(above : a quick-tempered, argumentative hoops figure who doesn’t suffer fools gladly. And on the right, Sam Mitchell)
Earlier this Autumn, 14-year NBA veteran Jalen Rose spoke of an alleged 2005 locker room altercation between then-Raptors head coach Sam Mitchell and SG Vince Carter. Quizzed by The Fan 590’s Tim and Sid, Mitchell claims Rose’s version of events is more than slightly exaggerated. Quotes via Rogers SportsNet’s Kevin Nielsen :
“You know the media. If Vince Carter and I got into a fight in the locker room when I was the coach, how long do you think it would be before the information would have came out?” Mitchell asked his hosts. “You think it would have taken six or seven years before it came out? Or do you think it would have come out within a day?
“Now think about that. Vince Carter, who you couldn’t make go to the weight room, picked me up over his head, spun me around like I was a pizza, like some dough on a pizza platter, and then slammed me,” the former Raptors coach said.
“Morris Peterson was lying on the training table. He got hurt in practice – like, slightly pulled his hamstring. I went down to the training room, where all the players were after practice getting treatment. I was talking to Mo, Vince came up behind me and put me in a bear hug, and I stumbled and fell on one of the training tables.
“He starts laughing and saying, ‘Coach, I got you, I got you.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, Vince, you got me.’ And the players started laughing, and that was it.”
“Consider the source. You know what blows my mind? And I don’t attack people because I try to take the high road, but consider where it’s coming from,” Mitchell pointed out. “Where in this person’s history are the things that he said true? You are talking about a person who played at a university whose record has been expunged. And for what? Lying and cheating. Right?”