This would have been a great rookie prank if it were intentional.
As you may have heard, the Houston Rockets traded for James Harden this week. We did a post or two on it. As part of the package headed north to Oklahoma City was rookie Jeremy Lamb, a promising prospect out of UConn.
Rockets star and face of the franchise (at least until this week) Jeremy Lin wanted to do what a veteran team leader does in these situations and call the traded rookie to wish him well.
But it didn’t quite like he had planned, reports the Houston Chronicle:
Jeremy Lin thought he was doing the right, veteran thing. He called Scott Machado to say goodbye and good luck. The only problem was that he called the wrong rookie.
“I was like, ‘Hey, it’s Scott, it’s not Jeremy,’ ” Machado said of his conversation with Lin. “’Did you hear something about me?’ I was all nervous. He was like, “Oh, I apologize, I apologize.’ It all worked out.”
Machado was on the bubble to make the Rockets roster so he admitted his heart skipped a few beats when Lin called and started saying goodbye. But the Rockets are building for the future and kept the young Machado and let veteran Shaun Livingston go.
Livingston had a guaranteed deal, as did Jon Brockman and four other guys the Rockets let go (although several had partial buyouts, so the Rockets saved a lot of money by moving $7.5 million under the luxury tax line).
We don’t know if Lin tried to call Livingston and Brockman, too. Or if he did call them but ended up reaching Tyson Chandler and Steve Novak on accident.
