Of all people, Devean George is blocking this blockbuster.
This makes absolutely no sense. How on earth did he get a freakin’ trade clause in his contract? And how proud is his agent? Even crazier: nine days ago he was ASKING to be traded.
This is bonkers. As a basketball fan I can’t believe Devean George could be ruining all of this. I can’t imagine what Mavericks fans are thinking about this. He’s in a lose-lose situation. He could get booed for the rest of the year if this deal falls through. Not only that but he could forever be in the history books as the ultimate that guy.
UPDATE: Devean George really is that guy.
Word that George blocked the trade apparently spread throughout the arena because George said he heard fans hollering things like, “C’mon, what are you doing?” and, “Stop it, you’re holding things up.” Other lines included, “Quit being selfish,” and “We want Kidd.”
“All the finger-pointing is at me,” George said. “I’m the bad guy. I’ll take that.”
I told you it would be awkward. And he played like complete boo-boo. 33 minutes, 0 points, 0/11 shooting. Yikes.
I guess it didn’t matter because the Mavs demolished the Blazers tonight. Nate pretty much co-signed my post from yesterday:
“We looked mentally fatigued,” coach Nate McMillan said. “We couldn’t sustain our effort for 48 minutes. We’ve looked kind of drained the last few weeks. We’re a young team. It’s mental more than anything else.”
“We need to get away from basketball for a few days and relax,” McMillan said.
They just need a break. Other thoughts from the last full night of NBA action before the break:
–Dwight Howard was a motivated man-beast tonight. It’s been downplayed on this blog but there’s been a recent ‘tiff’ between Dwight and SVG. Long story short, Stan benched him because he thought he was too offensive minded and Dwight wasn’t happy with that. Talk about a response. 24 rebounds, 23 points and a big win over the Nuggets. Not only that but he held Marcus Camby to 8 rebounds. I wonder if he took that one personnally…
–LeBron tried to take his frustrations over Kidd going to Dallas out on the Spurs. Except Manu Ginobli was not having it. This is one of the few times where numbers say it all. 46 points, 15/20 shooting (8/11 threes), 8/9 FT and 8 assists.
–If the Blazers are the team wishing for the All-Star Break to come, the Sixers have to be the team wishing it wouldn’t. They’ve won 5 in a row and 7 of their last 9. Also not a surprise they are 6-2 when Thaddeus Young starts. We didn’t toot his horn here for no reason people. I would say look out for them but then I realized they are more than likely to come out flat after the break. But then again they are 8th in the East, a conference where 19-34 only has you 4 games out of the playoffs.
–You’ll hear more about this when we delve into All-Star coverage, but I like the subtle internet hype for NBA All-Star Saturday. By that I mean the practice shots of Jamario Moon dunking or Jason Kapono raining threes. It builds excitement. However my favorite is this one. Mainly because of Rasheed Wallace’s two cameo appearances. I pray he is funny Sheed this weekend and not ‘I don’t want to be here’ Sheed.
–By the way Coup…you need to give the Celtics their props. You remember our arguments. Now is the time for you to step up to the plate and give it up. They are 7-2 without KG. Leon Powe has been an absolute monster and Rajon Rondo has stepped up to the plate. They’re 16-0 against the Western Conference. They beat the Spurs. I’m waiting.
–Is anyone as excited as I am that right now the Suns are the #2 seed and the Warriors are #7. A Suns/Warriors series in the first round? Are you kidding me?? I could watch those two teams play all day. Absolutely beautiful.
–Best trade of the year…Kyle Korver to Utah. 18-3 with him in a Jazz uniform. Yikes.