Organization attempts to push past incident, move on without star
As Antawn Jamison struggled under the weight of Washington’s seemingly endless 19-63 campaign last year, he always held to a glimmer of hope. Injuries were to blame for landing the Wizards in the basement of the NBA, but with Gilbert Arenas healthy and reinforcements added, 2009-10 would be when the Wizards would finally surge past — on the mere glimpse of potential they had shown during consecutive playoff runs the previous four seasons.
But with the finality of Arenas and Javaris Crittenton being suspended by the league for the remainder of the year, Jamison was left on Thursday wondering if he’s further removed than ever before from having more than just a picture of the Larry O’Brien Championship Trophy in his locker.
“I’d be lying to you if I didn’t tell you I’d be struggling a little bit,” said Jamison. “I thought last year was tough, but this is very disappointing. A couple years ago we were in the second round, on the doorstep trying to break through, and now we’re on the bottom of the pack and you sit there and ask questions, ‘Where did it go wrong?'”
Wizards head coach Flip Saunders said there was a sense of relief after the decision by NBA commissioner David Stern, which might allow Washington (14-30) to move forward, but the events of the last month have taken a dramatic toll.
“I think at times it’s just we’re just emotionally and mentally worn down,” said Saunders. “It’s almost like you continue to take body punches and eventually what it does is it just wears you down.”
Having lost four straight and eight of the last 10, the Wizards’ first game of the rest of their season comes against even lowlier New Jersey (4-40).
“We need to come with the same passion as against the Lakers,” said Jamison. “I mean, where’s your pride? You’ve got the worst team in the league looking at us and this game thinking, ‘Yeah, we can win this one.’ That’s the situation we’re in, so what do you do about it?”
