“After everything we established – everything we had done – you give me an hour?” Harden told Yahoo! Sports on Monday afternoon. “This was one of the biggest decisions of my life. I wanted to go home and pray about it. It hurt me. It hurt.”… “I’m versatile. Growing up in college, in high school, I was the focal point. I was the leader. I was the go-to guy. I was the third overall pick. I took a back seat and did whatever it took for the team to win. Some nights I scored, some nights I passed. Whatever was needed to win. “Now, I’m back to my old ways: Needing to be the leader, needing to score. In any situation, I’m going to be good.”
Charles Barkley may be getting tired of being an analyst on TNT. Here’s what he said about his current contract, from Richard Deitsch of Sports Illustrasted: “I love my job,” Barkley said. “I love the people I work with. And I’m going to try to do things to keep me engaged. But I have four years left on my current deal and to be honest with you, it’s going to be a struggle for me to make it for the whole four years. I really don’t know how much longer I’m going to do this. I need something more, or something else to do to be honest with you… “I only thought I would do this for three or four years but now I have been doing it for 13 years,” Barkley said. “When I got to my fifth year of broadcasting I was like ‘OK, I’ll do this a couple of more years.’ But now I’m like, ‘Dude, you have been doing this for 13 years and if I make it to the end of the contract it will be 17 years.’ Seventeen years is a long time.”
Here is the latest update on the status of Chauncey Billups and Grant Hill, from Mike Bresnahan of Los Angeles Times: “Del Negro said that guard Chauncey Billups is closer to returning than Grant Hill, though there is no definite timetable for either player. Billups, recovering from surgery to repair a torn left Achilles’ tendon in February, may be able to play around Thanksgiving, Del Negro said. Hill has a bone bruise in his right knee that has kept him out since early October.
Steve Popper of The Record pointed out all the unlikely things that are making the Knicks a force this season, so far: “You don’t believe the Knicks can win every night. You don’t believe Carmelo Anthony is really diving into the seats for loose balls. You don’t believe this squad made up of senior tour players really can run with the gazelles of the NBA. And you really can’t believe Rasheed Wallace is helping turn the Knicks around. Could the Knicks, who got a big lift from the most popular player from nowhere last year, really thrive by bringing this enemy of every referee out of retirement? You only had to see Wallace walking off the court at the end of the third quarter, poking his fingers at his head — and the Knicks’ players rushing from the bench, mimicking the gesture in celebration.”
Although Andrei Kirilenko spent last season in Moscow, his plan always was to return to the NBA, from Michael Scotto of RealGM: “When I signed with the Russian team, it was a lockout season and I thought it was a great chance for me to play in Russia in front of Russian fans and my family and friends since I’m still the right age,” said Kirilenko. “I had the chance and I used it.” Being close to his family was enticing for Kirilenko, but he also remained overseas to represent his country in the best physical condition on the grandest stage of all. “They (NBA) played like 66 games in a season in a short period of time and the Olympics was coming,” said Kirilenko. “I kind of decided I’m going to finish the season in Moscow and then I’m going to move back to the NBA.”
Dion Waiters talked about the potential of himself and Kyrie Irving with Kennedy of Hoopsworld: “I feel like we’re just playing off of each other, just taking what the defense gives us,” Irving said of the duo. “That definitely works well for us. We take turns. I play off of him and he plays off of me.” “We can both play with the ball and we can both play off the ball,” Waiters said. “We make each other better.”… “Potential wise, the sky is the limit for us,” Waiters said. “We’re still young and we’re still getting better every day. When we get on the court, it’s all about how we can make each other better. We’re going to push each other. We just have to keep working with each other every day.”
Iman Shumpert expects to return between January and February, from Marc Berman of New York Post: “Iman Shumpert’s goal is to come back to the Knicks better — not quicker. That is why nobody is rushing him. In fact, Shumpert, in a rare interview, told The Post don’t expect a December return…“What you all are saying is not what we’re going by,’’ Shumpert told The Post before last night’s 110-88 victory over the 76ers that improved the Knicks to 3-0. “January, February is what we’re aiming for. I’m just trying to get healthy. When I get healthy, I’ll return to the court. I’m not going to come back and not be able to do the things I did last year and a little more. I want to come back and add something.’’
- Blake Griffin is playing through a familiar injury that is causing him some serious pain, according to Dan Woike of The Orange County Register: