Ok. It's been awhile. In part, because I didn't know where to go with our next Chronicle. But I looked outside where it's only 7 degrees... which will be the high temp for the next week. I looked at the standings where the Wolves have the league's worst record. Again. And I even considered that we've been in a house-arrested pandemic since I last wrote something about the Cursed Timberwolves franchise.
So along those lines... I figured that we're all ready for it... (deep breath)...
I hate Rashad McCants. I hate Rashad McCants with every fiber of my being. Watching him play basketball produced deep, powerful pangs of pain to my heart, eyes and mind. I am being 100% honest when I say I believed he was simply the devil in disguise trying to steal my soul.
You're probably thinking,
"C'mon Abe! Settle down. He wasn't that bad. The Wolves have had plenty of worse people and definitely worse basketball players over the years."
You're wrong. The stats don't do it justice. I went back to 2008 and found this nugget to describe my feelings toward my most hated NBA player in history in the moment:
Rashad McCants is trying to steal my soul. I love basketball. Or, more accurately, I USED to love basketball. Rashad McCants is making it more difficult for me to enjoy my favorite sport. He's stripped away the aesthetics. Now, all I see is a horrible basketball player who constantly makes stupid plays, takes stupid shots and glowers stupid facial expressions. I turn the channel sometimes when he enters the game. I hate everything about his game. And, I assume, everything about him, too.
Couple that with his two most prominent tattoos:
1.
https://i.pinimg.com/originals/19/56/9b/19569b0f27b54be95a7f6c02d561e1e9.jpgBorn to Be Hated.
2. Dying to Be Loved.
While I think that sums up the Rashad McCants Experience pretty well... let's dig deeper:
College. McCants won a NCAA title at UNC his junior season... averaging 16 ppg. (He averaged 17 ppg as a freshman and 20 ppg as a sophomore.) But his college career was not always super smooth. Probably because of the atrocious treatment McCants received. Consider this beauty of a quote:
"You're not allowed to say certain things, but once you get out of jail, you're free. (I'm) in my sentence, and I'm doing my time."
But Kevin McHale saw something in the mercurial, moody malcontent. I didn't know it at the time, but McCants was the quintessential modern Timberwolves wing. Consider these draft report nuggets:
It's not rare to see him getting torched on the perimeter, and this doesn't seem to bother him too much. He has the strength to fight through screens, but doesn't put in a huge effort here. His attitude is very questionable and this is something the NBA teams will undoubtedly be focusing in on with their psychological tests. Has very poor body language and appears to get frustrated easily when things aren't going his way.
Part of this stemmed from him arguing with coaches during college, which caused him to be benched. Problems with teammates. And even getting kicked off the U-20 National Squad team.
Pros. When you have that sort of player... I can only think of one mentor for him. A guy so perfect for helping McCants become the person we all knew he could be. A guy who had seemingly perfected the role that McCants would someday eclipse... Ricky Davis. The Ricky Davis who once shot at his own basket to get a triple double? Yes. That's the one. What could go wrong?
McCants wasn't terrible as a rookie, a slight negative presence on a mediocre but not terrible team. But one very important development happened at the end of the season... the Mark Madsen game. We all know that one right? If not, ask me about it... I have a 48k word soliloquy ready to print.
After an injury ruined Rashad McCants' second season... the team's future HOF star player (Garnett) was traded and accused of "tanking" by the owner who supported the Mark Madsen game... and after Ricky Davis had two full years to mentor him... Rashad McCants was ready for his break out.
You're going to see 14.9 ppg. You're going to see 41% 3fg. Turn away. That's the Devil playing tricks on your eyes and your mind... and sadly, your soul. The next season begins and we truly see the Devil in action.
Again, let's revisit the Rashad McCants Experience in real time:
"My freshman year high school coach was right. A guy can help the team even by sitting the bench. Case in point: The Timberwolves are currently 11 - 25. In 9 of the team's past 10 victories... McCants has played a total of 27 minutes. He's averaging 20+ minutes in the other 26 games. The Timberwolves are 5 - 1 when McCants doesn't play at all!"
Apparently, the Wolves got the memo. They traded him to the Kings. McCants came off the bench for the 65-loss Kings.
He signed with Houston the next offseason... but was cut the 2nd day. He'd never play in the NBA again. He was only 25 years old.
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But that's only 1/2 of why Rashad McCants is so imminently hate-able.
1. He dated a Kardashian. McCants would later say that relationship ruined his NBA career. No word yet whether World Champions Lamar Odom and Tristan Thompson agree.
2. Remember that prison quote? Years later (2014) McCants came out and said he was upset UNC didn't give him an education.
https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2014/6/12/5802798/rashad-mccants-north-carolina-grades-scandalHe accused them of academic fraud. In true Rashad McCantsian fashion, he claimed it was to help other college athletes. Or was it really to make money? He also claimed they'd give him $310M to settle.
They did not.
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For those who never saw Rashad McCants pout and glower his way around Target Center... you probably think I'm out to lunch. For those who value boxscore warriors who oddly find themselves booted from two of the worst franchises ever and can't get back into the league despite somewhat decent stats... you may say it's not fair.
But you'd be wrong.
Rashad McCants has stolen your soul. Enjoy hell.
