Jonathan Bender is back to the NBA

[anthony22]

http://www.theknicksblog.com/


i was like "OMG !? This is other Jonathan Bender"..i loved playing with him on live 03/04,he was monster !

[shadowgrin]

Donnie Walsh and he said that Bender’s draft workouts were “off the charts.” It will be interesting to see what he has left.

Considering that they drafted Jordan Hill, I'm not surprised with the off the charts comment.

[Doobie]

Let's see how this works out. I doubt he gets much run with the team, but it'll be good to see him get some play in garbage time.

[Patr1ck]

Wonder how his knee's feel. Wiki sais he was forced to retire due to chronic knee pain.

[Andrew]

Direct Link

That's something I didn't expect to see, but good luck to him. I remember picking him up in a few Dynasty/Franchise games in Live back in the day, he was another one of those players that fared a lot better in video games compared to real life and usually had a great potential/development attribute so in a couple of years he'd be an absolute beast or at least have good trade value.

[Jing]

Cool, good to see him back in the league.

[Dan's Brain]

I remember picking him up in a few Dynasty/Franchise games in Live back in the day, he was another one of those players that fared a lot better in video games compared to real life

Agreed. He was one of my roster staples. First man off the bench, coming in and blocking shots and getting some monster dunks.

Now let's bring back Michael Dickerson and Qyntel Woods.

[Rip32]

Now let's bring back Michael Dickerson and Qyntel Woods.

I haven't heard Michael Dickerson's name since Live 2003 lol. I think Qyntel Woods had a go-around with the Knicks didn't he?

Bender should have gone to college, he may be the poster child for NBA players who made a bad decision on going straight to the L.

[Andrew]

Dickerson was on Cleveland's training camp roster last year but from memory some sort of personal issue forced him to halt his comeback attempt and he was cut accordingly.

[Mirkwood]

Yeah, it will be very interesting to see how those knees will work. If what Donnie Walsh says is true, and Bender is in good shape, I think he actually has a good chance on having minutes. If you look at bigs New York has (David Lee, Al Harrington, Darko Milicic, Eddy Curry and Jordan Hill). Lee and Harrington are starters, but Milicic and Hill have been a ZERO-factor this season, JB has a good chance of getting that backup 4 position. He can run, shoot, dunk, block. He fits well on D'Antoni's run-and-gun offense.

IF hes knees are OK

PS: Sorry for my bad english

Bust of the year: Jordan Hill

[Kenny]

Bust of the year: Jordan Hill

Him and Thabeet will be fighting for that.

Anyway, back to the original topic, I'm glad to hear Bender is coming back. There's not much that pisses me off in basketball, or any professional sport then a player who has to retire young. It just creates way too many questions and what ifs that'll never be answered. He used to dominate me on the boards in NBA Live 06.

[Drausus]

Bender was a beast in NBA 2K1 for the dreamcast. Glad to see him back, I hope he gets some PT.

phpBB [video]

[NovU]

David Lee, Al Harrington, Eddry Curry, Jordan Hill, Darko Milicic

+ Jonathan Bender

wow...

[Andrew]

Of those players though, David Lee is the only one who remains a standout player.

[Fresh8]

But you have got to think... he didn't play much straight out of high school due to injury... and he was picked based on potential and athleticism. After years out of the league, I wonder if he has anything to offer? Just baffles me... also for the fact that GM Walsh said, 'He is one of the better players out there available as free agents.' Surely they could have gotten a better player if they really wanted someone to make an impact.

[Andrew]

I thought Walsh was referring more to his initial workouts back in 1999.

[Fresh8]

I thought Walsh was referring more to his initial workouts back in 1999.

My understanding is that Walsh thinks Bender is probably one of the better players available now and thought, 'why not give him a shot'...

EDIT: Can't find the article I read... but it was a column so it was a little bit biased. But through my searching, it appears Bender has been working his way back since the Summer so I guess maybe he still has something to contribute. But a three year lay-off is still a long time.

[Andrew]

I was going by a couple of quotes on the Knicks blog article.

“Jonathan has worked extremely hard in preparing himself for a return to the NBA,” said Walsh. “I know him to be a young man of the highest character from my relationship with him that dates back 10 years to his rookie year and I think he will be a fine addition to our team both on and off the court.”

Interesting that they would bring Bender in. Several weeks ago I had the chance to talk some draft stuff with Donnie Walsh and he said that Bender’s draft workouts were “off the charts” and that he may have been the most talented prospect that he had ever acquired/drafted.p

I guess the former indicates that Walsh does believe Bender can be a productive player for the Knicks, apparently he's been putting in a lot of effort to attempt a comeback if nothing else. The latter is obviously referring to his workouts ten years ago. As for him being the best free agent available, I didn't see that quote but perhaps he believes that too, or meant it in some other context (best available free agent who's affordable/isn't asking for a long term deal, etc).

[Fresh8]

Yeah, maybe I misread it.

[air gordon]

Bender should have gone to college, he may be the poster child for NBA players who made a bad decision on going straight to the L.

yeh. maybe if he went to college he wouldn't have gotten injured

[Andrew]

9 points, 2 rebounds, an assist and a block in 14 minutes. Nothing to write home about, but if he knees holds up perhaps he'll see more time as the season progresses.