Happy Friday, and happy NBA Appreciation Day, everyone! I was hoping for this post to be about the end of the NBA lockout, but I guess it wasn’t meant to be. On the bright side, maybe next week! Also on the bright side, you get another chance to see what happens when I’m forced to pick my brain…
As of November 14th, 2007, 33 points was Rashad McCants’ career high. He one-upped himself (literally one-upped, scoring 34 against Denver) a couple months later, but that performance came in a Minnesota loss. It also came in a game during which the scoreboard was lit up for a total of 225 points. Keep in mind that we’re flashing back to 2007/2008 here… back when dropping 34 on the Nuggs would be comparable to doing so against the Knicks or Warriors of today. So, I’d say the 33 points he hung on the Kings may very well represent the finest performance of his brief NBA career. His individual highlights from this performance just so happen to be kickin’ around on Youtube. I apologize for the poor audio/video syncing; I didn’t upload it…
About a year and a half later, as a member of the Sacramento Kings, McCants scored 14 points on 6-12 in the ’08/09 season finale… against the T-Wolves, coincidentally. It would be his final NBA game to date, and probably the last one he’ll ever play. He’s been out of the league for two years now and hasn’t made any noise since his exit. He had a very short stint with the Texas Legends of the D-League, and had a CBA deal fall apart… that’s about it.
Rashad’s NBA career lasted just four seasons… but why? For a young guy whose minutes went up and down like a roller coaster (averaged out to about 20 a game), 10 PPG and 43% from the floor aren’t exactly the worst numbers ever posted. At 6’4, McCants was an undersized two guard, and yeah, he was kinda one dimensional, but you can’t tell me that there haven’t been far, far worse players who stuck around more than four seasons, and got a chance with more than just two teams. There was no bouncing around in the case of McCants; two teams, four seasons, the end. For a stud college player taken 14th overall, his time in the league ran out unusually quick.
So, once again I pose the question: why exactly was his NBA career over after just four short seasons during which he did manage to prove he was capable of putting the ball in the basket on the highest level? Normally, I do my best to answer my own questions when writing these articles… but this is one question to which I do not have an answer. McCants claims to have one, though. In a Boston Globe article published on September 18th, he had the following to say…
“I never got a chance to show my true ability, period.’’
He may have a point… at least to an extent. However, he continued…
“The only way I would come back to the league is if I get to play with Kobe Bryant. There’s nobody who thinks like me but Kobe Bryant. I just get criticized for what he used to get criticized for because I tried to establish myself the same way he did. I was just on a bad team.”
Or maybe he was a bit of a headcase.
Headcase or not, I always enjoyed watching Rashad play. I like a player who wears his heart on his sleeve, and McCants certainly fit that mold. I don’t think he ever dunked the basketball without picking up a technical foul.
Behavior like that will do nothing but hinder an NBA career on the fringe, but it will likely make you an NBA247365.COM hero.
If my blog ever blows up, so will your legend, Rashad. I promise.
Representin’
l] 
