Blazers History revisited: Derek Anderson and the Toothache-gate

[EL PRESIDENTE]

It was weird today on one Instagram account I follow (@trillblazin....its really good) had a pic of Derek Anderson and I made some silly hashtag about his infamous toothache incident.

Derek actually responded in the comments to clear up and upon further research saw he was on Canzano's show the other day and saw this summary, pretty interesting stuff.

http://www.oregonlive.com/sports/or...f/2014/02/canzano_blog_ex-blazer_derek_a.html

Anderson spoke in a wide-ranging interview on 750-AM The Game talking about his childhood, growing up abandoned and poor, and his time with the Blazers. He said the infamous incident in 2005 in which he apparently blew off a Blazers game, sitting out with a toothache, and was spotted in the McDonald's drive-thru was a case of the organization throwing him under the bus.

The guard said he asked for a trade in 2005, and said he didn't want to be in Portland anymore. According to Anderson, team president Steve Patterson told him, "Go home, we'll come up with something." The toothache was a fabrication by the organization, Anderson said, intended to make him look bad.

Said Anderson: "When Steve told me, I told him I don't want to be here, all the players were like, 'Let him go, trade him.' Rasheed asked to be traded. Damon sat on the end of the bench and asked to be traded. Everyone was trying to get out of there, but because I'm the nice guy and they figure, 'Hey he won't go to the paper and say anything, he won't cuss us out and flip us off in the stands, let's make him a scapegoat.'

"That happens to all good guys who are in a bad situation. They make him a scapegoat. If i would have choked the coach and did everything else, then what? Now, people try to reward people with attitudes and it's not right. Not one of my teammates would ever say anything. They forget, I am a man. No one has ever tried me or disrespected me. You know how the newspaper works. They were trying to look for a scape goat and a story, who else could they go to? Everyone else had been in jail."

 

[Natebishop3]

The guy was genuinely nice. He had the Jordan brand polish in interviews, but he was always very respectful and very polite.

 

[OneLifeToLive]

Allen was good to him but he should have stayed with Spurs.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

He had all the talent in the world, but he was aloof, and played basketball like an abstract artist with an ecstasy addiction. Free and happy.

Basketball greatness requires strict rigidity and adherence to a self imposed regimen of sacrifice to foster a slow and labored improvement, some people just aren't cut out for the rigors of the obsession required to achieve a goal that they might not even have

Always liked him

 

[maxiep]

And whatever happened to earning your paycheck? Who cares if you want to be traded? Keep playing and shut the hell up.

 

[3RA1N1AC]

I'm sure you haven't earned a few paychecks in your time

We all have (haven't?)

 

[3RA1N1AC]

Dude had a great smile

 

[maxiep]

I'm sure you haven't earned a few paychecks in your time

We all have (haven't?)

I've never asked to leave a job. Instead, I quit and left the money on the table.

 

[Mote]

I've never asked to leave a job. Instead, I quit and left the money on the table.

A truth that too many on this forum will never understand. When you read the whole quote I have to ask who is throwing who under the bus. Expected entitlement to the extreme!

 

[jlprk]

This thread is giving me gum disease.

 

[BBert]

Umm..."everyone else had been in jail"? Who?

And why would you throw the "good guy" under the bus and not the known "bad guys"?

I'm not following any of his logic. Has he been hanging out with Dennis Rodman?

 

[VanillaGorilla]

Yeah this is bullshit.

 

[blue9]

I keep reading the title of the thread as "Blazers Revisionist History"...dyslexia for the win! (No, I don't have dyslexia.)

 

[BlazerWookee]

At least he didn't change into a suit at halftime...

 

[rasheedfan2005]

Gingivitis could help clear a lane to the hoop

 

[jlprk]

This old story is getting rather long in the tooth.