CJ was asked why he always plays even when hurt or sick. His reply:

That's my guy!

I have no problem calling this CJ's team. We have some really good basketball players. And we also have a really good professional basketball player.

I think its hilarious that Zion and BI missed, but I kinda get what they are doing with Zion.

BI situation is just beyond frustrating to me though.

I want him to come back and play great so we can maximize his trade value

Ingram needs to play ball so we can trade his arse.

What an answer from CJ.

I got to go last night night and brought two of my kids. Since 2019, I’m like 2/30 in terms of seeing Zion play in person. Last night my kids got to see 30+ year old CJ and Jonas setting and fighting through screens in the 4th quarter of a back to back against the pistons, while Zion clowns around on the bench.

Zion is a fat cow of a basketball player and a pathetic professional. Maybe he puts it together this season, but I hope the Pels trade him as soon as he regains any sense of value. I’m there as a fan to see you guys play in person. And he doesn’t play.

quote:

---

Zion refused to come back until he “felt like Zion”

---

That is not what happened. That was the lame cover story he used. If you read between the lines of everything that was said and not said, he did not meet the fitness/weight/conditioning quotas that Aaron Nelson had set.

The team limited Zion's basketball activities because he wasn't in shape. Zion doesn't get in shape unless he plays basketball. It was a stupid battle of wills where both sides lost. That is why Nelson is no longer in the picture other than collecting a check.

Agreed. Zion didn’t want to seem like a fat lazy bum because he didn’t meet conditioning metrics so he took the blame and said I wasn’t ready because he didn’t “feel like himself” not because he failed tests. Team didn’t want to be like yeah we can’t make playoffs because Zion keeps failing conditioning metrics. Griffin said there was too much say by one person in that type of situation and in the end Nelson basically screwed over the team/Zion because of his metrics. That being said to me this is a situation where a more invested owner would have stepped in and put the heat on Griffin to let Zion play otherwise we lose money and it pisses off our fanbase if we miss playoffs. Its pretty alarming that the end of the day- Griffin really doesn’t have to worry about reporting to anyone. Similarly, here we are with BI- where again a more invested owner would demand he play or be traded. Instead a one time all star acts like hes Kawhi Leonard or something.

quote:

---

he can't keep himself in shape

---

It's fair to ding him for this. I'm just saying, people are melting over him missing a load management game like he's actually injured and out indefinitely. Why can't we wait for an actual injury to melt? Is that too much to ask?

Again, I don't disagree at all with how the team handled this. I've said several times I think they have to be very mindful of how many minutes he plays because I just don't think his body can handle heavy minutes with the physical pounding he takes. So sitting him out on the second half of a back to back is fine with me. My point is simply that I have no sympathy if he gets unfairly (at this time) treated by some fans because he's not playing, when its at least partly (if not entirely) because he's failed to get himself in shape. I'll stop bitching about it now.