From the Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s Jon Paul-Morosi.
First his toe. Now his feelings.
Danny Fortson (above) has hobbled through much of training camp, hampered by an arthritic right toe. After Tuesday’s practice, though, the forlorn Sonics forward addressed another sore spot: a report in Monday’s The Seattle Times, in which an unnamed teammate suggested the team had “two sets of rules … one for Danny and one for everybody else.”
Fortson has missed practices and three exhibition games due to the injury and stayed home during the team’s recent trip to Laredo, Texas, because of a virus. He admitted that he is “out of shape,” but placed the blame on the injury, not his work habits.
He said Tuesday that he did not know which teammate made the comment, other than that it must have been “someone with a big mouth.”
“If it’s a captain who said that, like Ray [Allen] or Rashard [Lewis], it’s going to make me feel like I should get out of here,” Fortson said. “Of course I’m out of shape. I can’t work out. I have a sore toe.
“It’s too bad, man. It puts a damper on my whole day. It makes me feel like they don’t want me here. I don’t know who to believe anymore. I’m very uncomfortable.”
“Be a man instead of going to the paper and hiding like a little girl,” Fortson said. “This is ridiculous.”