As Antawn Jamison fielded questions on this year’s prospects for the Wizards, he kept bringing it back to the same subject.
Andray Blatche.
“My message to Andray is — he wants to be treated like a veteran, he says he’s matured, he says he’s ready for the task — you have to show me,” said Jamison. “Excuses. It goes in one ear and out the other.”
If there are polar opposites on the NBA professionalism scale, they are Jamison and Blatche. One is an All-Star who has made the most of his abilities. The other is in his fourth year, has had multiple off-the-court scrapes, and the Wizards are still waiting.
With soft hands, a smooth shot and the ability to handle the ball, the 6-11 center/forward has the gifts of a — don’t laugh — Kevin Garnett. But their mind-sets aren’t even close.
“We need him more than we need anybody. We need him to take some of my minutes,” said Jamison. “There’s no way Andray shouldn’t be averaging 14-15 points a game.”
With the fear of losing him to free agency and watching him blossom elsewhere, the Wizards signed Blatche to a four-year extension last summer. After showing improvement as a starter for injured Caron Butler last February, Blatche regressed as a reserve upon Butler’s return. By the playoffs, he was a non-factor, averaging 3.7 points and 3.3 rebounds in 14.7 minutes, getting most of his playoff numbers in garbage-time blowouts.
Blatche will make $3 million this season. He added 10 pounds and is saying the right things. When a reporter prefaced a question to Blatche last week saying, “If you had gone college out of high school, you would be entering your senior year,” it was an invitation to offer an excuse. But Blatche, 21, didn’t take the bait.
“I never think about that,” he said.
