Guns in the Locker Room
From Dave DeBusschere’s “The Open Man” (1970):
Reggie Harding was a very unusual basketball player. For one thing, he came to the Pistons straight out of a Detroit high school. For another, he used drugs. And for a third, he carried guns. He was always in some kind of difficulty, but the Detroit management was very patient with him. Reggie was seven feet tall.
Once, on a road trip, I spotted a pistol in Reggie’s duffel bag and another in his coat pocket. “What are you doing with them?” I asked.
“I keep ‘em around,” Reggie said, “so no one’ll mess with me.”
“Reggie,” I said, “I don’t know too many people who are going to mess with a guy who’s seven feet tall and two hundred and fifty pounds.”
“Well,” he said, “I keep ‘em just to make sure.”
He used them, too. I remember Reggie taking out his guns one night and shooting around his roommate’s feet, hollering, “Dance, baby, dance.” His roommate danced.
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Delonte Update
The Cavs play touch football during practice and Delonte doesn’t wear a shirt.
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Delonte is Afraid of Flying
From the Plains Dealer:
The Delonte West process is continuing, complete with its ups and downs.Wednesday was a down day, as the Cavaliers put West on the inactive list for their early season matchup with the rival Orlando Magic. Team officials, which did not make the decision public before the game, said it was a part of the ongoing process with West, who had played the last four games.
According to multiple sources, however, West missed the team’s charter flight Tuesday afternoon to Orlando. Cavs coach Mike Brown said West had been excused for missing the flight. This was at least the second team flight West has missed this season, according to a source, and the others were not excused.
Team officials declined to say whether this was the reason West did not play. He did join the team at the morning shootaround but did not warm up before Wednesday’s game.
Over the last two years, at times West has grown nervous before flying and at times, said multiple sources, has even delayed team flights until he can be calmed down and convinced to get on the plane. Handling West’s flying issues have been part of the challenges in handling the volatile player.
According to one source, this does not represent a serious issue to the team, which has not changed its belief that he will play a key role during the season.
There were indications that West might play Thursday night in Miami, though that is a decision that will probably not be made until close to game time.
“We all stand behind Delonte, what he’s going through is more than basketball,” LeBron James said. “I think Delonte is handling it the right way and I think as teammates we’re helping him and as an organization we’re helping him.”
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