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First the SI article and now Espn won't shut the heck up about it. This is from the Hawks beat writer aka someone who actually covers the Hawks. I know many here will not believe the truth. It is worth posting.

http://www.ajc.com/blogs/content/shared ... t-95126103

By Sekou K. Smith

July 16, 2008 10:15 AM | Link to this

I saw the story on SI’s website and I’ll say it again for the umpteenth time, neither Smith nor anyone else affiliated with him has ever said (on or off the record) that he doesn’t want to be here or doesn’t want to play for Woodson.

Despite their very public dust ups in the past, Smith and Woodson had a smooth (no pun intended) working relationship this past season. Are they going to be spotted at each other’s houses partying anytime soon? Probably not. But neither are any of his teammates.

But you’d be surprised, his relationship with Woodson is better than Woodson’s relationship with some other guys on the team (lots of guys chafed under Woodson’s gruff style the past four years but didn’t shoot back at him the way Smith did).

What I can tell you for a fact is that when the new general manager sat down with all the players and asked them for their honest opinions on all things, including Woodson (and this was before Woodson received his contract extension), Smith is one of the players that didn’t have a single bad thing to say about Woodson (I know of at least two other guys that didn’t hold back and let Woodson have it). So even if he felt it deep down, Smith never voiced it to Rick Sund or anyone else.

Listen, the kid’s 22 and had some dust ups with his coach. Big deal. I think far too much has been made of all the drama. I’ll also point out that those rifts were far from a one-sided deal. Woodson owns just as much of the blame for those dust ups as Smith does.

But they’ve never allowed that stuff to keep them from being able to work together. And Woodson knows better than anyone how important Smith is to the Hawks’ cause now and in the future, so don’t believe all the hype about their frayed relationship.

Those two will work together just fine if (and really when) Smith’s new deal is done.

I don't trust anything Sekou Smith writes.

Can J-Smooth play the SF position or are his handles that bad?

RapsGM wrote:Can J-Smooth play the SF position or are his handles that bad?

his handles are okay but he aint no kobe bryant or hot sauce or even lebron when it comes to dribbling.

Bucher made up the rumor about Smith wanting to leave Atlanta because of Woodson. Since that point: several Hawks players, Woodson, the Hawks beat writer, and even Smith's father have called this rumor BS publicly.

It is also widely known that Sund (the new Hawks GM) sat down with all of the players individually before they made a decision on Woodson. Something tells me that if Smith echoed any of what Bucher says that Woodson would have been fired, or the Hawks would have been actively searching for a trade partner rather than guaranteeing they would match any contract offer (which seems legit since it scared Philli and LAC away).

There is no one in the media that gets inside info on the Hawks. Mainly because they haven't needed to for a looong time.

JoshB914 wrote:Bucher made up the rumor about Smith wanting to leave Atlanta because of Woodson. Since that point: several Hawks players, Woodson, the Hawks beat writer, and even Smith's father have called this rumor BS publicly.

Not calling you a liar, but I'm totally ignorant to the situation and only have you as a source in this entire thing and I can't know for sure that it's true. But if it is, that means something. People say things all the time (Grant Hill/Jermaine O'Neal: This year I'm totally healthy!) but someone coming out and being like "No, he's doesn't hate me or not want to work with me" is actually ballsy and bears some creedance, IMO.

Josh Smith does not want to play for Woodson so Atlanta has to trade Smith. Smith to 76er, Clippers, Warriors?

Farm Raid wrote:

JoshB914 wrote:Bucher made up the rumor about Smith wanting to leave Atlanta because of Woodson. Since that point: several Hawks players, Woodson, the Hawks beat writer, and even Smith's father have called this rumor BS publicly.

Not calling you a liar, but I'm totally ignorant to the situation and only have you as a source in this entire thing and I can't know for sure that it's true. But if it is, that means something. People say things all the time (Grant Hill/Jermaine O'Neal: This year I'm totally healthy!) but someone coming out and being like "No, he's doesn't hate me or not want to work with me" is actually ballsy and bears some creedance, IMO.

All of those things happened and were reported by Sekou Smith, the Atlanta Hawks beat writer. He has broken nearly every Hawks story over the past few years. He called the rumor BS and even said that Smith was ONE OF THE FEW players who didn't have anything bad to say about Woodsoon when he spoke with Sund. His father called a national radio show and said the rumor was BS as well.

Of course you wouldn't see this on the big rumor sites, it makes things less interesting.

Guys like Bucher usually have more and better sources than beat writers.

I wouldn't be surprised if Smith did not want to be there.

Ric Bucher works for ESPN. They don't just make up stories. I see Josh Smith getting traded soon if they chose to keep Woodson.

Ric Bucher said Kobe would not play another game for the Lakers, he also said that the Hawks were going to get Amare Staudemire in last year's draft, he then went on to say that one of the Hawks owners nixed the deal (when a MAJORITY vote from the ownership was the only thing that could rebuke the trade from the FO).

Don't tell me these guys don't make stuff up. They do all the time. ESPN does not break ANYTHING regarding the NBA, they just repeat stuff they see and hear on the internet.

Look at the big stories from this offseason. They are usually reported by local newspapers (the beat writer) before ESPN get their hands on it. The ESPN guys don't have inside sources on teams like the Hawks because they were not a legitimate team until recently.

Does Bucher no anyone closer to the situation than Smith's father who disputed the reports himself? By the way, Smith's father immediately called Sekou to find out what was going on after he heard the Bucher report. No one is closer to the situation than the local beat writer, but they are careful with what they report because they don't want to burn any bridges in the futre.

Man you guys are dumb, RealGM breaks every story