Getty Images Adam Morrison is back in an NBA training camp.
The former No. 3 pick earned it — after being out of the league a couple years he played well enough in Serbia last season to get an invite to NBA Summer League in Vegas, and once there he averaged 20 points and 5 rebounds a game. He played well and had the crowd giving him “M-V-P” chants on the final day. So the Portland Trail Blazers invited him to camp.
And this is it — he makes the team or he walks away from basketball, Morrison told Chris Haynes of CSNNW.com.
“I’m going to finish school and start coaching (If he didn’t make the Trail Blazers roster)…I did the Europe thing and it just wasn’t for me,” Morrison told CSNNW.com. “Not saying the (Europe) culture or anything like that, (or) the people, it just wasn’t for me. So, yeah, if it doesn’t work out, I’m willing to look myself in the mirror and say, ‘I gave it a honest shot’ and turn the page. Do something else.”
He’s got an honest shot to make the Blazers roster. The team lost Elliot Williams for the season so they need depth on the wing.
Even back when he was a mocked-by-fans Laker bench warmer, players on that team said in practice he could still shoot the lights out. He worked hard and legitimately impressed guys on a team that won a title with his shooting touch. But when Phil Jackson put him in games his defense was a disaster. So Jackson didn’t put him in a lot of games.
It’s defense that will determine if he sticks in the NBA or becomes a coach somewhere.
“I think everybody is aware that he has a great ability to put the ball in the basket,” (Blazers head coach Terry) Stotts said after the team’s first training camp session. “He can make shots, he can create shots. That’s his strength. That’s his bread and butter and that’s the way he will prove himself. But at the same token, he has to do a little of everything: He’s got to defend, he has to fit within the team.”
Honestly, I’m rooting for the guy. I want him to make it back to the NBA, and contribute there. I wasn’t the only one at Summer League who felt that way, watching a once-maligned draft bust try to work his way back. He was a fan favorite, and if he makes the Blazers roster he will be a fan favorite there as well.
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LeBron loves that Coach K is back with Team USA, but will he play in 2016?
May 22, 2013, 9:02 PM EDT
AP
Mike Krzyzewski coming back to coach Team USA for the 2016 Rio Olympics is certainly a good step toward another gold medal for the Americans. Coach K has been 62-1 at the helm of USA Basketball. But it’s not the biggest key. That would be getting LeBron James, Kevin Durant and the elite talent of…
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Economists have done countless studies that show the economic impact of major league sports — and especially the impact of building new arenas and stadiums — are pretty negligible, often even painful for individual cities. I believe that. But it’s still hard to explain just what it meant to Charlotte to get the Hornets. We…
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Report: Mike D’Antoni will not return as Team USA assistant coach
May 22, 2013, 7:32 PM EDT
Getty Images
We mentioned this in our story telling you Mike Krzyzewski will be back as head coach of Team USA for the 2016 Olympics — there might be some changes to his staff. One bit of news is in — Mike D’Antoni is out as an assistant coach, reports Marc Berman at the New York Post.…
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Reuters
Here is our regular look around the NBA — links to stories worth reading and notes to check out (stuff that did not get its own post here at PBT) — done in bullet point form. Because bloggers love bullet points. • Knicks GM Glen Grunwald says after his exit meeting with Jason Kidd, he…
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AP
For the next few weeks PBT will be profiling likely first-round draft picks in the upcoming NBA Draft. Today we talk about one of the best dunker’s in the game right now. San Diego State is turning out some talent under Steve Fisher the last few years. That Kawhi Leonard guy is giving the Grizzlies…
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Report: Mavericks looking to move No. 13 pick to clear out cap space for run at Howard, CP3
May 22, 2013, 3:43 PM EDT
AP
It’s no secret that the Dallas Mavericks want to get a big star to pair with — and eventually take over the franchise mantle from — Dirk Nowitzki. And there are only two franchise-caliber players on the market this season, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard. But to offer a max contract Dallas has to make…
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Kevin Durant’s large back tattoo finished… except maybe for a typo
May 22, 2013, 3:21 PM EDT
via sniperjones35 on Instagram
Kevin Durant has a plenty of business tattoos — he’s got ink, just not where it shows when wearing a basketball uniform. Somehow this shocked people, although if most of those people saw the 25-year-old from accounting they think so highly of out on the weekend they’d find he has ink under his suit to.…
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AP
Not that there was any real question after he played in Game 5 against the Bulls then had a week off to rest his bruised knee but now it is official: Dwyane Wade will play for the Heat in Game 1 against the Pacers Wednesday night. So reports Tim Reynolds of the AP and the…
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Getty Images
There is no need to panic Spurs fans. Not yet. Tony Parker has been playing through a sore calf for a while now and playing well — to the tune of 14 points and 18 assists in the Spurs overtime win Tuesday night. But after the game he was limping a little around the locker…
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Report: Mike Krzyzewski to return, coach Team USA in 2016 Olympics
May 22, 2013, 1:09 PM EDT
Reuters
Looks like Kevin Love will not have to do any recruiting after all. After saying before, during and immediately after Team USA won the gold medal in London last summer that he was done as the head coach of the team, Mike Krzyzewski has had a change of heart. Coach K will be back to…
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Clippers’ owner basically admits Del Negro let go to keep Chris Paul happy
May 22, 2013, 12:55 PM EDT
Getty Images
We said as much in our story telling you Vinny Del Negro was not coming back to the Clippers — this was what Chris Paul wanted. Clippers owner Donald Sterling personally liked Del Negro a lot and was his biggest supporter in the organization, so something had to override that. It was free agent to…
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LeBron says he isn’t afraid to challenge Hibbert at the rim. But watch for floaters anyway.
May 22, 2013, 11:54 AM EDT
Reuters
If you want to know what happens when you to right at Indiana’s Roy Hibbert at the rim, watch the video above or ask Carmelo Anthony — Hibbert sent him back dramatically in Game 6 last round. It changed the momentum of the game that eventually sent the Knicks fishing for the summer. So, LeBron…
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Reports: Clippers, Bucks waiting to talk to Lionel Hollins for coaching jobs
May 22, 2013, 11:14 AM EDT
Getty Images
Whenever the Memphis Grizzlies’ season ends — which could be sooner rather than later if they don’t start cutting off Tony Parker at the point of attack, but that’s another post — Lionel Hollins is going to be a popular guy. Hollins’ contract is up as coach of the end of this season, and while…
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Reuters
Who do you want to believe? Monday came a report from the very reliable Dave McMenamin at ESPNLosAngeles.com that in his exit interview Dwight Howard expressed frustration with coach Mike D’Antoni to GM Mitch Kupchak. Which isn’t hard to believe if you watched the Lakers at all this year. But when Kevin Ding of the…
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NEW YORK – Kevin Love and Flip Saunders shared lunch yesterday, as both were headed to the NBA Draft lottery that night. They talk about the same issues that dominate their bi-daily conversations – leadership, expectations, workouts and, as Saunders put it, “more than anything, just about the vision that we have and how we…
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And with the No. 1 pick in the draft, the Cavaliers… trade it?
May 22, 2013, 8:44 AM EDT
AP
The top pick in the NBA draft hasn’t been traded in two decades — elite talent wins in this league and you get that by being bad, winning the lottery and drafting it. But there is no elite talent in this year’s draft class. So…. It’s been said by people around the league for a…
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Getty Images
Tony Parker takes what you give him. If you want him to score, he can do that — he is quick getting to the rim, has a solid jumper and still has the best floater in the game. But if you take away his shot he will beat you with the pass. And he beat…
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Three things about Game 2: Tony Parker is that good but Randolph, Grizzlies figuring it out
May 22, 2013, 2:57 AM EDT
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That was more like what we expected out of this series — close, intense, physical. Well, it was close for the final 17 minutes (just ignore the first 36), but in the end the Spurs got the win and are up 2-0 in the series. Here are three takeaways from this game. • Yes, Tony…
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Spurs need overtime in Game 2 to beat Grizzlies, take a 2-0 series lead
May 22, 2013, 1:32 AM EDT
Getty Images
The Spurs looked every bit as dominant through three quarters of Game 2 against the Grizzlies as they did in completing a rout of their opponent in the first game of the series. Memphis couldn’t score, Tony Parker was carving up the Grizzlies’ defense on the way to a career-high 18 assists, and San Antonio…
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Tony Allen flops on flagrant foul from Manu Ginobili that helped Grizzlies force overtime in Game 2 (VIDEO)
May 22, 2013, 12:45 AM EDT
Getty Images
Late in the fourth quarter of Game 2 between the Spurs and the Grizzlies, San Antonio was clinging to a four-point lead with under 30 seconds remaining. Manu Ginobili was double-teamed by Zach Randolph and Tony Allen, and lost the ball to Randolph, who flipped it ahead to Allen for what was sure to be…
