Jul
9
Filed Under Floor Burns, NBA
Choosing the middle-aged cougars of the Big Apple over the random wandering cougar of Chicago’s Roscoe Village, socialite Chris Duhon has left the Chicago Bulls and signed with the New York Knicks on the first official day for NBA free agents to ink deals with new teams.
Besides the appealing nightlife that New York City offers, the notorious party animal Duhon noted during an introductory conference at Madison Square Garden how making a lot of money, rejoining former Bulls’ teammate Eddy Curry in basketball obscurity, and possibly starting for a moribund franchise were added bonuses to the opportunity to partake in such a burgeoning social scene.
According to reports, Duhon will receive more than $11 million for the two-year deal; however, the terms of how many mulligans are contained in Duhon’s contract for oversleeping and showing up late for film sessions after a hard night of partying or rooting on his beloved alma mater were not made available to the media.
Kidding aside, Duhon leaving the Bulls is no shock. The writing was on the wall last year when Chicago acquired Larry Hughes as part of the Ben Wallace deal and Duhon was relegated to the role of spectator at the end of the bench.
While Duhon didn’t win any friends when he missed a team flight to Detroit in early March after being spotted on ESPN the night before cheering on Duke in a game against North Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium and then foolishly later tried to justify his tardiness by commenting that “it wasn’t as if I was playing anyways,” Chicago fans should be appreciative of Duhon in many regards, even it was time for him to get out of town.
While certainly a limited player who could either give you all or nothing on offense, especially when it came to his outside shooting, Duhon was a major contributor in Chicago’s important 2004 rookie class, which included first-round pick Ben Gordon, Duhon’s college teammate Luol Deng (acquired in a deal with the Phoenix Suns) and Argentine fireball Andres Nocioni.
It’s may come as a surprise to many that Duhon actually was a starter for the Bulls by the end of that surreal 2004-2005 season, which began with an inconspicuous 0-9 slide before Chicago somehow came together and earned the number-four seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs, where they bowed out to the Washington Wizards in six games.
While Duhon was like every other Bull with an attitude that left a lot to be desired at some point last season, he was typically a hard-working, effective and at least serviceable player for the most part during his tenure in Chicago, especially considering that he was a second round pick who immediately stepped in and helped the organization when it was in a bind following the Jason Williams’ motorcycle accident.
And while he allegedly enjoyed his fair share of the nightlife, Duhon also was a very charitable human being, contributing in much publicized ways to Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Make no mistake, Duhon’s departure hardly has Chicago fans crying; as for business owners of downtown clubs, that’s another story.
chris@hoops4thesoul.com
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Choosing the middle-aged cougars of the Big Apple over the random wandering cougar of Chicago’s Roscoe Village, socialite Chris Duhon has left the Chicago Bulls and signed with the New York Knicks on the first official day for NBA free agents to ink deals with new teams.
