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"Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Thu Apr 9, 2009 7:22 am
by mkwest
One look at Gordon's recent history explains everything. In high school he went from hero to pariah after decommitting from Illinois to sign with Indiana before his senior year.
Death threats flooded his MySpace page, and nasty letters were sent to his high school. It got so bad that his school, North Central High in Indianapolis, had to assign two security guards to him for all its games.
"It was crazy, man," he said. "One guy wrote me and he said he was going to wipe me out, like `You won't play your senior season.' Another one said, `I hate you, I wish you would kill yourself."'
He can laugh about it now, but it wasn't funny at the time.
"Mentally, it was tough. When you're that age, that's kind of serious stuff," he said. "You have to be tough-minded. But it was frustrating, because it was like a personal decision. It wasn't about basketball."
"All that stuff is just basketball," he said. "It's just all about the chemistry part. Just basically on the court. Because when good things happen on the court, that solves almost any problems. That's where it needs to start off at.
"But I think we're going to be fine. I like it here. I want to stay and help build the franchise. I like L.A., I like the fans. To be honest, I was kind of surprised by the fans when I got here. They really have good fans. I see the same people there every night. It's kind of like college."
Ramona Shelburne,
Daily News
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Thu Apr 9, 2009 7:26 am
by mkwest
It's a really good Article that sheds a little light on EJ the person as well as the basketball player. I love his passion for the game and the desire to push himself to be all that he can be.
Also, I never knew he could speak Japanese.
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Thu Apr 9, 2009 6:57 pm
by mj_shoefanatic
I hope he feels the same way in his contract year.
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Thu Apr 9, 2009 8:26 pm
by cinnamon
Bright spot?
Dim season?
I can't think anyone's going to argue with either of those.
I couldn't get the article through the link, so will try to find it through the Times' website.
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Thu Apr 9, 2009 8:56 pm
by madmaxmedia
mj_shoefanatic wrote:I hope he feels the same way in his contract year.
I hope Sterling feels the same way about Gordon, and doesn't force Gordon to look for offer sheets elsewhere to set his market value.
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Thu Apr 9, 2009 9:49 pm
by JJ LoDuca
Dude dunked in 8th grade and handled death threats via MySpace? EJ = straight G!
I just hope he never suffers a freak injury, is let go as a RFA or is struck by lightening. It would be a shame for him to fall victim to the "Clipper Curse."
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 12:02 am
by It_Was_Typed
One of the best young players in the league...hope he keeps his head on straight and keeps working hard.
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 3:08 am
by mkwest
cinnamon wrote:Bright spot?
Dim season?
I can't think anyone's going to argue with either of those.
I couldn't get the article through the link, so will try to find it through the Times' website.
http://www.dailynews.com/clippers/ci_12104190
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 6:12 am
by mj_shoefanatic
very nice article on Air Gordon
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 1:17 pm
by thanumba2clippersfan
I have to say that when I was thinking about who we should draft last season I really wanted OJ Mayo. But since we were picking 7th I knew he probably wouldn't be there and I knew that Gordon was an option, since we needed a guard. I thought that Gordon would have a decent rookie season and I had no idea that he would be this good this fast. Not if you ask me which rookie I would want from this draft and it would be EJ hands down, I hope he becomes the best player in this draft class.
I'm also glad that he's committed to changing around the franchise. We have always needed a talent like him and if he sticks around he should be able to lead us to some playoff runs.
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Fri Apr 10, 2009 4:51 pm
by cinnamon
Thanks for re-posting the link, mkw --- I got it this time and have shared with my son who has EJ on his tournament team.
I really like what I read about his character --- a very solid character guy. Heaven knows, we have to welcome that.
And how wonderful for us that he seems content with being here for now, and is such a hard worker.
He really is the great blessing on this team now. I'm so glad to see some media acknowledgment of that.
Re: "Gordon a bright spot in a dim Clippers season"
Posted: Sat Apr 11, 2009 5:18 pm
by jflipclip
thanumba2clippersfan wrote:I have to say that when I was thinking about who we should draft last season I really wanted OJ Mayo. But since we were picking 7th I knew he probably wouldn't be there and I knew that Gordon was an option, since we needed a guard. I thought that Gordon would have a decent rookie season and I had no idea that he would be this good this fast. Not if you ask me which rookie I would want from this draft and it would be EJ hands down, I hope he becomes the best player in this draft class.
I'm also glad that he's committed to changing around the franchise. We have always needed a talent like him and if he sticks around he should be able to lead us to some playoff runs.
Heh, I put Rose, Mayo, and Love over Gordon during the draft last season. There were all these questions about Gordon being too small, unable to play PG, a chucker, so on-so forth so it IS kinda surprising he's lived up to be a better rookie than expected.
Awesome guy, great player, but as a centerpiece to the Clippers, I dunno yet. We though the same thing with Thornton, and to a lesser extent, Kaman? Haha, whatever, I just hope he's here to stay.