Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 9:30 am  |  55 responses

Jonathan Bender is a Knick

Yes, Bender’s apparently still alive. And now, Donnie Walsh (who has always loved him) has brought Jonathan to New York: “The Knicks departed Louisiana over the weekend with not only their fifth win in six games, but also with the free-agent forward Jonathan Bender, whose signing was announced Sunday. Bender, a high school star in Mississippi who was the fifth overall pick in the 1999 draft, had his career derailed by debilitating knee injuries. There is no timetable for his return to action. The 7-foot Bender, 28, last played in an N.B.A. game on Nov. 5, 2005. In seven seasons with the Indiana Pacers, he played more than 60 games only once — in 2001-2, when he averaged a career-high 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds. ‘He can put the ball on the floor,’ the Knicks’ president, Donnie Walsh, said. ‘He used to be able to get to the basket on one dribble from halfcourt. There’s not a whole lot of guys who can do that. I don’t know if he can do that now, but he knows how to play.”’

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  • http://slamonline.com cb 34

    Most of the comments here are idiotic. It’s a good pickup plain and simple. Low risk and could have high rewards. They need a point but they also need a big. Bender was an athletic freak with range. He can help with a frontcourt of Al, Lee and Gallo. They don’t use Darko or Eddy. This is good and won’t even affect team chemistry. Jonathan is a quiet, low-key guy who knows how to ball. I miss his lefty slams. Those were awesome!

  • Klemperer

    I’m so happy for Jonathan Bender. I hope it works out and he gets to play as he never could play. His career of injuries has been one of the tragedies of the NBA, considering the obvious talent…Bird’s comments from the day, J. O’neal’s comments, etc. Here’s hoping those knees will hold up and silence everybody.

  • tavoris

    I agree, cb34. Bender’s a good guy that had a bad run of injuries.

  • chintao

    Look, I honestly hope that Bender is back on the path to glory. I have nothing personal against him. My frustration is with an organization that constantly passes on proven, prime talent in order to take low-cost fliers guys that should be career back-ups (if that) and guys that very well might not be in the league next year.

  • tavoris

    look at how well he’s playing…

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