A Brooklyn Tale?
“The saddest thing in life is wasted talent.” — Lorenzo Anello
Does this sound familiar? Well, if you’ve seen the movie A Bronx Tale, this quote should ring a bell, as it was a consistent theme throughout the film.
When the Brooklyn Nets first signed Andray Blatche to a non-guaranteed minimum contract prior to the 2012–13 season, the transaction was viewed as a low-risk, high-reward deal. Perhaps a change of scenery and a fresh start would be exactly what Blatche would need to get his career back on track. The Nets would be acquiring a quality player to back up Brook Lopez, and the Washington Wizards would be footing the bill since they were the ones to waive their mercurial and troubled player via the amnesty clause.
As Nets fans witnessed first-hand, Blatche possesses a special type of talent. How many other players of his size have the ability to handle the ball like a point-guard? His natural instincts and improvisation on the offensive end could make him unstoppable at times. With his ability to dazzle the crowd with crossover dribbles, pump fakes, and Euro steps, it seemed as if Blatche was putting together a demo reel for a future career with the Harlem Globetrotters once his NBA playing days were over.
[caption id=”attachment_1562" align=”alignleft” width=”300"]
Becoming a citizen of the Philippines seems like another case of Andray being Andray,[/caption]
At this moment in time, those playing days in the league are on hiatus for the unforeseeable future…
When you are 28 years old, you should be in the prime of your career. When you possess the natural talent that your league counterparts could only dream of having, you should not become a basketball vagabond.
Blatche may have burned his bridges in Washington, but it is interesting that the other 31 teams in the league all seem to want nothing to do with the nine-year veteran following his decision to opt out of Brooklyn. Considering his skill-set just sitting on the clearance rack, this says a lot.
When the weeks passed by during the earlier portion of the summer, I predicted that “Dray Day” seemed like it was coming to an end in the NBA. This claim was validated just the other day with Blatche signing a one-year deal with the Xinjiang Flying Tigers of the Chinese Basketball League.
Everyone makes mistakes in life, but one would hope that lessons are learned from humbling setbacks and second chances aren’t taken for granted. It just seems that Blatche didn’t grow up in his time with the Nets organization.
It’s a shame that one of the more talented offensive centers in the league today won’t be wearing an NBA jersey when the 2014–15 season kicks off later this month. The good times were fun and I am sure most of the Nets fan base will miss “Dray Live” even if it came at the expense of the frequent occurrences of “Blatcheness”.
It’s true that the saddest thing in life is wasted talent. The borough may not be the Bronx in this case, but the message still applies.
