Le Basketbawl

Over the last few NBA seasons we have seen an occasional former NBA player try to return to the league after retiring. Allen Houston attempted a come-back a couple of times but it fell short. Former All-Star Penny Hardaway tried to return with the Miami Heat a couple of seasons ago and actually made the team but was released during the season. However the Summer of 2009 has already seen one retired player Jason Williams sign a contract with the Orlando Magic and according to two recent reports there are two other former players who want to make the attempt as well.

Last week we told you about “El Pud Supremo“ J.R. Rider who is trying to come back and play after retiring at the start of the 2001-2002 season. Tuesday the “Dallas Morning News” reported that another former player center Greg Ostertag would like to come back to the NBA after being retired for three years.

Ostertag told the paper he truly would love to return to the league and the team he is setting his sights on is the Dallas Mavericks. The 7′2″ center said “Everyone knows how bad I’ve wanted to play in Dallas. I grew up there. They were my favorite team growing up. I’d play there in a second. … That would be the ultimate way to end my career.”

Yo Greg, New York Vinnie hates to be the guy that breaks this news flash to you but your career already ended at the end of the 2005-2006 season. Now although Ostertag’s career numbers were not quite bad enough to get him on the New York Vinnie’s list of “Who Is The Biggest White Stiff Of All Time In The NBA?” they were not a whole lot better than lots of former players who were on the list. Ostertag was a journeyman center at best who had the good fortune of playing with two Basketball Hall Of Fame players in Karl Malone and John Stockton in Utah.

Ostertag’s greatest asset was he was a “Wide-Body” and because of his size he could clog up the lanes. But his career numbers were at best mediocre as he averaged 4.6 points and 5.5 rebounds per game over his  11 years in the NBA. Does Ostertag believe if he comes back now at the age of 36 his numbers will improve? If he does he must be smoking Drano.

So what is the reason that the former Jazz center and the other lost sheep want to return to the NBA pen? In J-Will’s situation New York Vinnie believes that he truly does think he has some more left in the tank and he could be a good pick-up for the Orlando Magic. However New York Vinnie believes there are other reasons motivating Rider and Ostertag; and they very well could be financial.

A whole lot of people lost a whole lot of money in this country in the last year as we have gone through the “Great Recession.” Could the reason that Rider and Ostertag want to come back to oplay in the NBA is because they lost their Frickin shirts? New York Vinnie believes that is a very real possibility! And what better way for these guys to get out of a financial hole than with a nice NBA contract?

Now New York Vinnie does not believe for a second that J.R. Rider will be playing in the NBA once the regular season starts. However Ostertag does have a shot for as the old saying goes you can’t teach size. With Nowitzki and Marion the Mavericks have two studs in their front-court; perhaps the Dallas brain-trust thinks that Ostertag could be just enough to help them be contenders this season in the NBA Western Conference. We shall soon find out.