Kendrick Perkins may have no bigger fan in the NBA than Clippers assistant coach John Lucas, who runs a gym in Houston in the offseason and has worked with Perk since the center came into the league.
“I love that kid,” Lucas said. “I knew about him right away just by his commitment. He’d drive 75 miles each way, every day to work out in Houston. He did that for the first month, and then he got a place for the next two months. Then he’d drive in for the week and go home on weekends. That’s commitment.
“He worked hard from the start, and as soon as he got his body straight and got some of the hangers-on off of him, he really took off. And you know what? He may be the best defensive center in the league. He’s just improved so much.”
Lucas has continued to provide advice and support to Perkins. He was on the other end of the telephone line when Perkins was mulling a four-year, $20 million extension from the Celtics [team stats] in 2006.
“I said, ‘What are you waiting on? Just sign and play,’ ” Lucas said. “That’s when it started to fall into place for him. Where I thought he got really good is when he understood what his role was. He came in thinking he was going to be a star - and he is in the things he does for them defensively. But he’s not (Shaquille O’Neal) and them. He’s a star in the team concept because he knows his role. He may have an outside chance at the All-Star Game.
“And he’s just a great kid.”
On the other end or the work-to-succeed spectrum is former Celtic Gerald Green, who was last seen headed for Russia.
“I really wish Gerald had worked more on his fundamentals,” Lucas said of the former No. 18 overall draft pick. “He’s a great talent, but he doesn’t have the basketball IQ yet. He’s an NBA player. Hopefully he’ll get back.
“He can score, but he’s got to guard people, too.”
Green seemed to get swept up in the NBA sideshows.
“One thing that’s a problem is that guys come in the league and they’re not about winning,” Lucas said. “They think they just deserve to play. I call them Internet-famous. They think they’re big, but they’re not famous. Famous is Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.”
Cuban gun control
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban was disappointed with Gilbert Arenas and the firearms-in-the-locker room issue. But it’s unlikely he’ll have to deal with anything similar around his own club.
Not surprisingly, Cuban and the Mavs were ahead of the curve on this one, having seen the potential dangers.
“I live in a red state, so there’s a whole different perspective there than in the blue states,” Cuban said. “But as for us, we’ve been very, very proactive in terms of our positioning with our players on guns. We’ve taken inventory and communicated with our players on exactly how many have them.
“I can tell you out of our roster only three of them own guns and only one has their guns in Dallas. So what Devin (Harris, the Nets guard) said about 75 percent of players owning guns, we don’t have that.”
The Mavericks are big on making sure any player who wants to own a gun understands the responsibilities and has gone through the proper channels to keep things above board.
“We make sure they’re all legally registered, and we have a document of understanding with the players that made them understand exactly where we stood and what’s permissible and what’s not,” Cuban said. “I think the league will follow more of what we’ve been doing for years.”
Cuban hasn’t always agreed with David Stern, but on the Arenas matter, he said, “I think the commissioner handled it right. It’s a hot topic obviously, but the commissioner handled it well. He gave Gilbert a chance, and then he was decisive. The legal system will do it’s role.
“Gilbert’s a good guy. I think he just was stupid, and I think he recognizes he was stupid.”
Cuttin’ down the Nets
Mention the New Jersey Nets around an NBA person these days and you’ll get a frightened look in reply. The Nets are well on pace to break the mark for worst record in league history, outdoing the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers [team stats]’ 9-73.
And they’re doing it in absentia. They’re not really showing up for many of these games.
The Nets dealt away Vince Carter, Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson in a 16-month span and they’ve made two trades during this season. More moves are expected.
And Harris, who has largely disappointed his team this season, could be among the next to go.
“Nobody’s safe,” he told reporters before the Nets took off on a road trip. “But that’s the way the business goes.
“It’s not something I worry about. I think the toughest trade to go through is midseason. I did that. I heard the rumors for a month, worried for a month. I’m past that. If it happens, it happens.
“It is a business at the end of the day and they’re going to do what they see is best. You’re sort of a commodity at that point. But you just roll with it.”
The Nets will have a chance to make some big moves in the offseason (including a move from the Meadowlands), but until then it won’t be a pretty rebuilding process at all.
A media watchdog
There was a funny moment at a Lakers game not too long ago: Lamar Odom got called for a foul and was heading back to his bench. He asked the Lakers beat writers if the call was correct.
Elliott Teaford of the Daily News nodded, and Odom smiled and said, “Get the (heck) out of here.”
Referee Gary Zielinski saw what happened. He grinned and said, “Thank you.” . . .
Sad to see Blake Griffin lose the rest of the season to knee surgery because the Clippers have a real chance to take some giant steps away from their hideous history.
But Phil Jackson still kicked some sand at the Clippers revival.
“I’m of that generation that believed in karma,” he said. “If you do a good mitzvah, maybe you can eliminate some of those things. Do you think that (Clippers owner Donald) Sterling’s done enough mitzvahs to eliminate some of those? How about all those other incidents that we have on file?”
The last reference is to a housing discrimination suit Sterling settled recently. . . .
Nobody wins unless everybody wins.
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