kennadog
Dog On It!
Got my ESPN mag today and this article on Reef was in it. I couldn't find it online, so I typed it up.
Sweet Surrender ~ ChrisBroussard
Commotion reigned in the Kings’ locker room as a swarm of journalists descended - as usual - on Ron Artest. Five feet away, a former Dream Teamer, former All-Star, former 20-point scorer sat in anonymity, munching popcorn.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim is content to hang on the periphery. Over his 10 NBA seasons, Reef has become known as a man who can do without the limelight. On a less positive note, he’s also been known as the league’s biggest loser.
Seven hundred thirty-four and counting. That’s how many games the 29-year old big man has played without making the playoffs. No one lese is within a 140 of that string.
Thanks to his new teammate, Artest, the streak is starting to look like history. But now, with his best chance at the post-season, not only is Abdur-Rahim not a star, he isn’t even a starter.
Bittersweet? Hardly. “It feels good just to be playing for something,” Abdur-Rahim says. “Some situations I’ve been in, the season’s over by now and the guys are already thinking about where they’re going after the last game. You could run all the plays for me, give me all the honors and all the press, but I wouldn’t want to be back in that situation for anything."
It’s hard to pin the run of ineptitude solely on the man in the middle of it. Five seasons in Vancouver, three in Atlanta and one and a half with the knuckleheads in Portland would keep anyone out of the playoffs. But he’ll take the heat all the same. “I was the leader on a lot of those teams, the highest paid, the best player,” he says. “so if people want to blame me, I’ll take it. But it won’t kill my spirit or deflate who I am as a player.”
Reef was sure his streak would end when he signed with Sacramento last summer. After all, the Kings had made it to the playoffs seven times running. But although he shot almost 50% and averaged 17 and 6 out of the gate as a starter, the Kings were 10-17. Was the curse of Reef real?
In late December, an inadvertent elbow by Trail Blazer Zach Randolph broke Abdur-Rahim’s jaw. He returned 10 games later with it wired shut, but eventually lost his job to Kenny Thomas. The Kings were winning in his absence, so Reef now is chipping in 8.7 ppg off the bench. Coach Rick Adelman hasn’t ruled out starting him, but the more the Kings win (they’re 22-14 with Reef off the bench, 18-10 since Artest arrived on Jan. 31), the more unlikely it is. So be it. “I just want to contribute and help the team win,” Abdur-Rahim says. “Everything else is irrelevant.”
And if anyone should know about irrelevant, it’s Reef.
Sweet Surrender ~ ChrisBroussard
Commotion reigned in the Kings’ locker room as a swarm of journalists descended - as usual - on Ron Artest. Five feet away, a former Dream Teamer, former All-Star, former 20-point scorer sat in anonymity, munching popcorn.
Shareef Abdur-Rahim is content to hang on the periphery. Over his 10 NBA seasons, Reef has become known as a man who can do without the limelight. On a less positive note, he’s also been known as the league’s biggest loser.
Seven hundred thirty-four and counting. That’s how many games the 29-year old big man has played without making the playoffs. No one lese is within a 140 of that string.
Thanks to his new teammate, Artest, the streak is starting to look like history. But now, with his best chance at the post-season, not only is Abdur-Rahim not a star, he isn’t even a starter.
Bittersweet? Hardly. “It feels good just to be playing for something,” Abdur-Rahim says. “Some situations I’ve been in, the season’s over by now and the guys are already thinking about where they’re going after the last game. You could run all the plays for me, give me all the honors and all the press, but I wouldn’t want to be back in that situation for anything."
It’s hard to pin the run of ineptitude solely on the man in the middle of it. Five seasons in Vancouver, three in Atlanta and one and a half with the knuckleheads in Portland would keep anyone out of the playoffs. But he’ll take the heat all the same. “I was the leader on a lot of those teams, the highest paid, the best player,” he says. “so if people want to blame me, I’ll take it. But it won’t kill my spirit or deflate who I am as a player.”
Reef was sure his streak would end when he signed with Sacramento last summer. After all, the Kings had made it to the playoffs seven times running. But although he shot almost 50% and averaged 17 and 6 out of the gate as a starter, the Kings were 10-17. Was the curse of Reef real?
In late December, an inadvertent elbow by Trail Blazer Zach Randolph broke Abdur-Rahim’s jaw. He returned 10 games later with it wired shut, but eventually lost his job to Kenny Thomas. The Kings were winning in his absence, so Reef now is chipping in 8.7 ppg off the bench. Coach Rick Adelman hasn’t ruled out starting him, but the more the Kings win (they’re 22-14 with Reef off the bench, 18-10 since Artest arrived on Jan. 31), the more unlikely it is. So be it. “I just want to contribute and help the team win,” Abdur-Rahim says. “Everything else is irrelevant.”
And if anyone should know about irrelevant, it’s Reef.
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