Jonathan Bender

“Talking About Pacers” is going to be my attempt at a semi-regular link-dump to any interesting piece of Pacers-related sports writing that I come across. This whole thing might be revamped in the near future, but, for now, that’s what you can expect when you see a post titled that way.

Forsaking extra ado, let’s get after it.

Mark Murphy of the Boston Herald discusses the hold up and potential deal-breaker in the Boston/Indiana sign-and-trade negotiations surrounding Marquis Daniels:

The problem is believed to be Indiana’s lack of interest in guard Tony Allen, whom the Celtics offered to the Pacers. The Celtics also reportedly have attempted to include guard Gabe Pruitt and forward Bill Walker in the package.

Though in the market for another wing player, the Pacers want something the Celtics aren’t willing to offer.

The Pacers, beset by past citizenship issues, reportedly are reluctant to bring in Allen. The guard’s offcourt issues, including death threats in Chicago that required extra bench security during last spring’s playoffs, cut against the grain of Pacers president Larry Bird’s attempt to move away from the legacy of Ron Artest and Jamaal Tinsley.

“They need a third team, and that’s complicated,” one source said. “No other teams have jumped at it so far.”

Fred Kerber of the New York Post speculates about the Nets, who reportedly are interested in Big Baby Glen Davis, becoming that third team:

The Celtics’ proposed sign-and-trade to land free agent Marquis Daniels from the Pacers has run into complications and could lead to the need of a three-team deal. Enter the Nets, with their legitimate interest in Davis, who averaged 15.8 points and 6.0 rebounds during the playoffs last season. The Celtics have indicated they will match any reasonable offer for Davis.

“We have not made any offers to anybody,” Nets team president Rod Thorn said.

UPDATE: Forgot to add Mike Wells’ blog post from yesterday about how the Pacers might fill out the rest of the roster, which could include taking a player or two back from the Celtics or, possibly, acquiring former Rocket guard Luther Head.

The Pacers are expected to resume talks with the Boston Celtics about a possible sign-and-trade deal for Marquis Daniels this week. The Pacers aren’t focusing strictly on a trade with the Celtics to get their 14th, and possibly 15th, player.

They’ve still got their eye on former Illinois guard Luther Head, who can play both guard spots like Jarrett Jack but with a better jumper.

Kerber of the New York Post also mentions Knicks GM Donnie Walsh’s plans to meet with Jamaal Tinsley about playing in MSG next year:

Team president Donnie Walsh hopes to meet with free agent point guard Jamaal Tinsley this week.

Bill Simmons’ favorite movie of the 2000s is inexplicably Almost Famous. I mean, it’s a good flick and all, but better than City of God, Anchorman, Adaptation., There Will Be Blood, X2, Children of Men, No Country for Old Men, Snatch, Old School, Ocean’s Eleven, The Assassination of Jesse James, 25th Hour, The Savages, Zoolander, The Wrestler and Thank You For Smoking (among others)? Everyone is entitled to his or her own opinion, I suppose, but that’s a pretty odd movie to choose as a favorite, especially if you factor in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Dark Knight and Iron Man.

Fortunately, my thoughts are generally more aligned with the Sports Guy about the NBA than about the silver screen. Here, he offers some advice to his buddy Chad Ford in the form of a quote from the movie Almost Famous:

13. Listen, my advice to you — and I know you think these guys are your friends — if you wanna be a true friend to them … be honest and unmerciful.

To my ESPN colleague Chad Ford, who wrote about Indiana’s summer (the Pacers added Tyler Hansbrough and Dahntay Jones) that “I like the strategy Larry Bird and David Morway have been employing the past couple of years in Indiana. Instead of swinging for the fences in the draft, they are trying for singles and doubles, and they’re connecting.” All due respect to my favorite Hawaii-based columnist, but doesn’t going for singles and doubles ensure 38 to 40 wins and a mediocre lottery pick every year? What am I missing? How is flipping Jerryd Bayless for Brandon Rush, then having to spend another $11 million on Jones (who does the same things as Rush), hitting a single or a double? I think we need to lace up the gloves and fight on another podcast soon.

Nate Timmons of Nuggets blog Denver Stiffs (which just merged with the Nuggets blog Pickaxe & Roll) seems to agree with Simmons:

I’m fairly confident when I say that adding Afflalo pretty much cements the starting shooting guard spot for J.R. Smith. Afflalo has the ability to be a pretty good perimeter defender and provides some scoring pop that should pretty much wipe out the loss created by Dahntay Jones accepting a deal with the Pacers.

I can’t fault Jones for taking the money and a chance at a starting spot, but I applaud the Denver front office for finding a player on the cheap (just a second round pick) that can come in right away and solidify a rotation spot.

Charley Rosen of Fox Sports thinks the Pacers are the fourth worst team in the NBA. Here’s why:

The best athletes on the Pacers all have significant limitations: Dahntay Jones can’t score. Ditto for Jeff Foster. T.J. Ford is among the most selfish point guards in the league. And Danny Granger can’t defend.

Even worse, the level of athleticism possessed by Troy Murphy, Mike Dunleavy and Tyler Hansbrough is far below average.

Overall, there’s not enough fluid offense and not enough defense of any description for the Pacers to avoid being a chump team.

Ball in Europe speculates about who should be included on an All-Time European Dream Team, and Sarunas Jasikevicius, Detlef Schrempf and Rik Smits all get the nod. Here, he talks about Rik:

When Larry Bird took over as coach in Indiana, the Pacers were transformed into a team which lived and died by perimeter shooting. With four guys out deep, who was there to nail rebound after rebound against the likes of young Shaquille O’Neal and crazed Dennis Rodman? That’s right: The no. 2 overall pick in the 1988 NBA Draft, Rik “The Dutchman” Smits. Despite chronic foot problems, Smits still managed a fine 12-year career of 12,871 points, 5,277 rebounds, and 1,111 blocks mostly as a Robin to Reggie Miller’s Batman.

Dino Nation did an interview with TJ Ford, where they talk about, among other things, a new Texas Longhorns website that TJ has been a part of. (via Indy Cornrows)

T.J along with some of his fellow Longhorns have put together a site called Texas360Now.com. It is a site that is going to feature a lot of former Texas players and let fans get to see them in new exciting ways.

SP Stevenson at Indy Cornrows talks about an uplifting, if unlikely, Jonathan Bender comeback story:

Obviously, it’s going to be a tough road for Bender to get a roster spot in the league again. I have to wish him the best of luck, but has a 28-year-old ever felt so old before? I couldn’t believe he was only 28 when I read the article, and I wouldn’t be surprised if his body couldn’t believe it either. I’m sure some fans will speculate on a return to Indy, but that’s highly unlikely to happen.

Again, the Disney storyline is compelling: A teen prodigy is derailed by injuries and is forced to retire at an early age; he spends his retirement doing boatloads of community service in New Orleans to help build houses after Hurrican Katrina; he attempts a comeback and scores the game-winning basket in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Sounds like a hit movie to me.

magic kingdom

Jonathan Bender certainly oughta wish upon a star if he wants to play in the NBA again.

{ 2 comments }

Among Pacer fans, Jonathan Bender is a lightning rod. Some consider him a draft bust who never lived up to his potential. Others see a uniquely gifted 7-footer who would have wowed NBA crowds for years if he had better knees.

The truth is likely somewhere in between, but regardless, the onerous contract extension he was given and the chronic injuries he suffered make him a poster boy of sorts for the post-Malice at the Palace Pacers. From Jermaine O’Neal and Jamaal Tinsley to Mike Dunleavy and TJ Ford, it seems that most every notable Pacer of the past five years has been either too injured or too highly paid to help the franchise remove the Eeyore raincloud that has followed the team ever since November 2004.

For Bender, a comeback would help end the talk about what he could have been and allow him to find out what he still is.

“I didn’t want the windows to close on me,” Bender said. “I wanted the opportunity to fight off the demons inside my head … I read these articles that say, ‘He’s the top bust’ or ‘He’s one of the guys who didn’t live up to their potential.’ I don’t want to be 38 or 40 looking back thinking, ‘I should’ve done this.’ “

For Bender, this was a place he never thought he would be. He was 6′7″ at a 13-years-old, eventually growing to a full 6′11″‘ with a vertical leap of 39 inches. He played on the perimeter and had a jumpshot and ball-handling ability that wowed every scout who ever saw him. Back when he was in high school, people thought he could be Kevin Garnett with range. He was supposed to be Dirk Nowitzki with a first step. He was going to be Kevin Durant.

But the cartilage in his knees failed and he was never able to evolve as a player, eventually retiring in 2006 at 25 years old after seven mediocre seasons with Indiana (with him only playing a combined 31 games during his last three “seasons”). In some ways, however, his faulty joints were a blessing in disguise. Soon after he hung up his kicks, he founded the nonprofit Jonathan Bender Foundation and the for-profit Jonathan Bender Enterprises, both of which had a mission of helping rebuild and restore the Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In addition to “adopting” local elementary schools and helping young kids improve their educations and overall well-being, Bender’s companies also worked to rebuild homes and sell them to local residents.

Once the properties are completed, Bender’s real-estate management company makes them available for leasing. He’s started with close to 40, and says almost every resident is so happy with their property that they want to buy it. So Bender plans to help them toward that goal as well, having recently partnered with several banks and major corporations to aid in financial assistance and offer the residents free financial literacy courses with community/civic training. “That’s why my foundation has started the home-ownership piece, so we can teach,” Bender says. “Why would you turn down someone who’s going to help you learn about your down payment and managing it?”

According to at least a few area citizens, the Mississippi kid who once had ceiling-less basketball talent has made a much bigger difference off the court than he ever could have done while wearing a jersey.

“If you look around at certain areas in New Orleans, they haven’t been touched, and it’s been over three years,” says Sanchez Goss, Bender’s personal assistant and close friend since childhood. “Jonathan is trying to put it all on him. He’s one man doing something great.”

His impact is starting to be recognized by the community at large, many of whom say Bender is doing more for New Orleans than the state or local government. “I love this kid; he’s just a movement,” Major says. “He’s making people really want to move back to a place we need them.”

Still, despite all his post-basketball success; once a baller, always a baller.

Jonathan has the itch again and is planning to work out rigorously over the next few months in an attempt to make it back to the League. Hopefully, Bender gets everything he needs out of this comeback attempt. Former Pacer GM and current Knick head honcho Donnie Walsh, for one, has already reportedly expressed interest in taking another look at his former player.

Given all the physical stress he’s had to suffer through, it’s hard to believe we’ll ever see him play again, but I’ll definitely be rooting for the guy.

Even if he never makes it back and even though his Pacer years will always be bittersweet, today seems like a good time to just sit back and watch Jonathan dunk on some people’s heads.

{ 1 comment }

Jonathan Bender

Talking About Pacers: July 28, 2009

Jonathan Bender Comtemplates a Comeback