NBA players have agents primarily to get them the best possible deals when contract time comes, but evidently they can also serve another purpose — to act as a professional cheerleader under the right set of circumstances.
That’s the role the agent for Gerald Green played recently, after Suns head coach Jeff Hornacek had some critical remarks ready when asked to explain why Green has occasionally slipped out of the rotation entirely, after being a consistent part of it since the beginning of last season.
From Sean Deveney of Sporting News:
“It’s completely unfair to misrepresent Gerald and his game like this,” Kevin Bradbury of BDA Sports told Sporting News. “You’re talking about a player that wants to win at any cost and is a tremendous locker guy and teammate. I don’t see the benefit for the coach to go about things this way.” …
“The numbers show pretty clearly that Gerald is not the terrible defensive player he is being made out to be,” Bradbury said. “The Suns played him a lot last year, they liked what he brought, when he was rolling, the team was rolling, and no one was out there complaining about his defense.
“It’s unfortunate because the team isn’t where some people thought it would or should be at this point in the season. I’m not sure why that falls on one guy all of a sudden, especially when they have known all along what they have with Gerald. He can score, and can score a lot quickly, when you give him the minutes. He brings it on the defensive end, consistent with what the team brings as a unit. But when you hear the coach saying he is so bad that he can’t be on the floor? That’s nonsense. You have to wonder where that comes from and why.”
Even if all of what Bradbury says here is true, his words lose credibility because he’s essentially one of Green’s employees. What’s he going to do, come out publicly and say he sees what Hornacek sees?
Obviously, that wouldn’t be very good for business.
