Former NBA player Keon Clark sentenced to eight years in prison

Notable NBA draft bust Keon Clark was sentenced to 8 years in prison after pleading guilty to weapons and driving under the influence charges in two separate cases.

“I, uh, did a lot of stuff in my past,” Clark tearfully said at his plea hearing in Vermilion County Circuit Court, The News-Gazette reported. “I have to own up to it.”

Clark pleaded guilty to two charges in two separate cases and was given four years for each count. He previously faced weapon, drug and traffic-related charges.

The Danville, Ill., native has been in the Vermilion County Jail since Aug. 4, where he was being held on $100,000 bond

Clark was 23 when he became the 13th overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft.

He has spoken publicly of his long battle with alcohol, which he says also occurred during his NBA career.

Clark, now 38, says he wasn’t prepared mentally to handle the lifestyle of a professional athlete.

“The money, the fame, the fact that I was on TV. People think money will make your life better. Money didn’t dissolve my problems. It increased them,” he said, adding that he’s been getting counseling while he’s in custody.

Clark was credited with having served 122 days behind bars on one count and 16 days on the other. Vermilion County Assistant State's Attorney Sandy Lawlyes, who recommended the two consecutive four-year terms, has said that Clark will have to serve 50 percent of his sentence.

Tracy McGrady wishes he stayed in Toronto

Everyone says hindsight is 20/20. You always think about what choices, whether good or bad, that you made in the past and how it might have went if you made the opposite choice.

Former NBA star Tracy McGrady thinks about it now that he's retired.

McGrady teamed with his cousin Vince Carter with the Toronto Raptors as a high flying, athletic duo that could have wreaked havoc on the NBA. The team had made it's first playoff run and were poised to become an Eastern Conference contender. Instead, McGrady wanted to get out of Carter's shadow and signed with the Orlando Magic in the summer of 2000. The Raptors eventually fell a Carter jump shot short of knocking off the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals the next season in which McGrady would've made the difference in the seven game series.

Now reflecting on what could have been a legendary NBA career if injuries didn't rob him of his athletic gifts, McGrady says he wishes he stayed in Toronto as told to the Toronto Sun's Dave Feschuk.  

“In hindsight, looking back, obviously I wish I had stayed in Toronto,” McGrady was saying in a recent telephone interview from his home in the Houston area. “There’s no doubt we could have contended for a championship. I think about that often. But if ‘if’ was a fifth, you know?”

“There’s no doubt we would have won that series if I would have been there,” McGrady said. “We had incredible camaraderie. You can’t duplicate that, man. Big brothers, little brothers — we had a mix. And me and Vince were in the perfect situation. You’ve got the two young superstars and you’ve got these old vets. They were our force field. They protected us from anything that happened on that basketball court. They did all the dirty work. And all we had to do was just concentrate on putting the ball in the hoop and guarding who we were guarding. It was just such a great time in my career.

“Had I been a little older and wiser and knew what was ahead of me, I would have stayed, no doubt, with those guys. But that was some of the best times of my life, man. Being with (Charles) Oakley and Kevin Willis and Antonio Davis, Muggsy (Bogues), Dell Curry, Dee Brown. Man. I still talk to a lot of those guys to this day. Because I appreciated how they looked out for me. They were all professionals.”

“At the time I’m trying to make a decision whether to stay in freezing Toronto or go home to Orlando. ... I just thought it was a no-brainer. As I said, if I’d been a little older and a little wiser maybe things would have been different. ... It’s definitely something I always sit back and reminisce about, thinking about Toronto and what we could have been.”

Sounds more factual than sour grapes if you ask me. The Raptors might have been very good, maybe the best in a watered down Eastern Conference back then. The team had a good veteran core and the young superstars to make a run at the finals. But it never happened.

McGrady toiled on some bad Orlando teams and eventually was traded to the Houston Rockets but was never able to get out of the first round of the playoffs.

McGrady doesn't come off as angry. Just reflecting on what might have been had he stayed with the team that drafted him.

  

Shaq to discuss GM job with Orlando Magic

In what would be the worse idea of all time, the Orlando Magic are reportedly willing to discuss the general manager job with Shaquille O'Neal. Orlando is looking to retain the services of Dwight Howard and think that maybe O'Neal could help keeping Howard in town.  

O'Neal stated his career in Orlando but has no front office experience whatsoever. It has worked out with some former players (Steve Kerr, Joe Dumars) but I just don't see it happening with O'Neal. I don't really think it's going to happen and figure the Magic is just trying to keep themselves in the news.

If they're trying to find someone to save the franchise from irrelevance hiring O'Neal would not be the way to do it.

Jerry Sloan interested in coaching again

After taking sometime off due to retirement, former Utah jazz coach Jerry Sloan is getting the urge to coach again. According to a Fox Sports Florida report Sloan has expressed interest in the Orlando Magic coaching job. If that wasn't enough of an itch, Sloan also wouldn't mind getting a crack at the Charlotte Bobcats job.

Of course there has to be interest in Sloan and he gets that but it's obvious that something has been missing in his life since he retired in 2011.



“Yes, I think so,’’ Sloan said from his farm in McLeansboro, Ill., about his interest. “It would be very intriguing. But they would have to be interested in me.’’


Sloan hasn't heard anything from the Magic or Bobcats. Orlando would be a better situation since Charlotte is in full rebuilding mode. But Sloan doesn't seem to mind the challenge.

“It’s not always about starting at the top,’’ Sloan, 70, said when asked if he really would interested in a rebuilding situation such as the one with Bobcats, whose 7-59 record resulted in the worst winning percentage in NBA history (.106). 


The Magic is a franchise in flux right now since no one knows the direction the team will go since center Dwight Howard reportedly wants out of Orlando.

Sloan would be a good hire for either team and he knows the game. With his old school ways I just don't know if he has the patience for the Bobcats rebuilding or Orlando possibly blowing their team up.

Dwight Howard isn't a winning player

There aren't many NBA players that are considered winning players. There are a select few in the league and you can probably count them on one hand. Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Kevin Durant, and no matter what anyone says LeBron James.

Dwight Howard is not one of them. It's not because he hasn't won any championships. It's because of the act he's pulling with the Orlando Magic franchise. He's literally trying to hold the Magic hostage and trying to get coach Stan Van Gundy fired. That all depends on who you ask. Van Gundy and reporters say that Howard has asked for Van Gundy to be canned. Howard denies this rumor.


"I know he has," Van Gundy told reporters after the team's morning shootaround ahead of Thursday night's matchup with the New York Knicks. "That's just the way it is. Again, I've been dealing with that all year. It's not anything real bothersome. You go out and do your job."


It's just like Howard to deny the statement. Just like he wanted to be traded, but later was all in and staying with the Magic. The problem with his trade request is that he wanted to pick his destination. I've always maintained that the franchise should be holding all the cards especially when it comes to trades. No player should be able to hold a team hostage like what Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Dwight Howard have done recently. Players would hate me if I were a general manager because I'm trading you for the best deal I get, not where you want to go.

About the Van Gundy rumors which Howard denies, it's no secret that Howard would rather have Van Gundy out of town rather than him staying in Orlando. It's a fact of life in professional sports. When the star player doesn't like the coach, usually the coach leaves town and it's not voluntary. Howard has been pretty critical of Van Gundy's coaching style the past few years and now he's playing a game of him or me.

"Whatever happens at the end of the season is not under my control," Howard told reporters. "I am a player for the Magic. I am not the GM. I am not (owner) Rich DeVos I am not (Magic CEO) Alex Martins. So that's not my job. So you guys should stop ... every other week ... trying to find something, because there's nothing.


"I haven't said anything to anybody about anything. Our main concern is winning. So all the other stuff should stop."

In a way Dwight is still immature. He says all the right things and talks about winning, but he isn't about winning. Which means he's not a winning player. If you want photo ops, commercials, and want to sell jerseys then Dwight is your guy. But if you want to win championships, you should go elsewhere.

I'm not saying he's a bad player, but he's what a friend of mine calls a "square button player". Anyone with a playstation should be familiar with that analogy. He just doesn't have the on court demeanor of a winner.

Jason Richardson gets a new ring

Jason Richardson was a member Michigan State's 2000 national championship winning team. So even in college you still get a championship ring.

However, Richardson realized his ring was missing and found it being sold by a memorabilia dealer for $7,500. But there is a silver lining in this story as the Michigan State athletics office had the ring remade.

"I see the ring, and I thought, 'Oh, wow, they have a complete picture and replica of my ring,'" Richardson recently told ESPN.com. "Then I see one side of the ring says, 'Richardson, 23.' I thought, 'Oh, wow, they even have my name on it.' And then I scrolled down further and it says you can have this ring for $7,500! I was like, 'How the hell they get my ring?'"

According to ESPN, Richardson hadn't seen his ring much since winning the title more than a decade ago. Because he's now in the NBA and on the road, he had his uncle watching the ring.

But when he recently installed a new trophy case at his home, he called his uncle for the ring back.

The uncle, though, didn't know where it was. According to ESPN, he hadn't seen it since sending it back to Michigan State for repairs years ago. The Michigan State athletics office hadn't seen it, either.

"I call the guy up and say I'm checking in on the Jason Richardson championship ring, and he said they've received a few calls on that," Richardson told ESPN. "So I say, 'Uh, yeah, this is Jason Richardson. And that's my ring. That ring was stolen.'"


The sports memorabilia dealer reportedly wouldn't tell Richardson how he got his hands on the ring. This is quite certain: Having made more than $85 million in the pros, Richardson had no reason to sell it himself. He said no matter what, he'd never sell it.

Now if you ask me, it sounds like someone making his trophy case lifted the ring from his home. I know Richardson did some investigating but he should be calling the company that installed his trophy case. And it sounds like the memorabilia dealer was in cahoots with the thief of the ring.

All of it is moot now, because the ring has zero value since Michigan State remade the ring for Richardson. I bet J-Rich keeps a closer eye on it more than ever now.

    

Clippers To Pursue Dwight Howard?

The NBA lockout still has to undergo some minor details (vote and ratify) before it's officially over. The news has started to pick up regarding who'll get released, traded, or signing elsewhere.

Orlando Magic big man Dwight Howard has been dodging questions about his future whereabouts, but that won't stop the rumor mill from ramping up. Reports say that the Los Angeles Clippers will possibly make a push for Howard. Interesting since Donald Sterling does own the Clippers. But I guess the possibility of playing with Blake Griffin might trump Sterling's incompetence. Think about the tandem of Howard and Griffin playing side by side. That might actually get some players to think about playing in Clipperland.

Of course the Clippers will have some heavy competition for Howard and Howard most of this, especially since the tentative labor agreement permits extend-and-trade deals and also allows sign-and-trade deals for all taxpaying teams during the first two seasons of the CBA.

I don't think it'll happen, but the Clippers might have the most attractive young trade chips to pull it off. 


     

Quote Of The Week: Stan Van Gundy

In light of the Miami Hurricanes scandal, Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy had some disparaging remarks about the NCAA.

“The system is set up for everybody but the kids while pretending to be about the kids,” Van Gundy said. “Athletics and education should be separate. Colleges shouldn’t be farm systems. It doesn’t make any logical sense. But the schools don’t want to be blatantly in the situation of being professional sports even though they already are professional sports. They just want to disguise it, so they hide behind education. But, really, all you want is enough of your athletes to graduate so it looks like that’s what you care about. Anyone around sports knows it is all a bunch of bull [expletive].


I think if you let kids take inducements it would widen the gap between the haves and have nots in college athletics. On the other hand the rules are so archaic and they need to be revised.

Dwight Howard Will Never Play For The Heat

Everyone knows Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard is a big kid and everyone knows it. Howard recently attended the Comic Con in San Diego and let out some of his inner child. There is one thing Howard doesn't kid about and that's his NBA future.

Howard wants to win a ring in the worse way, even though from the outside looking in some may not know it. He'll be a free agent after the 2012 season and he really doesn't care to discuss it. There is one team that won't be on his destination list though. The Miami Heat.

When the Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, and LeBron James formed the "Big Three" in South Beach, Howard knew that basketball supremacy in the state of Florida left the Magic Kingdom. Howard has gone on to mock James' hairline, the chalk toss, and "The Decision" just to name a few examples.

When asked about who he's thinking of playing for it was no laughing matter regarding the Heat.

What about the Lakers? "That's everybody's question," he told the "Kick" audience. "I am wearing purple … but that's Rock's outfit."



The Heat? "Never."

Now the Heat would be the quickest way of getting to his goal of being an NBA champion, but he wants to blaze his own trail and be a leader of a team and not a follower.

Report Says Warriors Offered Monta Ellis For Dwight Howard

According to a report/tweet from Jonathan Givony from DraftExpress the Golden State Warriors mad a play for the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard, offereing up Monta Ellis, Ekpe Udoh, and Andris Biendris. A pretty good package but not one that's going to land Howard.

If this is indeed true, teams thinking about lining up to trade for the big man will have to give up plenty in order to land him. So Laker fans don't get too enthusiastic about the big guy coming to Los Angeles.

Also, if the Warriors weren't going to trade Ellis, why were they alledgedly offering him in a package. it looks like Golden State is still intent on unloading Ellis no matter what their front office is saying.   

Dick Vitale, Stan Van Gundy Rip The Pistons

The Detroit Pistons have been getting ripped from coast to to coast over the practice boycott last Friday. It is for good reason, because no team in recent memory has pulled a stunt like this. At least Latrell Sprewell had the guts to choke P.J. Carlesimo.

Dick Vitale and Orlando Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy had their say about practicegate and the players involved. Phil Jackson has already thrown his two cents so why not pile on.

Vitale appeared on Mike and Mike in the morning on ESPN radio and blasted the players for what they did.

“What happened in Detroit was absolutely absurd," Vitale said. "When those players did what they did in that mutiny, unbelievable. It is absolutely sad and a black eye and absolutely hurts the image of the NBA big time. When guys like, for example, (Austin) Daye and (Chris) Wilcox and (Rodney) Stuckey, they all apologize for being late because they overslept, they couldn't come to the shootaround, give me a break! You're making hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, you're making millions playing a kids' game, and you're going to oversleep! And then there's the scenario where (Tayshaun) Prince and (Tracy) McGrady, they were sick, they couldn't go to the shootaround. Are you serious? That's absolutely a tragedy. And you know what? It breaks my heart. For someone who, for over 50 years, loves the game, loves people, loves being with people, when you hear that, man, I'd rather go watch some sixth-, seventh-graders play in some Little League game than spend thousands of dollars to watch a bunch of guys who don't give a damn.”


Sounds like vintage Vitale to me, but I do have to agree with what he's saying. Van Gundy appeared on the Dan LeBatard Show to pile on the Pistons. I'm suprised LeBatard didn't chime in considering he gets in any dig about anything Detroit.


Van Gundy said, "If there are players who truly were healthy and 'boycotted' practice — I don't care what the problem they have with the head coach is — why would you want those guys on your team in any situation? All of us have problems with our bosses at times, but you don't choose to just not show up for work. That's about as childish and unprofessional as you can get. And clearly, that illuminates some of the Pistons' problems right there. When you've got that many guys with that little toughness and professionalism on your team, it wouldn't matter who is coaching them — you're not going to be very successful. They've obviously got the wrong guys in that locker room. That's about the weakest group of players I've seen in the NBA — people that would do that. Patrick Ewing and I were talking about it and we were saying that if any of those guys become free agents, why in God's name would you want any of them on your basketball team? I know this much about John Kuester. John Kuester is one of the nicest people in our profession, so he didn't get out of line and treat anyone like a sub-human or anything else. They might not have liked his coaching decisions — playing time, how he's handling rotations, whatever. You don't simply not show up for (work) when you're getting paid well and you're supposed to be a professional and a competitor. That's a very weak group of people."


Some harsh words from someone whose franchise player might be leaving town.