Ujiri, via NBA: I will never, ever forget having to do that with Coach Casey and walking to his office, waking up that morning. Many times I wanted to move it and change it or think that you’re not making the right decision. It was incredibly hard, because Casey is an incredible person and so great to work with. With Casey, it has gotten so much better now with his family and him.
Tag: dwane casey
Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri …
Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri said Monday night that while his relationship with former coach Dwane Casey has significantly improved but there is “still plenty of work to be done” for him to get to the same place with former franchise icon DeMar DeRozan after he fired Casey and traded DeRozan for Kawhi Leonard two years ago. “It’s not easy,” Ujiri said of making such decisions in an interview with TNT’s Ernie Johnson that aired on the NBA’s Twitter account. “If you have that human part of you, you feel it in your heart.”
Masai Ujiri: “With Casey, it has gotten …
Masai Ujiri: “With Casey, it has gotten so much better now with his family and him. With DeMar there is still plenty of work to be done. But, by the grace of God, it will all get better. We have to continue to make theses decisions that are tough. But that’s the business of basketball, and the position that we are in.”
It’s been more than a month since the …
It’s been more than a month since the NBA shut down in the name of safety, the first league to do so. Pistons Coach Dwayne Casey said it showed people just how serious this virus is. “Adam Silver has done a heck of a job,” Casey said. “He set the tone for other leagues like NCAA, and MLB. It set the tone for all the sports to get ready for the pandemic.”
Speaking of Christian Wood, Casey said …
Speaking of Christian Wood, Casey said Wood is 100 percent back to health after testing positive for Coronavirus last month. “He’s fine, he’s back in good spirits, running and working out,” Casey said. “He’s making the best of quarantine as he can so he can stay in shape.”
Casey said he keeps in touch with his …
Casey said he keeps in touch with his players as much as he can. He is so proud of Blake Griffin who recently donated $100,000 for workers at Little Caesar’s Arena. “It’s unbelievable,” Casey said of Griffin’s gesture. “The thing about it is, no one prompted him to do it. He surprised everyone. Our office didn’t ask him to do that. He did it out of the goodness of his heart. I think we’re seeing the best of mankind now from all walks.”
“That’s why we were so mystified when …
“That’s why we were so mystified when it leaked out,” Casey said of a report in The Athletic. “Christian was upset his name got out there. He didn’t release it. And the worst part was it got out before Christian even had a chance to tell his mom. “I was very unhappy about that. I told our staff, ‘This is unprofessional. This can’t happen again.’ It was so unfair to our player.”
When the Pistons learned Wood had …
When the Pistons learned Wood had tested positive for the coronavirus, they were thoroughly briefed by the hospital regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) laws, which protect the privacy of patients. “That’s why we were so mystified when it leaked out,” Casey said of a report in The Athletic. “Christian was upset his name got out there. He didn’t release it. And the worst part was it got out before Christian even had a chance to tell his mom.
“I was very unhappy about that. I told …
“I was very unhappy about that. I told our staff, ‘This is unprofessional. This can’t happen again.’ It was so unfair to our player.” Casey said Pistons owner Tom Gores and vice chairman Arn Tellem were proactive in making arrangements for the teamwide quarantine, setting up daily phone calls with a physician so players could have their questions answered, providing the option for players to have meals delivered to their doors, and making mental health experts available to anyone who was feeling anxious about the virus and its ramifications. They also recorded temperatures twice daily from each player.
Most of them do not have their own …
Most of them do not have their own courts in their homes, so conditioning is the focus for the moment, Casey said. “If you think about it,” Casey said, “this is the first time in these guys’ lives that no gym is available to them. They don’t have access to any state-of-the-art NBA facilities, no college gyms, no high school gym, no health clubs. It will be a challenge for all of us to get everyone reengaged mentally go back and play.”