Seems like the players have finally had enough of the silly crap that Kuester has been dealing out all year. Is it enough to finally get management to can him?
Tracy McGrady, Tayshaun Prince, Richard Hamilton and Chris Wilcox missed the team's shootaround Friday morning before that night's game against the Sixers in Philadelphia, and team sources told multiple media outlets that the players were staging a protest.
Sources told the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News that the shootaround boycott was directed at second-year coach John Kuester, who has clashed with players in the past.
Team spokesman Cletus Lewis said that McGrady had a headache, Prince an upset stomach and Hamilton and Wilcox missed the bus from the team hotel.
Rodney Stuckey and Austin Daye also missed the bus, but they arrived toward the end of a media session, Lewis said.
Ben Wallace also missed the shootaround but was dealing with a family matter, Lewis said, as he has over the past month.
"We'll go with the group that was here," said Kuester about facing the 76ers, according to the Free Press. "We got a number of guys that have a bug, but these guys went through shootaround the way it was supposed to. We have some things, some excuses, not excuses, but absences because of headache and stuff like that.
"We'll go with this group right here because they went through shootaround."
Later in the day, Kuester backed off those comments, saying he expected "everybody to be available."
Sources told the Detroit Free Press and Detroit News that the shootaround boycott was directed at second-year coach John Kuester, who has clashed with players in the past.
Team spokesman Cletus Lewis said that McGrady had a headache, Prince an upset stomach and Hamilton and Wilcox missed the bus from the team hotel.
Rodney Stuckey and Austin Daye also missed the bus, but they arrived toward the end of a media session, Lewis said.
Ben Wallace also missed the shootaround but was dealing with a family matter, Lewis said, as he has over the past month.
"We'll go with the group that was here," said Kuester about facing the 76ers, according to the Free Press. "We got a number of guys that have a bug, but these guys went through shootaround the way it was supposed to. We have some things, some excuses, not excuses, but absences because of headache and stuff like that.
"We'll go with this group right here because they went through shootaround."
Later in the day, Kuester backed off those comments, saying he expected "everybody to be available."
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