When Bucks head coach Jason Kidd told reporters that Larry Sanders was out for personal reasons and wasn’t participating in team activities, it was worth wondering whether or not something more sinister was at play.
A season ago in Brooklyn, Kidd said the same thing about Andray Blatche, when it was later discovered that Blatche was suspended for “a lack of conditioning and preparedness.”
But with Sanders, it appears it’s merely an issue of health that has kept him sidelined.
A report emerged earlier this week that said Sanders told team officials he didn’t want to play basketball anymore, and it was immediately denied by Sanders’ agent. The player himself rejoined his team on Tuesday, and while he’s not yet ready to return to action, he did address his situation.
From Charles F. Gardner of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:“I figured with my absence that something was going to come out sooner than later. That’s not true. But what is true I would say is that I’m in the process of working things out now internally to do what’s best for my physique and my physical health going forward.
“There’s a lot of evaluating going on. There’s a lot of inside talk just to put myself in the best place for my health right now.”
As coach Jason Kidd has said repeatedly, there appears to be no timetable for his return.
“There’s not right now,” Sanders said. “I kind of go by recommendations, so I’m definitely keeping my ear to those who are close to me and see what they say is best for my health moving forward.”Sanders has shown flashes of being an above-average NBA player; it’s what earned him the four-year, $44 million contract extension he received in advance of the 2013-14 season. But he’s also had more than his fair share of issues along the way, so here’s hoping whatever the latest ones are get addressed to the player’s satisfaction.