Ben Gordon Not Stressing Free Agency
Guard remains professional even without contract
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Ben Gordon has remained remarkably calm throughout his contract mess.
Ben Gordon is a pretty quiet cat. Even when he's talking, you get the impression that he'd much rather not be. If you had to guess, you'd say he'd prefer to be sitting at home, wearing sweats with his hoodie all the way up, sprawled out on a couch. He's just, we don't know ... relaxed.
His game isn't. Gordon is all sinew and muscle packed into a 5-foot-11 package, and his explosive leap and high jump shot are prototypically athletic moves. When he's flying around screens and shooting that high-floating jumper, it's hard to ignore how hard Gordon must work. It's also frustrating: Gordon's relaxed demeanor off the court doesn't always carry through in his decision-making, where he'd just as soon hoist a 30-foot jumper with 20 seconds left on the shot clock. That's the frustrating Ben Gordon.
All of which is our long, rambling way of saying that Gordon, for all his on-court faults, handles himself pretty incredibly off it. The latest example, from K.C. Johnson's Bulls blog:
Want more proof? Two weeks before Gordon will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, the Bulls' guard will host the Ben Gordon Basketball Camp at the Bulls/White Sox Training Academy in Lisle. This, of course, doesn't mean Gordon will re-sign with the Bulls. But it's another sign that, with just two weeks remaining on his Bulls contract, Gordon remains professional.
Gordon could refuse to do the camp with the Bulls while his contract remains unresolved, but that's never been Gordon's style. He's remained quiet and relaxed, even though on the inside -- in that part of him that sometimes just can't help but launch those dumb shots -- he likely wants to vent his frustrations. Whatever happens with Gordon, Bulls fans should remember that. This stuff often ends ugly. It's a testament to Ben's demeanor that this time, even if there's no new contract, it won't.
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
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Posted Tuesday, Jul 14, 2009 - 4:18 PM CST
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