It looks like JaVale’s desire to be the center of attention has finally caught up to him.
After leaving early from Friday’s players' meeting with union officials, JaVale was asked by reporters to comment on the players’ sentiment as the lockout continued. Of course, he obliged.
SI’s Sam Amick tweeted JaVale’s response.
"There's definitely some guys in there saying that they're ready to fold, but . . . the majority of guys are willing to stand strong," JaVale said.
When word got back to the players who were still attending the meeting, they were not pleased. Showing solidarity in a negotiation is key, and JaVale may have given the enemy a crucial look into what was really happening on the players' side.
Union president Derek Fischer responded to JaVale’s comments in a press conference after the meeting.
“The person who spent the least amount of time in that room, can’t make that statement,” said Fisher.
JaVale did some backtracking on Twitter, claiming that he was misquoted and blamed the media for the controversy. Unfortunately, JaVale seemed to forget that most journalists are never without their recorders and with multiple media members to witness his statement, someone would have it on tape.
It wasn’t long before that audio made its way to the internet. The Lakers Blog at the LA Times posted the audio and video almost immediately and, sure enough, JaVale most certainly did stick his size 18 foot in his mouth.
JaVale jumped on a plane to the Philippines after the meeting, where he is taking part in a big man skills challenge, so unless it involves planking or the flying Buddha, we probably won’t hear from him for a while.
We wouldn’t be surprised if JaVale wasn’t invited to the next players' meeting, which is unfortunate because clearly the Wizards center was getting something out of these crucial discussions.
