Geoff Petrie statement regarding Chuck Hayes

Revrag

Father, Husband, KingsFan
Staff member
Administrator
Contributor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, December 23, 2011

STATEMENT FROM GEOFF PETRIE REGARDING CHUCK HAYES


SACRAMENTO, CA ---- “It is a profound pleasure to announce the signing of Chuck Hayes to a new multi-year contract. Chuck’s abilities and potential contribution have been previously described in great detail and remain unchanged. There is a much larger human story contained in the ongoing series of events which have encompassed the last eight days that go beyond basketball. It should be embraced. Some undoubtedly will seek to find some element of failure in this. There is no failure here. Chuck’s story and return has been so much more about caring, support, hope, faith, prayer, and a livable redemption. These values represent a larger part of the oxygen of life. The travails and then the triumph of the human spirit is what transpired here. There should be inspiration in this for everyone, especially at this time of the year. In closing, I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday with their families, friends, and loved ones, and to all a good night.”
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, December 23, 2011

STATEMENT FROM GEOFF PETRIE REGARDING CHUCK HAYES


SACRAMENTO, CA ---- “It is a profound pleasure to announce the signing of Chuck Hayes to a new multi-year contract. Chuck’s abilities and potential contribution have been previously described in great detail and remain unchanged. There is a much larger human story contained in the ongoing series of events which have encompassed the last eight days that go beyond basketball. It should be embraced. Some undoubtedly will seek to find some element of failure in this. There is no failure here. Chuck’s story and return has been so much more about caring, support, hope, faith, prayer, and a livable redemption. These values represent a larger part of the oxygen of life. The travails and then the triumph of the human spirit is what transpired here. There should be inspiration in this for everyone, especially at this time of the year. In closing, I want to wish everyone a wonderful holiday with their families, friends, and loved ones, and to all a good night.”


Brilliant!! (From the Guinness brilliant ads from a few years ago)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DPKf7y1F-Q
 
Wasn't he deemed ineligible this year due to his heart? Am I thinking of something else completely?

You might look up oither threads about Hayes but ... he signed with the Kings. About 8 days later the Kings medical folks thought he had heart trouble, Petrie voided his contract, he went to a clinic for further evaluation, Petrie kept in contact, the clinic said he had no heart problems, and he's back. That's the Cliff Notes' version. Leaves a few unanswered questions but that's OK.
 
Wasn't he deemed ineligible this year due to his heart? Am I thinking of something else completely?

He was/is not "ineligible" - due to some strange results during a stress test (and limited by a very short period to void signed contracts due to the lockout-shortened offseason), they voided his contract out of an abundance of caution.

He got a second opinion with more detailed testing, and that second opinion said that he was, in fact, OK to play. So the Kings re-signed him to a slightly higher-paying contract than the first one.

Here is a sacbee article on the whole thing and a few pertinent quotes:

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/23/4141622/chuck-hayes-returns.html

The tests that Hayes underwent at the Cleveland Clinic reportedly included CT scans, an MRI, an EKG and another echo stress test.

Steven Nissen, the head of cardiovascular medicine at the Cleveland Clinic, led the team that evaluated Hayes. He said doctors in Sacramento were right to send the six-year veteran to Ohio for further testing but emphasized that Hayes is completely fit to play.

"There was legitimate concern. It was appropriate that he be sent to us," Nissen said. "We did what was as exhaustive an evaluation as we could have done, and we concluded that he was fine to play."

Hayes does have an unusual heart structure, Nissen said. He has a little bit of what doctors call "outpouching," or a bulge in the wall, in his left ventricle.

But while that's out of the ordinary, the doctor underlined that it's not dangerous.

With large, professional athletes, caution is warranted, said Christine Lawless, co-chair of the Sports and Exercise Cardiology Council at American College of Cardiology in Washington, D.C.

The doctors in Hayes' case "did exactly the right thing," Lawless said.

Reading between the lines, and this is only my opinion, I bet dollars to donuts that the Kings told him before voiding the contract that they wanted to get a second opinion and encouraged him to get one ASAP. I bet they also told him that if it came out OK, they would love to re-sign him at a slightly higher amount for the "trouble". They wanted him, and he wanted to be here. Due to the short time frame and unusual test result, they just had to protect their investment. It sounds like they were in full contact with Chuck and everyone wanted him to be here if the test came out OK, which it did.
 
Last edited:
And another bit from today's Bee:

Hayes, who had played his first six seasons in Houston, made a big impression with the Kings in less than two weeks.

Players chose to keep Hayes' jersey in the locker room during Tuesday's preseason game against the Warriors.

And players broke their huddles by saying "Chuck!" Westphal joked that won't happen anymore to avoid inflating Hayes' ego.

Cousins said the Kings' "prayers were answered" when they found out Hayes was healthy.

"Chuck was that veteran leader on this team," Cousins said. "Chuck was basically the voice on this team, the most experienced. That's who we all looked up to, and when Chuck left, that was a big piece of our team."

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/12/24/4143590/hayes-cousins-salmons-will-play.html
 

That is incredibly encouraging to read. Hopefully Hayes can install a team-defense oriented mind-set in Cousins and Tyreke, because if they buy in, then it will push the entire team to buy in. In my opinion, if you were going to have any sort of veteran leader on this team, and one getting a lot of playing time, I would hope that the veteran is defense-oriented rather than offense-oriented. It seems as if Chuck might be able to come in and be that Veteran defense-oriented piece that can spur this team in a new defensive direction.

Now all this talk is great, but we're going to see how it all shapes out on the court over the coming months. I can say with no reservations that this team, and it's mindset, is far and away better with Hayes on the court, than what we would have seen if he'd been unable to return. So, though I'm going to take a wait-and-see attitude when viewing how much Hayes does positively impact our team on the defensive end, I'm more hopeful now than I was a couple of days ago.
 
I love how all the players are treating him like papa chuck. Finally we get some leadership in the locker room.

I find it interesting how Hayes has made a bigger impression in just a few days on the Kings than any other player has made in more than a few years. Says something about who he is as a person (or the lack of leadership the Kings have had).
 
I am thrilled by the positive leadership that Chuck is showing. As a life-long UK fan AND a life-long Kings fan, him and Boogie together on a team that Tony Delk played for as well is pretty sweet.

Chuck Hayes is ADORED in Lexington, still has fans in Houston and will have fans in Sac-Town. Love the move from a locker-room standpoint. How his game gels with this roster, will remain to be seen.
 

A quote from Chuck from your News 10 link:

Through it all, Hayes said he didn't hold any hard feelings against the Kings organization, in fact, he felt the organization stood with him the entire way.

"For them to recommend the Cleveland Clinic, for them to catch this abnormality and their level of concern for my health, it spoke volumes about the Kings as an organization beyond basketball," Hayes said.
 
Back
Top