Crazy⑧s
Evacuee
NYK's President, Donnie Walsh, first pursued Felton last winter. Seeing that the Bobcats might have to choose between Felton and D.J. Augustin, Walsh approached Bobcats' HC Larry Brown about a possible trade.
Brown's reply - "No! I can't give up his heart'' - hung with Walsh. The Knicks have spent hundreds of millions the past decade on teams with no heart.[☆don't we f'ing know it] Felton might not be Chris Paul or Deron Williams, but he has toughness and character the Knicks lacked.
It pained Brown to lose Felton, and that was about more than a loss of talent and depth. Brown got emotional the day before training camp, describing the loss of Felton's intangibles.
"I died,'' Brown said, "and not just because we've got the same (North Carolina) bloodlines. Everything I value, he did.'
Their closeness grew complicated over the summer. Brown wanted Felton back, but his bosses showed little interest.
"Coach Brown couldn't get involved because, at the end of the day, it wasn't his decision,'' Felton recalled. "He still wanted me to be there - he would have loved for me to still be there - but it didn't work out that way.
"I remember saying, 'I gotta go, coach.'''
Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...n-going-in-a-new-direction.html#ixzz16JNYngLg
I can't help but feel ecstatic for Ray. Clearly Charlotte's hierarchs [after a bad series for Cpt Ray against Orlando in last year's playoffs] considered Raymond Felton an afterthought last off-season.
Larry Brown was loath to share their sentiments.
So after Jordan and Co. turn their backs on him, in favour of avoiding luxury tax, Raymond is faced with a true test of his intrinsic grit and comes back to battle his maligners and [literally] steals the show.
It was an All Star calibre performance.
?It was very emotional, man,? Felton said. ?It?s good to win and be back at home.?
Felton?s first game back in Charlotte since the Bobcats didn?t try to re-sign him in the offseason was a sweet one. All I can say is: 'It's even sweeter to be a Knick fan when you have genuine faith in your facilitator on both ends of the basketball court. Larry Brown's statement - 'I can't lose his heart' - will be ringing in MJ's ears tonight.
A resounding performance by Ray and a great victory for his team!
Ray's big return to Charlotte video: