Folster said:
Did anyone catch this interview after the game. It was priceless. With a stone cold serious face, John Thompson said, "I think your career is over." He also asked Penny if he was a hypochondriac. Penny thought it was a joke until he saw the solemn look on Thompsons face.
Sorry if this wasn't threadworthy, I'm surprised no one is talking about it.
I don't think it was priceless. Well, I guess it depends what you mean by priceless. If you like to look at a guy and see pain in his eyes to the point where they have to stop and edit an interview to not let the public see that the guy has his head in his hands and keep speak, then yeah, it was pretty priceless. For some people, there's nothing better than seeing a wealthy, young guy in emotional pain.
Otherwise, I thought it was a good interview because it shows that he has absolutely no reason to be working out the way he is. Penny can easily be out of the NBA. His career, as John Thompson put it, could be over, and there are a lot of people who believe that. If he wasn't working his butt off twice a day in Houston right now, he could be home right now, collecting the last few checks from his $87 million contract, calling it a career. He could easily be sitting in front of his big screen, watching other guys play basketball for a living, saying to himself, "Look at those guys, working so hard, and they'll never make the kind of money I'm making just sitting on my couch!"
But he's not. He benefits nothing - absolutely nothing - from training right now. Even if he signs with a team next season, he'll make around the veteran minimum, which is peanuts to a guy with his money (he was Nike's go-to-guy, to add that onto his bball contract). He's a 34-year old, over-the-hill has-been who everybody loves to beat on. He's heard the terms "soft" and "faking the injury" and "taking the money and run" so many times that part of him doesn't even listen and part of him wants to cry.
And if that can make you smile, then more power to ya. But I thought it was a good interview for other reasons.