During the lockout, Washington Wizards center Andray Blatche has shown there’s more to life than basketball. He’s been an active charity worker,
working with kids and with the Wounded Warriors program, which helps soldiers rehabilitate from their injuries. He’s said he has no plans to go play overseas if the lockout continues, he’s financially stable and just wants to stay at home and work out.
Even with most of his attention away from the game, it’s a big part of his life and he can’t ignore it. He’s been trying to get together with his teammates for workouts, but conflicting schedules have made that tough. The Wizards are a young team, most notably sophomore point guard John Wall, so they would definitely benefit from some team practice. Despite the youth of the team and their 23 wins last year, Blatche still thinks the Wizards have what it takes to compete.
“We have the right pieces, and that starts with a great point guard, which we have. We just need to put them all together.”
Despite the optimistic outlook from Blatche, I still think the Wizards are a few years away from being competitive. They do have a very talented point guard, but they have to put a few more pieces around him before they’ll be a playoff team again.
In the meantime, I think it’s good to see a player focused more on others than himself during this tough time. Blatche is setting a good example for his peers, he’s definitely a winner where it counts.
