Mark Cuban made some waves last weekend when he fired shots directly at ESPN Grantland columnist Bill Simmons. Simmons was not too crazy about Cuban’s acquisition of Chris Kaman and Elton Brand and voiced that displeasure on Twitter. To which Cuban responded with some not-so-kind words.
They look kind and cordial after Kaman fired back at Simmons:
Twitter / ChrisKaman: Put it this way: I wasn’t via kwout
So that is how it is going to be then?
Kaman is a bit of an “out there” guy who has had an up-and-down career. He showed a lot of promise at one point for the Clippers only to succumb to a wide assortment of injuries. He was traded to New Orleans as part of the Chris Paul trade. Kaman then signed a one-year, $8 million contract with the Mavericks where he will pair up with former Clippers teammate Elton Brand and current German national team teammate Dirk Nowitzki.
Like I said, Kaman is all over the place.
Kaman played in 47 games last year averaging 13.1 points per game and 7.7 rebounds per game for New Orleans.
Dallas is hoping he can provide some sort of defensive anchor for the team as it tries to regain a championship form (while maintaining cap flexibility). Kaman might be able to help a lot with that if he can stay healthy and find a good role in Rick Carlisle’s defensive system.
But, if this is any indication, Kaman’s hate toward Simmons seems to be along the party line.
The reference to 2006 appears to be referring to Simmons’ comment that he did not like Brand and Kaman together the first time. It was 2006, after all, that Kaman made his only career Playoff appearance with Brand leading the way for the Clippers. That team got to the second round of the Playoffs before losing to the Suns.
Kaman has not so much as sniffed the Playoffs since. Going to Dallas was an opportunity to do that. And he clearly likes the idea of playing with Brand.
And that is why he might be telling the Book of Basketball author to keep a little quiet now.
Welcome to Dallas, Chris.
