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Holley: Pitino Generating False Stories About Antoine
Who can you believe anymore?
[The Boston Globe Online][Boston.com]
[Boston Globe Online / Sports]
Walker hung out to dry...
So it's time for Pitino to come clean with
star
By Michael Holley, Globe Staff, 07/08/99
Will Parcells taught us all about
cuisine logic, how you have to buy
your own groceries and cook your own food.
He didn't mention anything about cleaning
up. Well, guess whose turn it is to wash
the dirty dishes? Rick Pitino's.
Maybe Pitino is surprised to hear this.
Maybe he is not the source of an
inaccurate story that appeared in the
Herald last week. It doesn't matter.
Pitino is the president. He's the coach.
He's the one with his face on the media
guide. He's the one with the longest
contract in the organization. He is not
only The Man, he is also The Man Players
See When They Think of The Celtics. This
is very important.
Here are the rubber gloves, Rick.
According to the report, Antoine Walker
recently fired his personal trainer, blew
off a session with the team's strength
coach, and, to conclude his streak of
rebellion, picked up some extra pounds.
Words such as ''exasperated'' were used to
describe the feelings of some in the
organization toward the 22-year-old
forward.
Truth is, Walker has not fired his
physical therapist nor his personal
trainer. As for Celtics strength coach
Shaun Brown, he and Walker have worked out
together at least twice since the end of
the season, the last session coming two
days before the draft. Pitino worked out
Walker himself the day before the draft.
The ''missed'' session was actually a
schedule mismatch between Brown and
Walker. Brown got one day with Walker in
Chicago; he wanted two. And the extra
weight?
''I saw him in Las Vegas two weeks ago,''
Mike Higgins said yesterday. ''He looked
fine.''
Higgins is Walker's agent. He is unhappy.
Unhappy with the newspaper? No. That's not
how it works. He has a problem with the
Celtics.
''I think it's very petty on their part,''
Higgins said. ''This is high school stuff.
You know where stuff like this comes from;
it comes from the organization. It's so
petty. Antoine doesn't live in Boston, but
he has been out there three or four times.
I think he has done a good job with his
workouts.
''I don't understand what the fuss is
about. I deal with about 60 players, and I
can count on one hand how many of them are
working out now. Some organizations try to
keep things within when a player is doing
something wrong. Here, Antoine didn't do
anything wrong - he `misses' a workout and
they don't like it - and stuff is coming
out. This is small, high school stuff.''
Pitino did not return a phone call
yesterday. But at this point, he shouldn't
worry about that. He needs to call the
agent. And not for the reason that some
might think. He doesn't need to call to
soothe the feelings of Walker. He needs to
call because of his own agenda.
The NBA is a gossipy land, a land where
players incessantly talk and compare
notes. You heard Higgins, right? He
represents 60 players. They don't simply
sit around and talk about contracts and
endorsements all day. They're like the
rest of us in that they talk about births,
family reunions, office politics, and
maddening bosses.
These players have already spoken about
the day in April when Pitino left Kenny
Anderson home from a road trip in a
disciplinary move. They have already
talked about the way Pitino operates on
the sidelines, barking out the most basic
instructions the entire night. The most
recent draft ended just over a week ago,
but there is already a rumor floating
among the players that Pitino promised
Mission Hill's Wayne Turner he would draft
him with the 55th pick ... then selected
Kris Clack of Texas. And now this.
Now, I'll be the first one to raise my
hand and tell you what I don't like about
Walker. He should be at least a 75-percent
free throw shooter. He should get no more
than seven technical fouls in a season. He
should never, ever refer to another
official as ''Ref'' (I still think
eight-week Celtic Chris Mills had the best
idea of any NBA player--learning each
official's name during one offseason). He
should never have fewer than three
offensive rebounds in a game. He is a
terrific passer - I once saw him throw a
behind-the-back bounce pass from midcourt
for an assist - so he should always have
three or four assists next to his name.
But if I were him, I'd be disgusted with
the Celtics right now. Two days before the
June 30 draft, he came to Boston to
participate in a ''Heroes Among Us''
ceremony at the State House (Pitino was
not there). The next day, he worked out
with the coach. He later confirmed that,
yes, he would play in the team's summer
league, something rarely seen of a
fourth-year player with a $71 million
contract.
So, what does he get for all that? An
organization-generated false story and
whispers that the team would like to do a
sign-and-trade with free agent Vin Baker.
If the Celtics do want Baker over Walker,
I hope they have done their homework.
Current NBA rules state that although
Walker will make $9 million next season,
the most the Celtics can take back in a
trade for him is $5.275 million. If Baker
is re-signed by the Sonics, his contract
would be similar to Walker's. In other
words, they cannot be traded for each
other unless another team gets involved.
But Pitino shouldn't be worried about
Baker or anyone else not currently on
Merrimac Street. When he meets with Ron
Mercer today, he should figure out a way
to sign him. After that, he should call
Higgins and make things right.
Here are the suds and warm water, Rick.
This story ran on page D01 of the Boston
Globe on 07/08/99.
© Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company.