David Stern mulling NFL-style Challenge Replays
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| Challenge Replay in the future (image from sports.yahoo.com/nba) |
Personally, I believe this could be a good thing. Of course, it’ll have to be scrutinized, limits will have to be set, and a host of other nitty-gritty stuff should be ironed out. In principle, however, replays should play a bigger role in the NBA. It’ll help games be more “credible,” and, contrary to opposing beliefs, replays still carry a fair bit of “human element.”
I’m an OKC fan, but a Challenge Replay would’ve prevented this play from Kendrick Perkins from becoming a game-changer:
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| Wells at Ball State (image from sportsbuy.com) |
This is the first in (what I hope to be) a series of articles meant to chronicle the current whereabouts of NBA players who’ve flown off-the-radar. We’ll begin with journeyman Gawen DeAngelo Wells, or more popularly known as Bonzi Wells.
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| Wells 1998 Upper Deck trading card (image from amazon.com) |
Who he was: Wells was a standout at Ball State University, where his #42 was retired. He was drafted 11th overall in 1998 by the Detroit Pistons, but was then traded to the Portland Trailblazers, where he played for five seasons. He was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies in 2003, and bounced around the league, playing for Saramento, Houston and, finally, New Orleans in 2008.
Bonzi was known as a tough guard-forward, and was a legit offensive threat. He once scored 45 points against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2003 Playoffs, where they lost in 7 games. He was also known as a bad-boy off the hardwood, as he was involved in several not-so-nice incidents.
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| Wells in the CBA (image from chinasportstoday.com) |
What happened to him: He was traded to the New Orleans Hornets in 2008 in a 3-team deal involving Houston and Memphis. He was no longer renewed after the season. Rather than play in the NBA for “small money,” Wells upped it for the far east and landed with the Shanxi Zhongyu of the Chinese Basketball Association. His debut game saw him score 48 points and grab 11 boards, but he never finished the season as he didn’t return after the Chinese New Year.
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| Wells in Puerto Rico (image from capitanesdearecibo.net) |
Where he is now: Bonzi is now playing in the Puerto Rican basketball league dubbed Baloncesto Superior Nacional. His team is the Capitanes de Arecibo, where he is joined by former Chicago Bull Marcus Fizer.
Which interesting, but retired/non-active, player do you want featured next? I'm looking at Christian Laettner or Antoine Walker.
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