04/19/24
October 28, 2002
Drinks with the Don:: Some competing NBA team scout saw Mavericks coach Don Nelson in the same room with Yugoslav center Darko Milicic and turned him in. As a result, he's been suspended for the first two games of the season for illegal contact. "I'm not talkin' about it," Nelson says in this preseason interview with The Sports Page, a Dallas weekly. "Wait’ll I get a couple Dewar’s scotches in me at night some time, and I’ll probably tell ya, but not now."
posted by Bob Jones to basketball at 11:50 AM - 2 comments
I personally think the thing with Darko Milicic has been blown out of proportion. The Mavericks weren't there to scout him. The kid is already going to be one of the top three picks in the upcoming draft (I should say pick 2 or 3), so the Mavs don't really stand a chance of getting him, no matter what.
He's been playing professionally for a few years, hasn't he? Couldn't the Mavs brass just buy a seat in the bleachers like everyone else? Is that a violation?
I see why the rule is in place, but this seems like a silly enforcement of it.
posted by jmevius at 08:42 AM on October 29, 2002
Nelson's great; his interviews on KTCK in Dallas are always entertaining. I don't think a two-game suspension is punitive enough to discourage illegal contact with foreign phenoms. The Nelsons would probably do it again to get an inside track on the next Dirk Nowitzki.