Guard says he’s better than in first stint here Roger Mason Jr.’s return to the Wizards has been as comfortable as Chris Paul’s endeavor to get traded away from the NBA-owned New Orleans Hornets has been awkward.
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Mason said it was like one of his favorite movies, “Groundhog Day,” to be back in the home team locker room at Verizon Center. But he’s also intimately familiar with the tug of war that has transpired between Paul, who like Mason is a member of the National Basketball Players Association executive board, and NBA commissioner David Stern.
“I feel horrible for CP3,” Mason said. “Here’s a guy who has been a complete professional, and it was a little weird on the board and in those [collective bargaining] negotiations. A lot of the points that we were talking about had a direct impact on Chris. So you’ve got David Stern in the room, and you’ve got Chris in the room, and the dynamic, it was a little weird. Now the negotiations are over, but to see this happening, it’s just strange. It really shows you how much of a business this game is.”
Mason knows himself that things don’t always work out as they are intended after appearing in only 26 games and averaging just 2.9 points with New York last season. He had his best season with the San Antonio Spurs in 2008-09, averaging 11.8 points and shooting 42.1 percent from 3-point range.
“I’m a better player than I was the last time I was here, for sure,” said Mason, 31, who was with the Wizards from 2006 to 2008. “I’m a better player than I was in San Antonio.”
Thus far in training camp, Mason has showed more than just an ability to hit open jumpers. He’s driving hard to the basket, playing defense and acting as a role model on a team that has yet to bring back any of its pursued free agents: Nick Young, Maurice Evans or Josh Howard.
“Anyone that comes in is going to be behind,” Wizards coach Flip Saunders said. “No matter who you are, you can’t be in a situation where you’ve missed four practices and come in and you haven’t played organized basketball, really, in almost 10 months and be able to step right in and compete at the level that some of these guys are.”
