By MARC BERMAN

Of all the weird things that happened in last night's discouraging loss to the Sixers, David Lee's surprise decision to be in uniform and receive a DNP ranked up there.

Lee was a last-minute go, dressing for just the second time in 18 games. In a pregame interview with MSG Network, done while lying on his back on the court, stretching, Lee sounded like he was ready to test his leg.

With Renaldo Balkman providing energy, points and rebounds, Thomas never put Lee, the former leading candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, into the game. Was he a decoy? Afterward Thomas claimed Lee dressed as an emergency body because Kevin Cato was felled by tonsilitis. Thomas said he'd be available if a body was needed to inbounds he ball. Strange stuff. Didn't sound right.

Lee did not give his side of the story, did not go into the locker room afterward. When a couple of reporters saw him in the hallway, on a cellphone, he ducked into an office and closed the door. Minutes later, Lee tried sneaking out a hallway door. When I asked him to stop, Lee, usually one of the friendliest players, barely stopped, telling me cryptically, "There's a reason I wasn't in there.'' With that, he was off.

It's clear Lee's odd injury - called a stress reaction - has left Thomas befuddled on his daily status. Perhaps Isiah was proving a point by not going with Lee, whose treated this injury as if it's a broken leg. Thomas probably never even heard of a "stress reaction'' during his playing days.

David Lee turned black and grew dreads

That's right Isiah. Keep yanking Lee's chain and watch him jump to another team as soon as he can.

It's bordering on malpractice the way they've been jerking Lee around since he was injured. First they misdiagnose his injury, then they give him the green light to play when he wasn't ready and predictably suffers a setback. Now they give him the green light again, even though it's been reported that he hasn't even gone through an entire practice yet, and let him sit on the bench all night. All because they were desperate to find someone to take Kelvin Cato's nightly DNP.

If he were healthy enough to play then Isiah is an idiot for not using him.

If he isn't healthy enough to play then Isiah is an idiot for putting Lee through a little dog and pony show.

If Lee only signs for 1 year, after his original contract expires next summer, he's gone.

weird stuff......

Posted by islesfan:

Posted by TrueBlue:

Well he talked to Trautwig before the game and assured him he would be playing. When he was asked why all of a sudden he'd play he replied "the team needed a slight lift for the playoff push". Trauwig then asked him if the leg was strong enough to dunk a basketball and his reply was "we'll see". Honestly, Lee sounded as if there was an agenda and doesn't appear comfortable coming back at least not yet.

Yeah, I noticed that too during the pregame interview. He didn't seem real happy.

I didn't think much of it at the time but now it seems like Lee was forced to do something that he didn't necessarily want to.

he probably wanted to go to Atlanta to celebrate the Gators victory, but IT told him no. Whatever, this is dumb ish.

um.....wow......um.....maybe we should trade Lee before we lose him for nothing.

Seriously, this is twisted.

um how about, last time Lee was "ready to play" he got out there and could barely move and barely jump. He clearly wasn't the same explosive player in the early part of the season. So why put him on the court, especially when Balkman was having a great game. Lee can be mad all he wants, but if he aint ready to play then he should quit his whining.

Bad places bring up bad fantasies.
They want to bring attention to this place by any means.
Nobody want to be irrelevant; especially in NY.

Oh, and I believe the spin is Isiah saying they wanted him to dress and be ready just in case they had to replace the valuable minutes that Cato provides with his nightly DNP-CD.

this smells like spin

If Lee weren't white I'd be pissed.