend happened, got publicized in the paper. It was definitely bad timing."
The "It" was a lawsuit filed in August 2004 by Christian Straughter, a childhood friend from Los Angeles who lived with Sampson until Sampson kicked him out. There was a small scuffle, Sampson said, because it was a "roommate situation gone bad."
The lawsuit stated that Straughter owed $400 in rent and bills. Sampson admits to grabbing Straughter by the shirt and shoving him toward the door. But Straughter accused Sampson of much worse, alleging that he caused a concussion and other injuries in the Feb. 24, 2004, incident.
The case has since been dropped, having been dismissed and denied in civil and small claims court without going to trial. According to Sampson, Straughter was lying for his own financial gain, seeking approximately $100,000 in damages in the beginning and $5,000 at the end. Sampson said Straughter has since confessed his intentions and apologized. The damage control, however, continues.
On its own, the significance to Sampson's career could have been minimized. But he already had baggage. This was his third team in three years, and his reputation as a lazy player had grown league-wide after so many thought he never should have left Cal after just one season.
What's more, this was the franchise's inaugural year, one that began with Charlotte general manager Bernie Bickerstaff promising the fan base that the Bobcats would be well-behaved gents. When Sampson was cut in February, he said he believes his legal troubles were the cause. Sampson, guilty or not, didn't fit the Bobcats' brand.
"I definitely got jobbed," Sampson said. "(Straughter) tried to use the Charlotte thing as leverage. His lawyer was saying, 'You don't want this to get out, so give us a certain amount of money and we'll keep it quiet and it won't get out.' But that's just not my personality. I'm not going to give into that."
Nor was he going to let the Bobcat blues keep him down. Despite playing only 15 games in his first two seasons and 43 with Charlotte, Sampson said he's a different sort of NBA veteran.
Once he endured draft day in 2002 - when he was selected in the second round by Utah as the 47th overall pick, traded to Orlando, then traded again to Milwaukee - he became a student of sorts to the Bucks' Anthony Mason, the 13-year veteran forward who retired in 2003. Then Sampson landed with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the daily challenge was to take on none other than Shaquille O'Neal. Sampson spent most of the season courtside, recovering from an ankle operation that he said he hadn't fully recovered from in Charlotte. Still, though, he soaked in all the knowledge he could.
"I think I've learned more in that time than I could have ever learned playing college basketball," Sampson said. "You can't learn anything like that anywhere else."
Past the part where he gets asked about his famous cousin, former King Ralph Sampson, Jamal's age is what has league executives talking about him in the present tense. Through everything, he's still a relative pup. He can grow, and maybe grow up. And then, it's who knows?
"He's still 22, and it's obvious that he hasn't had a chance to play very much," Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said when he signed Sampson in August. "He might be a guy like (Portland's Joel) Przybilla last year, who emerged after it was questionable whether he was going to make it at all."
To Sampson, the question has only one answer. He belongs on this level and plans to stay here even if he has to overhaul his image to do so.
"I'm more than certain that (the reputation) is something they know about and have talked about, but hopefully at the end of the day they'll see that that was just somebody else's opinion," said Sampson, who averaged 6.4 points and 6.5 rebounds at Cal and has averaged 2.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in the NBA. "And the older you get, the more you understand about what you've got to do to prepare yourself to play. The me now, compared to the me at 18, 19 when I came out, there's definitely a different mind-set."
Sampson said it's no mistake that he chose Sacramento's camp over the invitations he had from Washington and San Antonio. The Kings need depth down low, someone besides Brian Skinner to grab rebounds and not worry about scoring. They also have a reputation for welcoming so-called miscreants that continues to grow, with Sampson hoping to be the latest. "Not only does he have to show us that he has the skills to play, but that he has the work ethic and resolve to go out and show us that he belongs," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "There's no secrets in this league. Everybody knows (Sampson's reputation). But sometimes the light switch comes on at different times for different players."
Sacramento will be his proving ground
Jamal Sampson hopes to show the Kings and the NBA that he belongs.
By San Amick
Ear to ear is a long way if you're Jamal Sampson, who stands just a tad under 7 feet and looks ever so happy to do it.
He smiles quite a bit, this new and most curious of Kings - for pictures, for interviews, for the fun of it. But bring up one of those dreaded B-words - namely "Bobcats" or "Bickerstaff" - and the mile-long grin disappears. He groans quietly, takes a deep breath and begins to explain what went wrong in Charlotte.
"It just didn't work out," said Sampson, the 6-11 forward out of Cal who is in the Kings' camp. "I came to Charlotte with a pretty clean name, and a situation with a friend happened, got publicized in the paper. It was definitely bad timing."
The "It" was a lawsuit filed in August 2004 by Christian Straughter, a childhood friend from Los Angeles who lived with Sampson until Sampson kicked him out. There was a small scuffle, Sampson said, because it was a "roommate situation gone bad."
The lawsuit stated that Straughter owed $400 in rent and bills. Sampson admits to grabbing Straughter by the shirt and shoving him toward the door. But Straughter accused Sampson of much worse, alleging that he caused a concussion and other injuries in the Feb. 24, 2004, incident.
The case has since been dropped, having been dismissed and denied in civil and small claims court without going to trial. According to Sampson, Straughter was lying for his own financial gain, seeking approximately $100,000 in damages in the beginning and $5,000 at the end. Sampson said Straughter has since confessed his intentions and apologized. The damage control, however, continues.
On its own, the significance to Sampson's career could have been minimized. But he already had baggage. This was his third team in three years, and his reputation as a lazy player had grown league-wide after so many thought he never should have left Cal after just one season.
What's more, this was the franchise's inaugural year, one that began with Charlotte general manager Bernie Bickerstaff promising the fan base that the Bobcats would be well-behaved gents. When Sampson was cut in February, he said he believes his legal troubles were the cause. Sampson, guilty or not, didn't fit the Bobcats' brand.
"I definitely got jobbed," Sampson said. "(Straughter) tried to use the Charlotte thing as leverage. His lawyer was saying, 'You don't want this to get out, so give us a certain amount of money and we'll keep it quiet and it won't get out.' But that's just not my personality. I'm not going to give into that."
Nor was he going to let the Bobcat blues keep him down. Despite playing only 15 games in his first two seasons and 43 with Charlotte, Sampson said he's a different sort of NBA veteran.
Once he endured draft day in 2002 - when he was selected in the second round by Utah as the 47th overall pick, traded to Orlando, then traded again to Milwaukee - he became a student of sorts to the Bucks' Anthony Mason, the 13-year veteran forward who retired in 2003. Then Sampson landed with the Los Angeles Lakers, and the daily challenge was to take on none other than Shaquille O'Neal. Sampson spent most of the season courtside, recovering from an ankle operation that he said he hadn't fully recovered from in Charlotte. Still, though, he soaked in all the knowledge he could.
"I think I've learned more in that time than I could have ever learned playing college basketball," Sampson said. "You can't learn anything like that anywhere else."
Past the part where he gets asked about his famous cousin, former King Ralph Sampson, Jamal's age is what has league executives talking about him in the present tense. Through everything, he's still a relative pup. He can grow, and maybe grow up. And then, it's who knows?
"He's still 22, and it's obvious that he hasn't had a chance to play very much," Kings president of basketball operations Geoff Petrie said when he signed Sampson in August. "He might be a guy like (Portland's Joel) Przybilla last year, who emerged after it was questionable whether he was going to make it at all."
To Sampson, the question has only one answer. He belongs on this level and plans to stay here even if he has to overhaul his image to do so.
"I'm more than certain that (the reputation) is something they know about and have talked about, but hopefully at the end of the day they'll see that that was just somebody else's opinion," said Sampson, who averaged 6.4 points and 6.5 rebounds at Cal and has averaged 2.8 points and 4.6 rebounds in the NBA. "And the older you get, the more you understand about what you've got to do to prepare yourself to play. The me now, compared to the me at 18, 19 when I came out, there's definitely a different mind-set."
Sampson said it's no mistake that he chose Sacramento's camp over the invitations he had from Washington and San Antonio. The Kings need depth down low, someone besides Brian Skinner to grab rebounds and not worry about scoring. They also have a reputation for welcoming so-called miscreants that continues to grow, with Sampson hoping to be the latest. "Not only does he have to show us that he has the skills to play, but that he has the work ethic and resolve to go out and show us that he belongs," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "There's no secrets in this league. Everybody knows (Sampson's reputation). But sometimes the light switch comes on at different times for different players."
