Nene fires back, calls Amundson “stupid”
Mar. 29, 2009
By Chris Tomasson
Nuggets center Nene has fired back at Louis Amundson.
Four days after Amundson, a Phoenix forward, referred to Nene as a “dirty player’’ and a “fake tough guy,’’ Nene had his say. He called Amundson a “stupid dude’’ and a “nobody,’’ and said a real blow to Amundson would have resulted in a “break all of his face.’’
It all started last Monday when Nene head butted Amundson midway through the fourth quarter of Denver’s 118-115 loss at Phoenix. Nene then banged into Amundson’s chest and elbowed him, and was whistled for a flagrant foul 2, an automatic ejection.
On Wednesday, Nene was suspended two games from the NBA, which cited the head butt and Nene bumping official Bill Spooner following his ejection. That was a day after Amundson, a graduate of Louisville’s Monarch High School, had blasted Nene in an interview with InDenver Times.
Nene returned to the lineup for Saturday’s 129-116 win over Golden State. In an interview after the game with InDenver Times, he said he learned from his suspension, but still took several shots at Amundson.
“You learn that you don’t let a stupid dude take you out of the game because he’s nobody,’’ said Nene, an upper-echelon NBA center while Amundson is a role player. “He doesn’t have much (game). He just goes over there and tries to get a contract.
“Coach (George Karl) told me I’ve got to be in more control. I just said, “George, I know have a lot of control. But I now learning even more patience.’’’
While the NBA described what Nene did as a head butt, Nene disagreed with that terminology.
“That was no head butt,’’ Nene said. “That is nothing… If I do a head butt, I break all of his face. That was nothing.’’
Nene insisted he wasn’t bothered by what Amundson said about him.
“I don’t care,’’ said Nene, who had eight points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes Saturday. “Who’s him? His comments don’t make any effect on me.’’
But Nene does care about his teammates. After the Nuggets lost to the Suns, Nene apologized to all of them because of his ejection.
“He came to us like a man and said he was sorry that he couldn’t be in the game,’’ said guard Anthony Carter. “He came up to each guy… when we were coming into the locker room. He was saying to everybody coming into the locker room, ‘My fault. My fault.’’’
The Nuggets did win games Wednesday at New Orleans and Friday at Dallas with Nene suspended. But Nene wondered if they might also have beaten Phoenix had he not been tossed.
“Definitely apologized,’’ Nene said of what he said to his teammates. “If I’m in there (against the Suns), maybe we can win the game.’’
Despite some remorse, that didn’t mean Nene agreed with the two-game penalty. He said he immediately appealed the suspension through the NBA Players Association.
Obviously, Nene can’t get his missed games back. But Nene, who lost $176,000 of his $9.68 million seasonal salary because of the suspension, said he’s trying to recoup money.
“Everybody agreed,’’ Nene said. “I talked to the coach, I talked to management. Everybody’s agreed that (the suspension was) not fair.’’
Still, Karl hopes Nene learned a lesson.
“I’m sure there’s a frustration to what happened, but I think now it’s for him to learn from it,’’ Karl said. “He’s got to value his individual frustration versus the team need and that’s something that’s very hard to do. I think he went with the individual frustration over the team need.
“We survived and fortunately won two of three games. But I’m not going to sit here and say we’re a better team without Nene. I think Nene would have helped us in the Phoenix game and he would have helped us in the two wins we got.’’
At least Nene was able to help the Nuggets on Saturday, opening the game with a thunderous slam dunk as if to signal his return.
With the Nuggets winning big in the second half, Karl kept Nene’s minutes down. That was fine with the big center, who admitted he got tired in his return.
“It feels hard to run,’’ Nene told reporters after the game. “Altitude here, it made my chest winded… I feel great to be back on the court… It’s hard to come back here after a couple days off.. My legs are fresh, but the altitude kills me. Not only me, but other players, too.’’
But it sure was a lot better than having watched Denver’s past two games in hotel rooms.
