Nightmare Clients for the Week of June 3rd-June 10th

1. Denver Nuggets reserve forward DerMarr Johnson was charged with resisting arrest and interfering with police during a disturbance outside a nightclub. Police said they used a taser to calm the 6-foot-9 player [Nuggets' Johnson charged with resisting arrest, interfering with police]. I would imagine seeing a 6’9″ basketball player being tasered is quite a sight. Johnson and two women were arrested, booked and released early Saturday. The women were charged with disturbing the peace. Dan Recht, Johnson’s lawyer, said his client was breaking up a fight between the two women.

2. Former Arizona State running back Loren Wade was convicted Thursday of second-degree murder in the slaying of another ex-Sun Devils football player. Wade, 23, was on trial for first-degree murder in the death of Brandon Falkner, who was shot outside a Scottsdale nightclub on March 26, 2005 [Former Sun Devils running back Wade convicted of second-degree murder]. Prosecutors claimed Falkner, 25, was shot because Wade saw him talking to his girlfriend. Wade now faces a maximum of 22 years in prison when he’s sentenced although no sentencing date was immediately announced. Wade, a tailback from Los Angeles, set an ASU freshman rushing record in 2003 but played only three games in 2004 before he was suspended for the season for receiving improper benefits involving an overdue utility bill. I always have to shake my head when I see someone being convicted for murder because he killed a guy who “talked/looked/danced/hit on his girlfriend”. There can’t be many other reasons for going to jail that are more foolish than that, but I still see it happen over and over again. Now Wade can think about how many more men will look at, and date, his girlfriend while he spends a significant portion of his life in prison.

3. A judge ordered Milwaukee Bucks forward Ruben Patterson to pay a $1,000 fine for failing to register as a convicted sex offender after he moved into a new neighborhood [Neighbor complained that Patterson had not registered]. Patterson pleaded no contest Friday to the misdemeanor charge, said Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters. The fine was the maximum amount Hamilton County Municipal Judge Ted Berry could have imposed. In 2001, when Patterson played for Portland he entered a modified guilty plea in Washington state to third-degree attempted rape for allegedly forcing his children’s nanny to perform a sex act on him.

4. Kevin Durant wowed NBA teams in his one college season at Texas. At last week’s pre-draft camp? Not so much, according to a confidential draft camp report obtained by The Seattle Times [Report: Durant's workout raises eyebrows at camp]. According to the newspaper, the report said Durant was ranked 78th out of 80 NBA prospects who worked out at Orlando, while Ohio State center Greg Oden had an impressive workout. According to the Times, Durant was the only prospect at camp who failed to bench press 185 pounds, and finished behind Oden in some key drills, including the vertical leap, agility drill and three-quarter court sprint. Oden jumped 34 inches in the vertical leap while Durant jumped 33½ inches, completed the agility drill in 11.67 seconds to Durant’s 12.33 seconds, and finished the three-quarter court sprint in 3.27 seconds, ahead of Durant’s 3.45 seconds, according to the report. While it is doubtful Durant will fall beyond the second pick in this year’s NBA draft, if he does, his sub-par workouts will be a contributing factor.

http://www.sportsagentblog.com Chris Lesley

It will be interesting to see if the poor athletic ability of Durant will hinder how high he goes in the draft, or even his marketability and sponsors.
LW

Durant isn’t going to have a problem. He was always going to be the 2nd pick. These results aren’t going to have any effect on his draft position or marketability.
Drew

Like LW mentioned Durant is going to be the number 2 pick and that will not change. It’s important to remember that he is 19 years old and is extremely skinny. He dominated in college basketball purely with his basketball skills and once he starts working with a strength coach from the NBA he will be able to put on a lot of muscle that will help him throughout his career. Durant has a body a lot like Garnett did when he first came into the league. Garnett was able to put on 15 pounds quickly and has been able to have a long and productive career in the NBA. This will be a non-story in a few months.
Jason Wulterkens

KG can bench a ridiculous amount right now. Not sure what he did out of HS. Guys with longer arms tend to have problems, even if they are relatively strong. Not sure if that was a factor here.

Another problem these young guys seem to have is keeping their playing weight during the season from dropping. 82 games in a relatively short period of time is taxing on players who just aren’t used to that. LeBron was able to make the transition fairly easily, although it helps to have a 30 year old man’s body at such a young age…
Anton Miller

This is exactly why I hate the workouts and also the combine for the NFL. Players are judged on what they look like and how they do in the weight room. The problem is, its not a weight lifting contest, its a sport. Can player X hit a fadeway jumpshot? Is he a winner? Is he a clutch player? Well nope of that matters if he benches a couple less times than player Y right? Wrong…No intangibles or even past successes matter in the workout room, which in my opinion should have very very little effect on anything.
http://www.sportsagentblog.com Chris Lesley

Yeah, I do believe Durant will still go at number 2. A couple fo years ago there was an AFL draftee who had awesome times for his athletic trials at the draft camp, yet only got picked at 42.
http://www.sportsagentblog.com Andrew Bouthiller

Despite Durant’s highly publicized problems at the pre-draft camps and his sub-par measurements, he still has some incredible measurements: a 7’4.75″ wingspan. That wingspan on a 6’10″ wingman is pretty ridiculous. Like I said, I don’t think he will drop. However, if he does, his measurements (or lack thereof) will probably be the reason why (and whichever team passes him by will be kicking themselves in a couple years). I’m curious to see how Durant’s rebounding and shot-blocking skills will transfer to the NBA. I just hope his lack of strength doesn’t turn him into another soft, jump shooting, 6’10+ swingman (Dirk, I’m looking at you).
http://www.sportsagentblog.com Darren

I’ll take Dirk on my team any day.
http://www.sportsagentblog.com Andrew Bouthiller

You would.
Derek Chaiken

Why not add Denver’s JR Smith to the list?

While details of his accident are limited, it is likely that JR missed every single “Buckle Up” message ever conveyed to him.
Derek Chaiken

Also, Patterson’s agent is former NFL player Tim McGee.

I’d understand McGee’s reasoning of his failure to act on behalf of his client to register if McGee was not Patterson’s agent when the conviction in question was made.

However, as an agent offering full services to his client, it is the agent’s responsibility to act for his client when he is notified of the player’s legal obligations.

On another note, Johnson’s arrest reminds me to a similar situation which happened to former number one overall pick Michael Olowokandi outside a Minneapolis club a few years ago. I wonder if deadspin has a section dedicated to “Tasered Athletes.”
jason wulterkens

How about Tayshaun Prince? You can’t tell me that guy benched more than 200 tops out of college.
http://www.sportsagentblog.com Andrew Bouthiller

Tayshaun Prince still probably has a pitiful bench max. There are a ton of other players with sticks for arms that can still play a little ball too. Basketball is one of the few sports where talent can overcome a lot of physical limitations.
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Nightmare Clients for the Week of June 3rd-June 10th

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