You don't often see emotional post-game interviews following regular-season NBA games in mid-January. Friday night was different. With almost all the remnants of Gilbert Arenas peeled away from the Verizon Center, with trade talks swirling, with the franchise turning into a national punchline, Antawn Jamison got on the mic before the game and told the fans that this team would make them proud.
"We never meant to make light of the situation," he said. "And we're going to do everything in our power--as long as I'm your captain, as long as these guys right here are my teammates--to make this one of the most respectable organizations in the league."
Then he went for 28 points and 11 rebounds as the Wizards beat the Magic in D.C. for the first time in forever, earning just their second divisional win of the season. And then he talked to Comcast SportsNet, before leaving the court. I thought he might cry.
"The most important thing for us is just to get back to having fun," he said. "It's been tough. They're friends of ours, we wish them the best, we know it wasn't any kind of [villainy] they wanted to go along with it. But for us, man, there's still a long way to go, we've still got a lot of basketball to play, and we just wanted to get back to playing basketball and having fun. And this is what we can do, if we play hard against the best teams and find a way to get it done."
The team left to the floor to a standing ovation, with Caron Butler pumping his fist and gesturing to the stands.
"That's the first time we probably got everybody out of their seats this year," Flip Saunders said later. "And they stood up because of how hard we played and the fight that we were playing with."
CSN's Chris Miller asked Jamison about the crowd, and the captain seemed genuinely emotional.
"You know, it's great," he said. "They're gonna be the reason. You know, they've always been the reason. My fondest memories are of a playoff atmosphere here. These people love the game of basketball, they know about the game of basketball, and we owe it to them, man, to come out here and play hard and give them something to cheer about, bring their families and their kids. And that's what we're gonna get back to. I know it's been difficult the last week or so, but we're gonna get back to having fun and making this one of the toughest places to come in and play at."
"They don't make 'em like Antawn Jamison any more," Miller said a few minutes later.
"Class," agreed Ron Thompson. "There's one word that comes to mind when you see him, when you watch how he plays, how he carries himself. Class."
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