Yes, there’s crying in basketball
Winners of one playoff series in the past 22 years, the Washington Wizards have given their fans — not to mention their coach — plenty to cry about.
After the Wizards started this season 0-12, coach Randy Wittman wept openly in front of his players, who were inspired by his show of emotion.
“After we lost that 12th game and he came into the locker room — I don’t even know if he wants me to share this, but I don’t care — and he was crying, man, after that game,” swingman Martell Webster told the Washington Post. “And he told us that he cared about us. And for me, that was a point in the season where I was just like, I’m in. I’m totally in. I bought into the system.”
Webster’s sentiments were shared by several other Wizards’ players, who won their next game 84-82 over the Portland Trail Blazers.
“We went through so much at the start of the year,” Wittman said. “And the thing that really got me emotional more was the fight and the heart that these guys were putting into it, and we had nothing to show for it.”
Washington finished 29-53 but improved down the stretch, going 25-25 in its final 50 games.
Upon learning that Wittman’s tears inspired the Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni and Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers immediately broke down in front of their teams.
■ RUDY BON JOVI — Once upon a time, not so long ago — it was August, but we’re making a “Livin’ on a Prayer” reference — Hud Mellencamp, singer John Mellencamp’s son, walked on to Duke’s football team.
Likewise, Jesse Bongiovi, rocker Jon Bon Jovi’s son, plans to walk on to the Notre Dame football squad this fall when he starts his freshman year at the school.
“I came up here when I was in eighth grade, and I just fell in love with the place,” said Bongiovi, whose father is friends with former Fighting Irish coach Charlie Weis, a fellow New Jersey native. “Given the opportunity to walk on to the team and become a part of this family was an easy decision for me.”
Despite his father’s connections, Bongiovi, a 5-foot-11-inch, 180-pound former football and lacrosse standout at Poly Prep Country Day in Brooklyn, N.Y., doesn’t expect to be handed a job.
“I expect it to be one of the hardest things I’ll probably ever do, but I like a challenge,” said Bongiovi, who wants to play cornerback. “I like being able to overcome things and step up to occasions. Hopefully, I’ll get to persevere through something that’s pretty hard.”
Said Bon Jovi: “It doesn’t make a difference if we make it or not. We’ve got each other, and that’s a lot. For love, we’ll give it a shot.”
■ CALL ME SAGER — For the second straight season, LeBron James is turning off his cellphone and giving up Twitter during the playoffs.
“I’m back to before cellphones were invented,” the Miami Heat star told sideline reporter Craig Sager on Tuesday after Miami’s 98-86 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Sager offered to let James use his phone to call his friends, saying, “Call me maybe.”
Maybe not.
COMPILED BY TODD DEWEY
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
