Issue date: 10/1/08 Section: Sports

In the National Basketball Association, young rookies and veterans attempting to make comebacks are making headlines. Some of them are inspiring while others seem to be expiring.

First, some exciting news from your Sacramento Kings. Guard/forward Francisco Garcia signed a five-year extension deal worth $29.8 million, which is indeed money well spent.

When the Kings gave Garcia more playing time last season, his PPG average doubled, and his field goal and 3-point percentage increased. Along with Garcia's great chemistry and teamwork he provides for the Kings, his improvement on the court can be essential for a Kings turn around this upcoming season. Utilizing all of your players, not just your starters, can be the key to a healthy team. Maybe the Kings could have been even better during their glory days if they did not overuse starters such as Chris Webber, who's now banged up because they asked far too much from him.

Over in the East Coast, The New York Knicks (who I silently but faithfully support) signed shooting guard Allan Houston September 25th. Houston is trying for a second time to make a comeback in the NBA. He was forced to retire in October 2005 because of knee pain and attempted to make his first comeback last year, which was short-lived since he only played one exhibition game.

Now there are many stories where veterans come out of retirement to make a grand return and play again, but the 37-year-old Houston is no Brett Favre. With new head coach Mike D'Antoni's fast-paced style of play, I'd say Houston's knee pains will be making the comeback after only one practice.

I'm really pulling for the Knicks. I mean, Isaiah Thomas just destroyed the organization and focused more on trying to get some "love" from his female staffers rather than loving his team. Firing him was a big relief and throwing in D'Antoni made things interesting, but throwing in a washed-up Houston? Not interesting.

D'Antoni will have a lot of work on his hands with jump-starting the Knicks team to become an exciting action-packed team with players who have been anything but exciting. I just hope that the Knicks will actually get publicity for doing well and not because of the punch lines by David Letterman, which do crack me up though.

In other NBA news, people are saying that prospect Brandon Jennings has the biggest rookie burden since Kevin Garnett, but I purely think people are just hating on this kid.

Brandon, who recently turned 19, has been getting a lot of flack for his decision to skip college and play in Italy in the European League. He said in a Yahoo Sports article that he has heard it all from his bad choice of going from Compton, California to Rome and how his career will not flourish because the Europeans won't adapt his style.

I think this move by Jennings can pave the way for future high school prospect ball players who have a true passion for basketball to play abroad professionally. It's a great chance for them to gain professional experience before entering the NBA. Not to mention gain experience playing internationally as well.

Jennings said in a Yahoo Sports article that in Europe, teamwork is the main emphasis and that his goal is to develop great relationships with his teammates and coaches.

"It's team first here. People come to watch the team play, and the team win," Jennings said in the Yahoo Sports article.

I really hope that this young kid does well with Virtus Roma in the Italian League. It's a great chance for him to learn to play independently without people holding his hand like they would in college. Already signing a contract with Under Armour, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for Jennings, and that light is the NBA.

Lastly, Sun Lue, a.k.a. "The Monkey King", is making his mark in Los Angeles after signing with the Lakers. So far though, the only mark that The Monkey King has made is a bad case of glandular fever, better known as mononucleosis.

Sun missed the Lakers training camp because of his illness and Lakers' spokesman John Black told the Los Angeles Times September 25th that Sun's return is uncertain because mono cases vary from each individual. Honestly though, I'm not so sure if the Lakers would be the best team for Sun to start his NBA career, simply because of the kind of team environment the Lakers have.

Although this may most likely be a minor issue, I just hope that the Spaniard Pau Gasol will welcome Sun onto the team. If anyone remembers the Olympics, Gasol and team Spain slanted their eyes when they posed for a picture, which caused a major uproar in the Chinese community. Nothing can be worse than racial tensions in a team over an ignorant team photo.

Someone else who can even be a more negative impact on Sun is Kobe Bryant and his selfish "Iso" plays. Yes, he did finally win an MVP award, but Kobe will always be Kobe.

I still laugh when I remember Bryant telling teammate Sasha Vujacic during the NBA Finals that he needs to pass the ball to him if he wants to get a shot opportunity. Did Vujacic get any shot opportunities like he was promised? Yes, when he had free throw opportunities that is, but from a pass by Bryant, not really, even when Vujacic was open.

Maybe Kobe should join Jennings for a year in Italy and bring his teamwork game up a notch.

Contact Nick Hunte at the Sports Department (916) 278-5145

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