76ers’ Weatherspoon Still Disgruntled

Two days after criticizing the 76ers in Philadelphia for a perceived lack of respect, Clarence Weatherspoon remained in an unhappy state at the team’s training camp in Chapel Hill, N.C..

The sixth-year forward still is smarting from a tumultuous off-season in which he was traded to the Boston Celtics, only to have the deal voided because Dino Radja failed his physical with the 76ers.

Weatherspoon said a friend of agent Jimmy Sexton’s, and not the 76ers, told him about the trade. He also said Philadelphia failed to call him in the three months after the deal was voided.

“The thing is once everything fell apart, it was a total [case of] no communication with me,� Weatherspoon said. “There might have been a letter sent to my mom’s address and there may have been some communication with my agent, but there was no, ‘Hello, Clarence, we understand the situation.’ There wasn’t any of that.�

Team president Pat Croce defended the 76ers, saying Sexton wanted all communication with Weatherspoon to go through him.

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Isaiah Rider thought he finally was putting some distance between himself and his troubled past when the NBA sneaked up and slapped him in the face with it.

Rider says he was blindsided by the league’s decision to suspend him for two games for past off-court transgressions.

He believes he is being unfairly singled out when there are plenty of other examples the league has ignored. An image, he is discovering, is a very hard thing to change.

“I tried to have a stress-free summer and be productive,� Portland’s Rider said. “I did a youth tournament at home. I came up and did something for the Blazers with kids. I tried to stay out of hot water.�

The NBA said it suspended him for the first two games of the regular season, and Philadelphia’s Allen Iverson for the first game, because of improper behavior off the court.

Specifically, the league cited Rider’s conviction for marijuana possession and his no-contest plea to possession of an unregistered cellular phone.