VONTEEGO CUMMINGS SHOCKER!

From the Adriatic Basketball League NewsWire:

"News that just came from BC Partizan shocked basketball people in Serbia. Partizan has canceled the contract with Vonteego Cummings due to player's unhappiness with his role in the team. Cummings has signed this summer new 1-year contract with champions but he left Partizan after only 2 games this season. The last one he played last night in Zagreb where Partizan suffered heavy defeat 82-64. Cummings scored 3 points for 13:45 minutes in the game. We are expecting soon detailed explanation from team management about this decision."

Vonteego was a fringe, but somewhat acceptable NBA player, and there are worse people to give 3 minutes a night to. Jacque Vaughn had a worse PER last season than Vonteego ever had, but in the screwed up world of basketball perception Cummings is getting cut from teams in the Adriatic League and Vaughn gets one year NBA contracts with contenders every year- perhaps solely because Vaughn was a legendary college player, not unlike Christian Laettner, who is back in the news- from ESPN:

"MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- An investment group that includes Christian Laettner and his former Duke teammate Brian Davis has reached an agreement to buy 70 percent of the Memphis Grizzlies.

Laettner is also interested in returning to the NBA to play for the Grizzlies, according to Davis.

"We'll try to make that happen as soon as possible," Davis said at a news conference Monday.

Laettner, who was with the league for 13 years, left the NBA after the 2004-05 season with Miami."

Laettner, of course, also had a legendary college career at Duke, the most hyped program in all of American college sports. Laettner was never especially great in the National Basketball Association, and though he certainly earned his 13 years, he is not going to be beneficial to a team that is already full of middle of the road big men. Has Laettner deluded himself so much into thinking he is a significant improvement on the team and his investment that it is worth taking time away from Brian Cardinal, Hakim Warrick, Rudy Gay, Jake Tsakalidis, Stro Swift, et cetera? Perhaps where he should look to improve the team is in the shaky backcourt. Damon Stoudamire, Chucky Atkins, Junior Harrington, Mike Miller, Kyle Lowry, and the Joneses (Eddie and Dahntay) are not the sturdiest or most talented or most emotionally stable bunch of guys.

Perhaps Mr. Laettner, you should get on the phone to Mr. Vonteego Cummings. He should be on a plane from Vojvodina about now and he could use some good news.