Cavs’ Rodney Hood Pissed Off His Teammates By Refusing To Enter The Game Last Night

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Imagine for a second you’re Rodney Hood. You’re getting paid a couple million dollars to let LeBron James take you farther than you deserve going. You are averaging just 0.7 points on 11.1 percent shooting this round against the Raptors in 13.0 minutes per game, down from 6.3 points on 46.2 percent shooting in 19 minutes per contest in the first round against the Pacers. That may be why your playing time has been stolen by rookie Cedi Osman, not because of some grand conspiracy.

In the Cavs sweep of Toronto last night, the mild-mannered Rodney Hood declined to enter the game when his name was called with under eight minutes left int he 4th quarter.

Via The Athletic’s Jason Lloyd:

When the Cavs called a timeout with a 30-point lead and 7:38 left Monday, Lue tried inserting Hood for James. It was a great opportunity for a struggling youngster to try to find his rhythm without any pressure before the next series. Instead, Hood refused to go in, multiple sources confirmed. A number of veterans huddled around him during the timeout and tried talking sense into him, but Hood still refused to go, so Jose Calderon subbed into the game instead. Hood dressed quickly and was one of the first players out of the locker room after the game.

The report indicates that many of Hood’s teammates were “angered” by his decision to make the narrative about him.

The 25-year-old’s behavior doesn’t come as a surprise for one NBA executive, who texted Jason Lloyd and said that Hood’s demeanor isn’t conducive for the rigs of playoff basketball.

When these playoffs began, an opposing executive texted me “(Hood) is not built for this,” meaning the postseason. Now we’re seeing why.

According to ESPN, Hood apologized to general manager Koby Altman this morning and a source claims the swingman “feels awful” about his decision. The Cavaliers reportedly will not impose disciplinary action on Hood. Other than possibly keeping him on the bench in the Eastern Conference Finals of course.

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Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.