Andray Blatche Has Been Amnestied, Which Means It’s The End Of A Memorable Era

For seven long seasons the Wizards waited for Andray Blatche, the teenager they drafted 49th overall in 2005, to develop.  Finally, they’ve given up.  Reports that DC residents are petitioning to make the 17th of July a federal holiday remain unconfirmed, but seem highly plausible.

For those of you who never checked in on the NBA’s traveling circus that was the ’11/12 Washington Wizards, the Andray Blatche train was essentially derailed 18 games into the season.  That’s when the boneheaded forward lost his starting job to Javale McGee, whom the team deemed the lesser of two evils.  Blatche watched from the bench as his minutes diminished, and eventually the Wizards simply elected to put him on the shelf.

Unable to trade their dead weight (not even for Tyrus Thomas and his ridiculous deal), Washington designated Blatche their amnesty player earlier today.  ‘Dray doesn’t figure to draw much interest from bidders, so the Wizards will probably remain on the hook for the vast majority of the $23 million he’s still owed.

Tough pill to swallow… but if ever a team needed to pay a player $23 million to get the f@ck out of dodge, that team was Washington, and that player was Andray Blatche.

Still, his time in our Nation’s capitol was memorable.  For all the wrong reasons, but indeed memorable.  So, here’s a brief summary of events covering the 9,289 minutes Blatche played for the Wizards.

***There was that one time in ’07 when he tried to solicit sex from an undercover police officer.  Then there was that other time when he hosted “Lapdance Tuesday.”  Clearly, he isn’t a PR wizard.

***Blatche’s finest performance came on February 28th, 2010, when he dropped 36 points in a road victory over the Nets.  His worst game is a tie between the other 408.

***Dray’s defense was pretty awful throughout his tenure.  Here he is being schooled by one of the worst offensive players of the past decade, Samuel Dalembert.

***To his credit, Blatche definitely developed a solid understanding of international rules.  This knowledge should serve him well when he ends up in China.

***He used to actually take the time to call local radio stations and argue his case to critics.  The link details just one phone-in, but if my memory serves me correct there was at least one more.

***For one game he was Andray BaLtche.  How this happened is a mystery, but would you honestly be shocked to learn that Blatche gave an equipment manager an incorrect spelling of his own last name?

***No, he never was able to get that elusive triple-double.

Damn you, Cartier Martin!

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One Response to Andray Blatche Has Been Amnestied, Which Means It’s The End Of A Memorable Era

  1. niokis says:

    this is another arenas-lewis-marbury-jerome james, hell, even tracy mcgrady type of story. GMs do never learn.

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