The Sadness That is Adam Morrison

The Charlotte Observer attempts to make sense of Morrison’s career, following his release by the Washington Wizards: “Morrison was waived by the Washington Wizards this week. That followed several years when his presence on the Los Angeles Lakers was due only to a sizeable guarantee. Obviously the Bobcats made the original mistake of drafting him third overall, when Brandon Roy and Rudy Gay were still available. But to me, the turning point for Morrison happened after his rookie season and after he’d recovered from his knee injury. It was that half-season playing for Larry Brown, when he seemed so scared to shoot. He was so hyper-conscious of the town’s expectations that he played dramatically worse at home than on the road (not that he was playing well on the road). One night Brown put him in a game, and every time the ball hit Morrison’s hands, he’d immediately pass it, like it was made of Plutonium. After that game, Brown posed this question: How could he play Morrison — a guy whose only real skill was as a scorer — if he refused to shoot? Sometime around then, Brown asked Morrison how he couldn’t have grasped the attention that being the No. 3 overall pick entails. Basically, Morrison wanted to collect that huge salary and never experience the expectations that went with it.”