HoopsHype.com Rumors

The only ringing Blatche heard was his his alarm clock jolting him out of an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar condo in an unfamiliar city. He was up by 8 a.m. each day and at 8:30 sharp, Blatche stepped into Houston’s sticky morning air to see John Lucas waiting for him. Lucas, ex-NBA player and coach, is a former drug addict who has guided numerous players back on the straight and narrow. He wanted to help the 6-foot-11, one-time prodigy rescue the career he’s dragging through the gutter. “I met him our last home game in D.C.,” Blatche said. “We had a meeting and he talked to me and said, ‘listen, I’ve been where you’re at right now.’ Basically that I can help you, get your body back right, and get your game tuned up to get you back playing. I believed him basically.” NBA.com

Brooklyn Nets, Andray Blatche, John Lucas 

The player who fought his ex-Wizards teammate JaVale McGee outside a nightclub, propositioned a prostitute that was actually a cop, introduced “Lapdance Tuesdays” to the NBA and embarrassed himself with an inglorious attempt to secure a triple-double in a game, signed a one-year, non-guaranteed contract with Brooklyn in September. “In general, he knows what time I want him on the bus, he knows on the road, even if we have practice, he’s knows he’s probably going to have to get in an extra workout if we need him to,” Johnson said. “If we have a day off, some of the players have a day off, that may not mean a day off for him. My point is, he’s been very, very coachable and he really wants to be good. I’ve been pleased with that.” NBA.com

Brooklyn Nets, Andray Blatche 

Tim Bontemps: Asked @Andray Blatche if he ever doubted Joe's shot going in: "No, man. I saw when he made that move ... he made my move, first of all." Twitter @TimBontemps

Brooklyn Nets, Andray Blatche 

Blatche has plenty of people on the Nets willing to teach him. After his initial seasons in Washington were on playoff teams led by Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron Butler, Blatche was pushed into a role as one of several young players trying to lead the team. But with the Nets, Blatche has been placed into a locker room with several veterans to give him guidance, including Evans and Deron Williams, who have made sure the talented big man maximizes his abilities. “We’re trying to stay on him,” Williams said. “We’re trying to stay on him and keep him focused, which he’s been great at this year. He had a bad reputation from outside people, but he’s a great teammate, and he’s been a hard-worker for us and nothing but a positive for this team.” New York Post

Brooklyn Nets, Andray Blatche 

Andray Blatche has the greatest of expectations for himself and the Nets. But that's only for this season. In an interview with the Daily News, the Nets center said he'd like to re-sign as a free agent next summer but understandably couldn't commit to anything so early in the season. So when will he discuss free agency? "Talk to me after the playoffs," he said. "I mean, after we win the championship." New York Daily News

Brooklyn Nets, Free Agency, Andray Blatche 

Michael Lee: Wittman on Blatche: "Not going to get into that. We did everything we could to help him as we will with every player that ever comes here." Twitter @MrMichaelLee

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche, Randy Wittman 

As reporters gathered in the Nets locker room before the game, Blatche asked, “Anybody seen how the Wizards are doing?” Then, after the Nets won and the Wizards lost their 12th consecutive game to start the season, Blatche went on his Twitter account and wrote, “Feels good to be part of a winning organization.” The comments drew the ire of already upset Wizards fans, but Blatche had much more that he needed to get off of his chest. Blatche decided to do a radio interview with Holden Kushner and Danny Rouhier on 106.7 The Fan and lashed back at the Wizards for what he felt was a lack of support in his final years with the franchise. “They’ve could’ve had my back,” Blatche said during an interview that lasted roughly 20 minutes and touched on several topics, including his poor conditioning, the incident when he failed to check in during a game against Charlotte, his relationship with Ernie Grunfeld and even him getting arrested for soliciting a prostitute in 2007. Washington Post

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche, Ernie Grunfeld 

He also argued that his time in Washington was largely misrepresented and he was cast as a “knucklehead.” He denied that he refused to enter a game against the Bobcats in March 2010, claiming that it was a “misunderstanding” that the Wizards declined to acknowledge publicly and made him look worse. “I’m quite sure, they can ask every last one of my teammates here and I guarantee you what they say about me is completely different than what y’all think of me in D.C.,” he said. “For them to say, ‘Oh, he’s a bad teammate. He’s a cancer in the locker room.’ He’s this and that. All that was a bunch of lies! A bunch of lies. That’s what really made me mad. That showed me, they tried to end me.” Washington Post

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Michael Lee: Andray Blatche on #wizards: "They tried to end me." Twitter @MrMichaelLee

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Michael Lee: Andray Blatche: "I needed help. I asked them 'Why is nobody having my back?'...Everybody said, 'You have to play through it.' " #wizards Twitter @MrMichaelLee

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Michael Lee: Andray Blatche on Ernie Grunfeld: "I don’t like how he didn’t have my back." #wizards Twitter @MrMichaelLee

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche, Ernie Grunfeld 

Michael Lee: Andray Blatche: "For them to say, ‘Oh, he’s a bad teammate. He’s a cancer in the locker room.’ All that is a bunch of lies." #wizards Twitter @MrMichaelLee

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Blatche on his reputation as a knucklehead: "That's my other point. For them to say, 'He's a bad teammate. He's a cancer in the locker room.' All that was a bunch of lies. That's what really made me mad. When they said all those rumors and put them in the media, that's what angered me. Who else would say that? None of my teammates would say that. [The media] can ask every last one of my teammates here, and I guarantee you what they say is completely different than what everyone else says." Bullets Forever

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Blatche on the Wizards: "I can't remember not once anybody say, 'Give him a break. Let's try to pick him up. Or anything.' They were like, when things weren't starting well, they used me as an excuse." Bullets Forever

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Blatche on being out of shape: "I'm not necessarily blaming them for all my injuries. I could have done a lot more workouts, a lot more stuff in the pool to take off my legs. I could have done that. I learned a lot of stuff about pool workouts this summer." Blatche on what the Wizards could have done: "There were certain situations with the fans and media that the team didn't help me out with ... They could have explained exactly what was going on. They could have had my back. It could have been anything ... That's not what you do with your family, or the brotherhood." Bullets Forever

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Michael Lee: Blatche on Ted Leonsis: "He's a first-class guy. I have nothing against him." #wizards Twitter @MrMichaelLee

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche, Ted Leonsis 

Blatche on soliciting a prostitute: "It was a joke gone bad. She was not dressed as a prostitute." He said they were just talking to her outside the club, they weren't actually trying to pick her up. Bullets Forever

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

Blatche on Lapdance Tuesday: "Lapdance Tuesday is not a strip club." He said it was a regular club with a promotion. Blatche on everything else: "The whole little Gil incident [with the torn-up suit and such]. That was me. That was me being stupid. As far as all that, didn't want back in the game, the finger guns and such, that's overdoing it." Bullets Forever

Brooklyn Nets, Washington Wizards, Andray Blatche 

John Schuhmann: Andray Blatche to reporters in BKN locker room: "Anybody seen how the Wizards are doing?" Twitter @johnschuhmann

Brooklyn Nets, Andray Blatche 

Brooklyn Nets coach Avery Johnson was talking about practice. And he was talking about Nets center Brook Lopez. "He's had to raise the level of his practice habits because of the competition," Johnson said, referring to 2012-13 Nets additions Reggie Evans and Andray Blatche. It was a polite, non-inflammatory way of saying Lopez's practice habits in previous seasons were not what the Nets sought. "We want him to be a presence inside," Johnson said. USA Today

Brooklyn Nets, Avery Johnson, Andray Blatche, Reggie Evans, Brook Lopez