| | NEW YORK -- Latrell Sprewell's teammates want an
explanation, even though the fans seem ready to forgive and forget.
Sprewell was back on the court Monday for the New York Knicks
after his unexcused, underexplained absence from the first week of
training camp, but the scars in the locker room from his seven days
of selfishness were not yet healed.
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| Sprewell |
Coach Jeff Van Gundy addressed the team and told them the matter
merits more discussion, and the rest of the players wondered
whether Sprewell would stand before them and take the heat.
"Some discussion should take place out of respect,"
tri-captain Allan Houston said. "We want to hear something from
him, but we're not going to pull teeth. I'm not going to lose sleep
by him not coming forward, but we would like to hear from him."
What the Knicks heard instead were the roars of some 8,000 fans
when Sprewell took the court for warmups and threw down a tomahawk
dunk on his first touch in the layup line.
A windmill jam came next, followed by two more dunks in a
36-minute scrimmage and a couple of brief bursts of the lightning
quickness that makes Sprewell such a dangerous offensive weapon.
As he sat on the bench next to Van Gundy, Sprewell even turned
and grinned at a fan who yelled, "You gotta start Spree, Jeff!"
But while Sprewell remained nonchalant and remorseless about his
absence, it remained an issue that could potentially splinter the
team into pre-Latrell and anti-Latrell factions. That was why Van
Gundy, acutely aware that the Knicks were a fractured unit last
season, told his team it should air its grievances now.
"Latrell should address the team about his explanation, because
there is no excuse. He knows that," Van Gundy said. "And it
should generate a discussion of what the team wants this year.
"Weak teams give in to adversity, so it's much bigger than this
one thing. On any problem, are we going to confront issues and
problems? Or are we going to grumble about it on the back of the
bus within our own little groups?"
Sprewell said he had spoken privately with a couple of his
teammates, a few of whom greeted him with hugs in the locker room.
One of those who did not find the time to embrace him was Marcus
Camby, one of Sprewell's better friends on the team last season.
"We definitely have to sit down and talk so we can hear his
explanation," Camby said. "There were probably people down there
(at training camp in Charleston, S.C.) who were (upset) that he
wasn't there doing two-a-days, but now that he's here don't hold
your tongue. Everybody had something to say when he wasn't here.
Now that he's here, let's see if those same people step up."
That will depend on whether Sprewell decides to stand up and
address the team. He has already explained to the coach, the
general manager and the media that he missed training camp because
he decided to drive from Oakland, Calif., to Milwaukee to see his
newborn son, Billy, and to pick up some things before continuing on
to New York, where he arrived Friday.
"I've talked to a couple guys individually, but I really
haven't decided how to handle this," Sprewell said. "I don't know
if I want to sit them all down at once and do it. I'm not a guy
that likes giving speeches, but I'll talk to the guys. For me, it's
not as big of an issue as people are making it."
Sprewell shot 6-for-10 in the scrimmage and scored 18 points.
John Wallace had 20 points, Houston added 17 and Mirsad Turkcan had
14. The scrimmage was free to the public, with most of the crowd
was comprised of students enjoying a day off because of the
Columbus Day holiday.
As young as the crowd was, it showed how hip it was to recent
Knicks history by booing newly acquired center Andrew Lang -- the
player who committed a hard foul on Patrick Ewing in December,
1997, causing him to break his wrist.
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