After being the 3rd overall pick in the 2006 draft and being labeled the next Larry Bird, Adam Morrison has been somewhat of a lackluster in the NBA. I say, maybe he doesn’t deserve all the rotten tomatoes being thrown at him. Morrison has yet to transform into an outstanding player and there is more to him that meets the eye! (I saw Transformers revenge of the fallen last weekend and now I’m stuck in autobot mode, my apologies.)
When Morrison came to play for the Bucks after the draft he averaged a mere but steady 11.8 points a game, but it wasn’t enough for the fans. Morrison’s name was being thrown around like bombs in the bloggers world of sports warfare and although the shrapnel had been getting to Morrison, he had been hiding the pain pretty well.
“I thought I played good the first half of my rookie year,” he said, “but I remember one Web site saying I was the worst player in the NBA and all that stuff. I heard all of them. It was tough to swallow.” said Morrison.
Morrison tore his left ACL and missed his entire second season in the NBA before getting a chance to prove the nay sayers wrong. Bobcats coach, Larry Brown decided Morrison didn’t live up to expectations and traded him to the 09 champions, the Lakers, last season.
“To get hurt and not have a chance to prove myself just made things worse,” Morrison said. “I think some of the criticism was just fans who never really liked me anyway. That’s fine. That’s part of the business. I understand that.”
Morrison Played 44 games, 8 being clean up duty minutes with the Lakers. The Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak figured Morrison didn’t fit into the 2008-09 post season run and proposed that Morrison heal his knee and get ready for the 2009-10 season.
“All we wanted to do was get him in peak condition for training camp, so he can show us what he can do,” Kupchak said. “Get your strength back in your core. Get your knee back to 100 percent and use this summer to get ready. It’s an important year for him and he’s getting a lot out of this.”
Morrison went to Vegas to play on the Lakers summer league team after Kupchak suggested he do so. Morrison averaged a spectacular, team-high 20.6 points and had that gleam back in his eyes, that one he had playing at Gonzaga.
“My goal was to find a role and play my role well. It is different. But a lot of guys have to make that adjustment — going from the best player on your team to just another guy.” said Morrison.
Everyone is talking about how Ariza left and if Odom is going to re-sign with the Lakers but I say forget ah-bout it! With Morrison growing into his own as a Laker and getting back his swagger and grit he had at Gonzaga, Odom and Ariza would become only an afterthought after Morrison got his time in on the floor.
The next Larry Bird?
Maybe.
The next great Laker?
Possibly.
One thing is for sure, Morrison is good and he knows it. He has yet to show us what he can really do, but when his coming out party arrives at the Staples Center, the Lakers are going to be selling number 6 jerseys like hotcakes!