A basic overview of the incident:
To make matters worse, Wizards Coach Flip Saunders benched starting forward Andray Blatche after he played just 7 minutes 31 seconds. Saunders said he pulled Blatche initially to discuss the player not getting back on defense but that Blatche refused to listen to the coaching staff.
Saunders said his assistants attempted to talk to Blatche about the situation multiple times but that Blatche's response was he "just didn't want to play."
"I'm disappointed. I'm the most disappointed I've ever been in 15 years with a player," Saunders said. "Most disappointed."
And some highlights from Wojnarowski's column:
After a bad shot and a defensive lapse Tuesday night in a loss to Charlotte, Saunders brought Blatche back to the bench and tried to coach him. Only, he wouldn’t listen.
Saunders told Blatche he wouldn’t return to the game until he listened to the assistant coaches correct his mistakes. Sam Cassell and Gene Banks tried, but Blatche bristled.
Yes, the coach should’ve suspended Blatche, sent him home and played the rest of the week without him. Management told the coach it was his call, league sources say. They would’ve gone with a suspension, a benching, whatever Saunders wanted.
The coach backed down, again.
Whatever Blatche had to say about how it was a misunderstanding, please. His reputation as a malingerer is well-earned. He doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt because he’s never earned it in his career. Had Blatche been contrite on Wednesday, had he admitted he was completely out of line, maybe he would’ve merited something less than a suspension. Only, Blatche lashed out and ripped Saunders, calling the coach’s version a “bald-face lie,” even demanding an apology from him.
Essentially, Blatche was given an apology. His coach backed down, walked away and let down the franchise in a way no 23-year-old could ever do.
Since the Wizards drafted Blatche as an 18-year-old out of high school, this is all he’s ever known with Washington. After 85 games in his career, in which he averaged three points, Washington gave him a five-year, $15 million contract in 2007. He was a complete knucklehead and yet the Wizards showed faith in him. They stood with him despite embarrassing arrests and practically begged him to be a professional and work on his game. Once the Wizards cleared out everyone this season, Blatche had some big scoring and rebound games and declared himself underpaid.
Pretty appalling behaviour from Blatche, who seems to have "future team cancer" written all over him as much as "promising young big man", one of those players that just doesn't get it. Absolutely the wrong call not suspend him in the first place, compounded by Blatche's diatribe where he demanded an apology that he should be delivering to the coaching staff and his teammates. Wojnarowski's critique of Saunders and the Wizards are spot on, no way they should condone that sort of behaviour and let players get away with being so unprofessional and disrespectful.
