My problem with Sam Cassell

I have never cared for Sam Cassell. Now, I have great respect for his game, and while I am amused by the lop-sided gourd shape of his head, I do not hold that against him. But he's a punk, and we have a history.

Our history began with the Suns-Rockets semi-finals in 1994, when the rookie Cassell matched Kevin Johnson play for play through the fourth quarter of game seven. That didn't win the game for the Rockets, but it blew any hope Franchise Jr. (as we called KJ in those days) had of overcoming the mounting deficit caused by Barkley's groin injury. It was the only game seven the Rockets would have to play until the Finals, when Cassell similarly ran Greg Anthony into the pine.

At that point, however, my hatred of Mr. Cassell was purely partisan. And because every Suns fan despises Greg Anthony (who came off the bench, in street clothes, to try to jump into a Knicks-Suns brawl developing on court. He tried to cold-cock Kevin Johnson, missed, and then Pat Riley tackled him. Now he writes for ESPN, where he picked the Lakers to win in five.) I actually rooted for Cassell's Rockets in the 1994 Finals. (Typically, I root for whichever team eliminated the Suns anyway.)

When he was traded to the Suns in 1996, I was naturally a fan of his. But then It Happened.

My day job at the time was a s a stagehand. We were loading in some big rock show into America West Arena (now USAirways center, but still the Suns' home court) as the Suns were about to take off on a road trip. There were doughnuts on a table laid out for the hands when they took their break in a few minutes. Sam Cassell and Michael Finley, both Suns, both millionaires, came through and swiped the doughnuts from guys who make at most $12/hour on their way to the team bus.

The very next week they were both traded to Dallas as part of the Jason Kidd deal. Dallas, if you will recall, was worse than the Clippers in the late nineties. Finley would be part of that turn-around (along with Suns draft pick Steve Nash, who came over (and back) as a free agent). Cassell was shipped to New Jersey before the end of the season.

Anyway, that's my Sam Cassell story. And despite his pastry-thieving ways, I'd take him over Smush Parker any day, because he's going to give the Suns a lot more trouble.

The Clippers are clearly the better of the two LA franchises this year, and Sam Cassell is a big part of that. And I have, over time, learned to forgive him for the theft of the doughnuts that were rightfully mine. But I still think he's a punk.

Maybe that's just a partisan thing now.