Being an oft-injured, overpaid NBA player is the life. Just ask New Orleans Hornets guard Eric Gordon.
You don’t have to do much. Ice your knees, ride a bike and collect fat checks. Where do I sign up?
Optimism soared after the Hornets’ infusion of new talent to the Crescent City this offseason. The additions of forward Ryan Anderson, center Robin Lopez and No. 1 pick Anthony Davis have proved their worth so far as the Hornets sit at 2-1 after facing three playoff teams from a season ago.
But the key cog Hornets general manager Dell Demps thought would help the Bees rebound from the worst record in the Western Conference last season is nowhere to be found — unless you’re looking in the training room or at the end of the bench.
I said it once in a column during the summer and I’ll say it again — New Orleans made a huge misstep in building a franchise by shelling out $58 million to Gordon over four years.
Rule No. 1 of being an NBA general manager: Don’t hand out max-contracts to players coming off serious knee injuries. That’s exactly what Demps did, and now the Hornets are seeing the consequences.
Gordon was among the last group of cuts this summer for the United States Olympic Basketball team. It wasn’t because his knee was bothering him — it was because he wasn’t good enough.
Suddenly after the Hornets paid the big bucks to keep him in New Orleans, the knee that has caused him to miss so much time in his short NBA career started to act up again.
Who would have thought?
I have a lot of friends who are Hornets fans who shunned me after I called out Demps and the rest of New Orleans’ front office this summer for matching the Phoenix Suns offer sheet. Now they’re the same ones telling me they can’t wait until Gordon is out of town.
Gordon didn’t participate in training camp, didn’t play in a single game on the Hornets eight-game preseason slate and hasn’t suited up for any of their three regular season contests.
But never fear, Hornets fans — Gordon has some good news. He doesn’t need surgery on his knee, but he’ll be out four to six weeks while undergoing “stringent rehabilitation work.”
I’m sorry, but hasn’t Gordon spent the last few months doing just that?
It’s not like doctors are holding him back. There’s no structural damage and no official diagnosis. Gordon just says his knee is sore.
And I just got elected the next President of the United States.
It’s not just me who’s doubting Gordon’s inability to set foot on the court. New Orleans coach Monty Williams seems to be getting a little frustrated with him as well.
“I’ll find out more as we go forward,” Williams said after the Hornets’ 99-95 season-opening loss to the San Antonio Spurs. “…I’ve told you he’s not playing. He’s out indefinitely.”
It sounds like Monty doesn’t want to talk about Gordon’s injury status after every game because even he doesn’t know how many games it will be before No. 10 is “healthy” enough to play.
If Gordon misses the minimum four weeks, that’s still almost a quarter of the Hornets’ regular season. And what’s stopping him from saying he still isn’t good to go at the end of that time frame?
Let me get this straight, Eric — you’re getting paid upward of $14 million a year to put a basketball in a hoop and can’t do that because of some soreness in your knee that your coach questions?
Suck it up.
