David Lee: Training Camp Holdout?

by Marcel Mutoni

Things are getting testy in New York between the Knicks and one of their most talented (and popular) players. According to David Lee’s agent, the forward may not show up to training camp if the two sides haven’t reached a deal by then.

The Knicks have made it abundantly clear that everything they do is geared towards next summer, and according to Lee’s camp, the team has yet to make a firm offer to the restricted free agent. David ain’t having it, apparently.

The NY Post reports:

The agent for David Lee would not rule out the possibility of his client being an unsigned contract holdout when Knicks training camp opens Sept. 28. In the NBA, it is almost unheard-of for players of Lee’s stature to be camp holdouts.

“I certainly hope not, but you have to have an agreement,” agent Mark Bartelstein told The Post yesterday. “I never thought we’d be this far without a deal. It comes down to making a deal. You have to ask [team president] Donnie [Walsh]. All we’ve agreed is if we can’t do a sign-and-trade, we will work out a reasonable one-year deal,” Bartelstein said.

One of the reasons seemingly everyone in New York was so happy about Donnie Walsh taking over for Isiah Thomas, is his reputation as a man able to calmly put out fires such as this one.

Now, Donnie has about a month to show just how good he is.