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Eddy Curry has already been much discussed as a key to the Knicks' future.

Against the Nets on Saturday, in his fifth game since the 2007-2008 season, he didn't blow anybody away. He still got great post position -- he's among the best in the NBA at that. He had some looks. But time and again he couldn't catch the pass, his teammates couldn't get it to him, or his shots went awry.

At one point his teammates raced ahead and drew a foul. Curry, at a slow walk, trailed the play so severely he barely arrived in time to line up for the free throw.

He looked ... "Like he hadn't played for two years?" quipped coach Mike D'Antoni after the game. But he said it with a smile, and right now the relationship between the Knicks and Curry is a happy one.

"We're still learning each other," confirmed Curry. "I've only practiced with them maybe five times. In a sense, I'm like a new player here. And at the same time we're still trying to win games. I'm not trying to disrupt them. I'm adjusting to it. But I think it's only a matter of time before I'm able to dominate this game."

"The team will improve on getting him the ball where he needs it," adds D'Antoni, "and he'll improve with his footwork and feel more comfortable. We'll both have days like this and it'll be a while. But he's giving us something that we need and lifting up our spirits."

Consider that last point. Curry -- the poster child of the big, bad contracts that Isiah Thomas doled out in condemning the Knicks to long-term mediocrity -- is an inspration. The player who has endured just about everything anyone could imagine, and could well have soured on life, is flashing smiles.

On the court through his career he has been out of shape, out of sync, and sometimes a laughingstock. Off the court, the stories have been nightmarish, with murders in his family, lawsuits, and accusations. No one will ever accuse Curry of having had a smooth ride, and as much as LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett may be the poster children for players coming straight from high school to NBA success, Curry -- despite big earnings -- has been a cautionary tale.

And yet, he has reached a point where he's a ray of light in the locker room of the franchise that has been called the most valuable in the NBA.

"Kind of like a new person coming around," says Curry of the mood since he returned to the team. "Everybody's just kind of revitalized. I love the energy in the locker room and on the court."

On Sunday, he'll play in Madison Square Garden for the first time since March 2008, when Thomas was still coach.

"Definitely fun to play my first game in the Garden since I don't know when,'" he says. "I was scared that it wouldn't happen here. ... Definitely looking forward to it. Hopefully they'll accept me. But they don't have a choice. I'll be there!"

Scheduled to be showing support for Curry in the face of Garden critics on Sunday -- and sitting courtside at the Izod Center on Saturday -- was Eddy Curry's "uncle" and noted NBA insider William Wesley. As a trusted advisor of a long list of players, including Curry, LeBron James, and Allen Iverson, Wesley has the potential to be a major figure as Donnie Walsh works to bring the Knicks back to respectability.

Wesley has already been a central figure in Curry's recent weight loss and rejuvenation.

Wesley very seldom talks to reporters on the record, but made an exception, speaking from his courtside seat at halftime of the Knicks' win at New Jersey:

Seeing Eddy Curry out there obviously means a lot for the Knicks. But also for you. Why?
Because of his personal struggle to get back to where he once was. There's a lot of people that doubt that he can get back to his form. He's trying. He's trying. This is just another step. The bar is being raised in each game.

Do you like his chances?
I like his chances.

These two teams we're watching, they're both banking on getting much better through free agency. If you could give them advice on how to succeed in attracting a premium free agent this summer, what would you say?
I'm not going to answer that question, because I think it's a set-up question. I'm here to talk about Eddy Curry, and to support Eddy Curry.

Tell me about your summer with Eddy Curry. What did you actually do?
We did two-a-days. He worked out. He ate right. Chris Douglas-Roberts came in and supported him -- Chris is from Detroit, so he came in and supported him. There's a lot of guys that wanted to come in to support Eddy through this process. J.R. Smith came in and spent some time with him. It was really great to see people coming and rallying around Eddy's family. A lot of people just wanted him to be in the right situation.

The stories about Eddy's situation have been terrible. There have been murders. There have been weird accusations. Just about everything bad you can imagine ... Very serious stuff. As someone who knows him better, it must kind of kill you to see Eddy Curry be the butt of jokes.
Yeah, but I've seen that my whole life with these young kids. Some of them get held to different standards. But at the end of the day, we have to remember that these are still young kids, and they're our kids. We're responsible to lead them down the right road. So if they hit a bump in the road, we should help them.

What do you say to people who make fun of him?
You're wasting your breath to talk to them. They're called haters. Their thought process isn't going to alter. You spend too much energy trying to convince them.

Is the perfect scenario for him to be a long-term Knick? Or would it be better for him to get a fresh start?
No, with Eddy, I think the best place for him is to be a New York Knick. People have to remember, the Knicks took a chance on Eddy when nobody else did. He hasn't forgotten that. Donnie Walsh has bent over backwards for Eddy to be successful. Knowing Eddy, Eddy's not going to take that lightly. He understands the commitment from Donnie Walsh and the New York Knicks organization.

So, Eddy's playing 11 minutes in Indiana, Donnie Walsh said in the papers, played a role in the Knicks' decision not to sign Allen Iverson.
I don't know anything about that.

Donnie talked to the media yesterday, and said basically that there were enough good signs from the young Knicks that they didn't want to alter the structure of the team. And he specifically mentioned Eddy's performance as part of that.
I don't know.

Sounds like the kind of thing you're talking about, though, with a big Knick commitment to Eddy Curry.
I guess! I don't know. I wasn't privy to the information.

Eddy spent the summer with your trainer and with you, and then he came to training camp and was immediately injured and the Knicks didn't seem to think he was in shape.
I don't want to comment on that. But I'll say that he had to start somewhere. And he started it in Detroit, Michigan.

And you're happy with where he is now?
Yeah.

By Chris Sheridan

I want to hurry and get this post up before tipoff, because there's no telling if Lawrence Frank will even make it to halftime before getting fired by the New Jersey Nets.

Sorry, poor attempt at humor -- and it especially pales in comparison to what the beleaguered Nets coach had to offer when he arrived at his office for his usual pregame interview and saw at least three national writers awaiting him.

"This is like seeing the guillotine squad," Frank said as his team tried to avoid an 0-13 start in their afternoon game against the New York Knicks.

Frank's spirits were fine, but his fortune certainly was not bolstered by comments made Friday by Nets president Rod Thorn strongly implying that Frank's job is on the line, despite the team's litany of injuries, if the team doesn't make it into the victory column soon.

Saturday's game against the 2-9 Knicks will be the Nets' final home game before they embark on a four-game West Coast swing to play the Nuggets, Trail Blazers, Kings and Lakers. Losses in all five of those games would give New Jersey an 0-17 record, which would tie the worst start in NBA history (by the expansion Miami Heat in 1988 and the L.A. Clippers in 1999.)

Asked if he agreed with the axiom that you are what your record says you are, Frank delivered the following:

"Yeah, especially since I have the utmost respect for coach [Bill] Parcells, and it’s basically his line. I feel more sorry for our guys that 0-12, the blemish that comes with that, why it’s a story because you’re 0-12, when it’s eight guys who truly have worked their tails off. And if they were coming in half-assed at practice or not focused at shootaround, then I’d say 'Hey, there’s not much hope.' But they’re not. They work every single day. These guys care. So it’s more I feel bad for them because of the blemish, and I‘ll take 100 percent responsibility for where we’re at because these guys have worked their tails off, and I do believe in habits, and if we continue to have thesse habits, we don't allow frustration to lead to a lack of confidence and a lack of faith, I think we will break through. But again, we’re 0-12. We are. And that’s on me."

Frank did have Devin Harris available Saturday for the first time since the second game of the season after he missed 10 games with a strained right groin. Courtney Lee (strained left groin) is expected to return sometime during the road trip.

Frank is in the final year of his contract (as are Thorn and general manager Kiki Vandeweghe), and the Nets franchise is in limbo while it awaits approval of the sale of the franchise to Russian billionaire Mikhael Prokhorov -- a sale that is contingent on the Nets breaking ground on their new Brooklyn arena by Dec. 31.

The roster is loaded with players on expiring contracts, and the Nets will be in the company of the Knicks and the Heat in having the most salary cap space to spend in next summer's free agent market.

But the present? It's bleak.

So bleak that Saturday's matinee had a strange sort of Game 7 feel to it -- especially as it concerned Frank.

"I think, as a Net fan and as someone who has been part of the organization for 10 years, I can see how you can be very, very excited about where this team is headed. There’s no doubt about it, and there’s a plan in place, and I think the Nets have a chance -- we have a chance -- to be very, very good for a long time. Now, at 0-12? You’re just focusing on what you need to do. I’m here to serve our guys: Give ‘em a plan, lead them, hold them accountable.I only worry about, we only worry about, this group. The future? I don’t spend really any time over it other than giving you that poetic waxing."

UPDATE: Understandably, Frank was not in quite the same jovial mood afterward as the Nets dropped to 0-13 with a 98-91 loss to the Knicks in which New Jersey came back from a 15-point third quarter deficit but was outscored 9-4 in the final 1:43. "It would take a toll on anybody, obviously no one wants to start oh-and-whatever it is," Harris said. "What hurts more is the so many close games that we're losing. I think if we were getting blown out every game, I think everybody would be like 'OK, we need a change.' But we're right there each and every game. We've just got to find a way to overcome a lot of these things."

LOS ANGELES -- If ever there were a team and a head coach in desperate need of a win, the Los Angeles Clippers and Mike Dunleavy were it.

The Clippers had lost five of six games entering Friday night's game against the Denver Nuggets, all without their most efficient player, second-year guard Eric Gordon. Over that stretch, which included a couple of embarrassing blowouts and a gut-wrenching fourth quarter collapse, dark clouds descended over the team. Reports that Dunleavy's job was in serious jeopardy went public, and the malaise that infected the team last season began to surface.

What better antidote for a team on the ropes than a nationally-televised date against the NBA's fourth-ranked offense featuring the league's hottest player, Carmelo Anthony?

The Clippers couldn't do much to stop Anthony, but they showed Denver a variety of effective looks on defense, and got some timely shooting from their wings and reserve unit. That was enough to hold off Denver 106-99 at Staples Center.

To no one's surprise -- least of all the Clippers -- Anthony dominated the game with 37 points (12-for-20 from the field; 12-for-13 from the stripe).

"It's such a tough matchup with 'Melo, trying to get anyone to guard him," Dunleavy said. "So we mixed up our double-teams, our locations, we mixed up the clock with our zone work. We tried to keep him a little off-balanced, but he's so tough. He makes shots. He's got that hang time. He draws fouls."

Al Thornton, who drew the defensive assignment on Anthony for much of the night, was even more emphatic.

"I think he's the best offensive player in the league, hands down this year," Thornton said. "He can do everything out there on that court."

The Clippers countered with a balanced, more fluid attack, racking up 28 assists on the 36 field goals, and earned 36 free throw attempts in the process.

For a team that's sleepwalked through much of the past two weeks, the Clippers played an intelligent brand of basketball. They got into the bonus early. They worked Al Thornton in the post against a smaller Arron Afflalo. Rasual Butler, mired in a miserable slump over the losing streak while straining to create shots for himself (not his strong suit), returned to doing what he does best -- spot-up shooting. He led the Clips with 27 points, draining four of nine from beyond the arc.

Most of all for a team that occasionally has trouble getting on the same page, the Clippers communicated on the defensive end.

"The guys did a great job of talking," Mardy Collins, who relieved Thornton on Operation 'Melo, said. "That allowed us to make good decisions on defense."

After the game, the Clippers coaching staff was huddled in the assistant coaches' office studying film, examining the tea leaves, gleaning what they could from a satisfying victory. Whether the Clippers' win over an elite Western power is enough to reverse the tide remains an uncertainty. Eric Gordon's strained groin will keep him sidelined for at least a few more games, and rookie Blake Griffin won't return before December 15.

Those concerns aside, Mike Dunleavy should have his best night of sleep in weeks.

By John Hollinger

ATLANTA – It took 47 minutes and 59.3 seconds, but the Hawks finally found the Rockets’ Achilles heel. And fittingly for a team named after birds, it was in the air.

Josh Smith rose higher than any Houston player could hope to reach and slammed home Mike Bibby’s miss, allowing the home side to escape with a 105-103 win over a physical, tough Rockets team that continues to stun opponents with how hard they play.

“We can cover for everything else, but if there’s a play to be made at ten feet we’re in trouble,” said one Rocket, and unfortunately that was the play that needed to be made. Houston players and coaches signaled for basket interference after Smith’s putback, but replays showed it was a good basket.

Until that point, however, Houston’s gritty play unnerved the Hawks – particularly by bludgeoning Atlanta on the boards. In one 11-minute stretch of the third quarter, the Rockets only scored two points on their first shot attempt of a possession. But they battled their way to a staggering 15 second-chance points in that stretch, finishing the game with 20 offensive boards and 29 second-chance points

"That was a scrappy, scrappy team and they played very physical," said Jamal Crawford.

“Oh man, they played hard,” said Marvin Williams, “Their bigs aren’t very big, Chuck Hayes isn’t a tall guy, but they work hard, they pound the boards.”

In a departure from the Hawks’ usual formula in racking up a league-best 11-2 record, the key to the victory was Williams. He had a breakout game with 29 points and nine rebounds to make up for rough nights from Smith – until his game-winner – and Joe Johnson. Williams came in shooting only 38.9% on the year and had scored double figures just once in his past five starts, but said GM Rick Sund had been encouraging him to stay aggressive and look for his shots.

“I’ve been here every morning at 8 o’clock shooting, so thankfully it paid off tonight,” said Williams. “My job is to defend and rebound, and shoot when I have the opportunity.”

Oh, and if you're looking for any Tracy McGrady drama from this game, move along. The Rockets forward worked out with trainers before the game but never donned a full uniform, while Rick Adelman admitted the two had a difference of opinion about his return date. The Rockets have been steadfast since September that McGrady would be reevaluated after a Nov. 23 MRI, and Adelman noted they hadn't practiced in ten days so it was tough to know what McGrady's fitness level might be.

I'm not quite old enough to participate in a debate about whether Wes Unseld or Bill Walton is the greatest outlet passer of all time. (A colleague in the Staples Center Media Room insists that Bob Lanier be mentioned among the candidates).

By the time I started following the NBA, Walton was waving a towel on the Celtics' bench. But his teammate, Robert Parish, was breaking my young heart as a Hawks fan by lobbing gorgeous outlets to the likes of Gerald Henderson and Larry Bird, who filled the lanes and finished the break.

The outlet pass is the powder keg that ignites the fast break, and lunch-pailer Chuck Hayes knows a thing or two about heaving the ball downcourt to the Rockets' speedsters:

By Henry Abbott

Here's a fun little project I'd like your help with: Let's name the NBA's twenty all-time dirtiest players. I have a brainstorm list working, but I'd like your ideas, your anecdotes, your YouTube links ...

To get you in the mood, here is the recently retired Bruce Bowen, talking to HoopsTV about his own reaction when people call him a dirty player:

When people said that it allowed me to understand that they weren't necessarily competing.

See, you never heard Michael Jordan call someone dirty. Even though, the Pistons during that time were hard fouling him, he never called them dirty. ... The true competitors of the game, they just compete. They don't say anything about anyone else, they just compete, and that's what it's all about.

So, if I were ever to complain about something, say if someone pushed off to create space, is that person dirty for pushing off to get their shot? I don't think so.

So it's all a matter of whose saying this and you go from there.

You take it with a grain of salt and you keep it moving.

He adds:

A few coaches have said, yeah Bruce is dirty if you're playing against him, but he's a player that you'd love to have, and that's all that matters to me.

By Henry Abbott

He has only played 11 minutes, but as Chris Sheridan just explained, slimmed-down Knick big man Eddy Curry is already playing a pivotal role in the Knicks' thought process about Allen Iverson.

Curry could also play a pivotal role in helping to unravel a couple of NBA mysteries.

The first mystery is obvious. When will the misery end for Knick fans? The team David Stern, and a zillion other people, grew up loving, has lost all sparkle. The Knicks are a miserable team hoping to use the city of New York and Cablevision's deep pockets (anything but the roster) to lure a top free agent this summer. However, if Eddy Curry can prove he's a desirable NBA player, the Knicks' whole situation changes dramatically -- either because they'll have another quality player at a key position, or because they'll be able to trade his hefty contract and bring in more talent.

The other mystery is William Wesley. What does he do? I spent ages poking around that issue. Curry's recent life is a bit of an answer. Curry has had every problem a person could have. Murder in the family. Accusations of misconduct. Financial problems. A career in shambles. Health problems. Weight problems.

Enter William Wesley. The story has been told many places, but the basics are in Alan Hahn's training camp report from Newsday:

William "Worldwide Wes" Wesley was in attendance yesterday, marking the second straight year the well-connected attache to many NBA stars (including LeBron James) has been present at Knicks camp. Wesley has an interest in Curry's progress, of course. He is the one who set Curry up with strength coach Tommy Weatherspoon and basketball trainer Jerry Powell to work with Curry this summer. For most of June, Curry stayed at Wesley's home outside of Detroit.

What does Wesley do? He's integral to a lot of things, arranging mortgages, arranging trades, arranging jobs for coaches and a whole lot more. But he's also, clearly, something of a camp counselor for people like Curry, and the Knicks have placed a ton of trust in him.

Everything changes if Wesley's work pays off. He'll be hailed as a genius. The Knicks will swell with pride.

If it doesn't ... then the joylessness you have seen on the court so far is what the Knicks will be.

As Hahn points out, Wesley is also famously close with LeBron James (and, complicating things somewhat, Allen Iverson). If the Knicks and Wesley can have success together in resurrecting the career of Eddy Curry, the good vibes that come along with that couldn't hurt the free agent conversation next summer.

In the meantime, Donnie Walsh and William Wesley will be watching Curry closely, knowing they both have a lot at stake.

By Chris Sheridan

GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Eleven minutes of Eddy Curry helped doom the possibility of 71 games of Allen Iverson.

That was one of the nuggets of information revealed by Knicks president Donnie Walsh this afternoon as he explained New York's decision to pass on the opportunity to sign unrestricted free agent Allen Iverson.

Curry played 11 minutes Wednesday night in the Knicks' victory in Indiana, and Walsh said the continued rehabilitation and re-integration of Curry -- along with the fear that Iverson would take minutes away from the young players the Knicks are trying to develop -- impacted the decision.

"That's part of it, because Eddy is now on the team and we've got to develop a lot of attention to Eddy from a franchise standpoint, because he went out there in 11 minutes and I thought actually changed the game in a lot of ways. Their big guys were having their way with us, which big men do because David (Lee) is not a natural center, and when Eddy went in -- just the fact that he could take the ball and go at them -- I could see they went back on their heels and they weren't the same after that no matter who was playing. I thought he helped us win the game right there. He's got a lot of talent, he's got great size, you can see he's worked on his body tremendously, so yeah, Eddy is a guy we're very high on, and we wanted to work with him."

By Henry Abbott

• Dirk Nowitzki vs. the Spurs. A killer shooting night, with a killer soundtrack.
• Thunder GM Sam Presti must cringe, just a little, at seeing Kevin Durant say this in the Oklahoman: “I always was a big Antoine Walker fan."
• Sam Bowie has applied to become the first black member of one of Lexington's exclusive golf clubs. He's talking like a guy who loves golf, more than a civil rights leader, though.
• Mayor Kevin Johnson appoints a "Dream Team" of bigwigs to figure out a Sacramento stadium in a bad economy. Good luck! (I really mean that.)
• To their banquet of efficient scrappers, the Rockets will soon be adding a gunner. Tracy McGrady is almost back, telling the Houston Chronicle: "After putting in all the work this summer, I'm so eager to get back out there. I'm hungry. I'm so ready to play, man, it's not even funny. It's tearing me apart to sit here and watch my guys go out and playing and I can't do anything but watch.” I still remember learning from Chris Ballard's book "The Art of a Beautiful Game" that McGrady ranked last on the Rockets in the percentage of his shots that were "high-quality" as in, from the paint, the free throw line, or 3-point land.
• Timothy Varner of 48 Minutes of Hell: "I’m concerned about Tim Duncan. He played 41 minutes last night in a toughly fought battle with Dallas. Tonight he must run through the gauntlet that is the Utah Jazz. And that knee brace, it’s big."
• The Bucks are off to a great start, but Andrew Bogut injuries are never good.
• Josh Smith as statistical superman.
• It's possible Earl Boykins can bench-press more than any other Wizard, even though he's tiny.
• The Sacramento Kings have two of the NBA's top three rebounders right now. Measured by what percentage of available rebounds they have nabbed while on the court, Jon Brockman is tops, and Kenny Thomas is third.

Yesterday, Sonny Vaccaro explained why he feels defensive about Brandon Jennings.

Jennings, says Vaccaro, has endured criticism -- and perhaps was drafted artificially low -- as punishment for playing his post-high school year playing professionally in Italy, instead of paying his dues to the powers that be in NCAA basketball.

The way people talked about Jennings leading up to the draft does suggest opinion-makers weren't at all sure what to make of the player who has been the shining star of the rookie class in the season's early going.

Vaccaro is a powerful basketball insider, who has played a pivotal role in the careers of may top basketball players, from Kobe Bryant to O.J. Mayo. In the second installment of the conversation, Vaccaro discusses getting to know a young Brandon Jennings, a fateful meeting in an Italian restaurant, and how Jennings came to the decision to skip college.

Do you have a favorite Brandon Jennings moment? When you thought he would be special?
Yeah! This is a true story. He was in eighth grade, going into ninth grade. We had one of my camps or something at Artesia High School. Near his house.

He was playing on this AAU team. The best one. Southern California All-Stars. They had great players. They were really good, and he was beating this team like 100-10. Just killing them.

And the end of the game, he threw a long pass, like over his head and behind his back to get somebody a dunk. I ran after him, I swear to god almighty, and he's like 13 or 14, and I ran after him and said: "Don't you ever do that. You're too good. Don't you ever show up the people you're playing against like that."

I gave him a Sonny speech. It was a Sonny moment.

I don't know why I did it.

But I saw that this kid had this thing about him. But I didn't ever want him to take it for granted, or to embarrass other players. It was a moment.

He didn't play at a lot of my camps. I quit the camps his senior year. He didn't play at the Roundball Classic because I didn't have a Roundball Classic his senior year. Those are the things that the kids usually went through all the process, O.J. [Mayo], Kevin [Garnett], Greg [Oden], Kobe [Bryant] ... they went from the camp to the Big-Time Tournament and all that.

The last time, his junior year his team beat Derrick Rose and Eric Gordon's team in the final of the Big-Time Tournament in one of the greatest summer league's game ever. I just talked to Reggie Rose -- Derrick's brother -- about it a couple of days ago. It was Eric Gordon and Derrick Rose and his Chicago team, against Pat Barrett's Southern California All-Stars team with Kevin Love, Daniel Hackett, Taylor King, Brandon Jennings, a sophomore Renardo Sidney. And they won by two points or something. Derrick and Eric were unbelievable. It was one of the greatest summer league games ever.

Then there was a year of separation. He went to Oak Hill. I didn't talk to him for a year.

Then that fateful call. I flew to New York as soon as I got that call. I wanted to be part of that.

Tell me about the fateful phone call.
I hadn't seen him in a year. That was the first thing. It wasn't like we were continuous, like everybody thinks it was. Then he said I'm in New York. [Vaccaro's wife] Pam and I were going to the draft the next day. So we flew and met Brandon in an Italian restaurant.

Just a coincidence that -- as you embark on sending him to Italy -- it was an Italian restaurant?
No. Most of my restaurants are Italian restaurants. [Laughs].

Turned out to be prophetic.
Yes it was.

You have to understand. That was right before the NBA draft. I kept saying: Do you know what you're doing? They're going to beat you up. And then when you say that I'm the guy who is handling all of this, you're going to get double indemnity here. The two of us ... a perfect couple for Vogue magazine, you know that!

I think I was a little proud that he asked me to do this. That he believed in me.

Had you shared with him in advance that going to Europe was something he ought to consider?
He heard it on the radio! I never spoke to him about it. He heard me say it on the "Loose Cannons" radio show I used to be a regular on. I had nothing to do with Brandon's decision.

I had been preaching "Go to Europe" since David Stern put that stupid rule in. And then he heard me and called me.

It's too simple for skeptics to believe.

I told him they were going to kill him.

We did everything, Pam and I. I did the shoe contract, I did everything. Duff [Agent Bill Duffy] came on in January.

Brandon, me, and Alice, and [Jenning's half-brother] Terrence, and my wife Pam, we walked this walk together. And that's what people don't understand. And to see this happen now. You have to be inhuman not to feel good for him.

I don't know what's going to happen. But one thing we can say, Henry Abbott, there's no more questions about whether he can play basketball. All the great coaches, all the great commentators, and all the great universities had nothing to do with it.

Why Italy, by the way?
Well, because we went to Las Vegas. Right after the draft, as you know, they all go to the Summer League out there. ... He started working out at the Tarkanian gym, and then I got these teams, reluctantly, to come watch. The Italians were really really interested. I met the general manager, and he worked him out personally. The first day, there was great interest. So the Israeli people come. The Russian people come to meet the next day at the games over in the gym, and they wanted to have workouts.

And by the afternoon of the second day, the Italian team had made, to paraphrase, an offer that we couldn't refuse.

I said Brandon, this is a lot of money. We can work out for the Israelis, the Russians, the Greeks. But s---, this is a lot. This is a lot! Let's go for it.

They were good. We met, and we got the deal done, and everything they said it was going to be, it was. They called the coach up, who was in Greece for the World Championships and all that sort of stuff, so they really wanted him. They recruited him, and we never really entertained much else. Two days after that I saw these other guys in the gym, and I said we made a deal.

Basically, the money was great. And Brandon had an affinity for going to Rome. If nothing else, Rome is an international city. A lot of Americans go through it. It has such history to it. The amenities were great. The living quarters, the car for the mom, the school for the brother -- they paid tuition, $25,000 for his brother to go to a diplomat's school -- all the things were good. And it was the highest level of European basketball. That was basically it.

And then we did the shoe deal. I talked to all the shoe companies, they Under Armour stepped up, and I think ... he got the fourth best shoe deal last year, I think the money he's earning this year, is more than what any rookie got this year. I don't know that the other people all got, but Brandon's is pretty damn good. And Under Armour stepped up.

We had the stars and the moon, everything lined up. They were a new company, and he's dynamic, and we go to Rome, and have a beautiful press conference overlooking the city.

I think the one thing that really helped a lot was the honest look that Bryant Gumbel did on Real Sports. I think Bryant helped defray the negative stuff that was coming. And I think Chris Broussard went over there, and Brandon was the leading scorer in the exhibition season. That was the irony here. Then his coach went brain dead on me [and played Jennings in a limited role].

That happens.
It all happened. But the public didn't know that. They just know he didn't go play for Lute Olson.

Moreso than Kobe and all those guys, he's demonized. Because he took the European route. In the eyes of a public, he was a failure. But in Brandon's eyes, he wasn't. He learned. And that's why, of all the kids, through all the things ... Obviously, my life has been blessed, and every one is special in their own way, but I think I feel better personally, my wife and I, about the outcome of Brandon Jennings to this point then all the other ones.

Because the other ones, the landmines weren't there. When Kobe went out of high school, when Kevin went out of high school, when they all went out of high school you accepted it. That was the rule.

This guy wouldn't accept what they told him he had to do.

One more Brandon Jennings conversation with Sonny Vaccaro to follow on TrueHoop.