(Editor's Note: I'm going to be out of town for a couple days. Let Arichmix's tribute to the the worst free throw shooter of all time hold you over in my stead. One love.)

Chris Dudley is an enigma. Of all the scrubs in the history of organized sport, the one known as "C-Duds" may be the hardest to peg. On one hand, the man was almost fully incompetent on offense and watching him shoot free throws was like playing ball with a cruel friend who enjoyed imitating Helen Keller. However, how many scrubs can say that they averaged 9 rebounds a game starting every game in a season for a team, and how many more can say that they started in the Finals for their team? Not many, that's how many. So therefore Chris is either a very good scrub or a really bad regular player. But for the sake of argument for the Scrubdown, Chris Dudley is a damn good scrub.

While Dudley had a long, fulfilling 17 year career, the only years that really mattered were the three he spent with the Knicks. Before he arrived, the Knicks were in desperate need of a backup center for Patrick Ewing. When they acquired Dudley, what they wanted was a backup big man for their superstar. What they got was one of the greatest horrible Knicks that the franchise has ever seen, and a memorable member of the legendary Knicks of the late 90's.

From the outside looking in, one may wonder why Dudley is well-regarded by Knick fans the way he is. He simply seems like a roster filler/bad role player. Aka a scrub. However as previously stated, Dudley was a special kind of scrub. He was the kind of scrub who worked as hard as anybody, but never got better in his areas of weakness. Which include everything except defense, rebounding, cheering, and being white. However, as chronically bad as he was in all areas aside from those four, he was still a rotation player during his tenure with the Knicks. Oh, and how his play brought countless oohs and aahs, shocks and laughs. Mainly laughs.

Being the token white player on a Knick team teemed with badasses in all three of his seasons with the team seems like an unnatural fit for a guy like Dudley. After all, he does not embody the typical NBA player or for that matter, the typical 90's Knick when you look at his resume. He was the first and thusfar only NBA player who attended Yale, he was a diabetic, and dammit just look at him:

However, despite his polite demeanor, charitability, and his unthreatening appearance, Dudley was just as much a part of the thuggish ruggish Knicks of the 90's as any of the other members. Dudley hustled for rebounds with a DavidLeeesque tenacity, was undaunted on defense going up against premiere big men in the NBA, and never backed down. You want proof you say? Well, proof will be provided my skeptical friend.

The setting is the Knicks playing the Lakers in Los Angeles. Shaquille O'Neal, one of the best players in the league at that time, goes up and throws down a dunk and pushes Dudley to the floor on the way down. One may expect Duds to just take it, but no. Dudley picks up the ball and throws it at Shaq. May I repeat. He throws the fucking ball at Shaq. What's even more impressive is that considering his awful free throw shooting, the ball actually hit him. This video is in Spanish, but you don't need a phd in Espanol to understand what's going on.

That is Chris Dudley right there.

Now, anything discussing Chris Dudley would not be complete without mentioning the one key component that made Duds so unique. The one thing that constantly brings Dudley's name up even in today's NBA games. His wonderfully fantastic ability to be so bad at shooting free throws. If they statisticized air-balled free throws, Dudley would be the NBA career and season leader. It was truly amazing. At times, he had the worst form imaginable, and other times, he'd shoot with Houston-esque form. But consistently, the freebies would not go in. Ever. They never ever went in. Well, they did go in 45 percent over his career, but still they did not go in. The man missed 17 of 18 free throws in a game one time. He should be inducted into the hall of fame on that alone.

That's what made Dudley so special and have such a place in our hearts. Having such tireless effort and energy, but still not being very good whatsoever. Dudley started the last two games in the 1999 NBA Finals for us. The Knicks lost both of those games. However, despite being overmatched completely in that series, the Knicks and Dudley still gave it their all. Being the only scrub as far as I know to start in an NBA Finals, Dudley has done rather well for himself. Despite never being the most talented player on the court (ever), Dudley will always be a bright, shining example of how hard work and hustle can turn even the most untalented, uncoordinated longshot into one of the greatest scrubs in NBA history, who will provide us with a lifetime of cheers and laughs. Huzzah.

Source

Posted: 5:51 PM- There won't be anybody questioning C.J. Miles' decision to skip the Rocky Mountain Revue any longer. Now the Jazz's biggest concern is whether Miles will be playing for another team entirely this season.     Miles signed a four-year, $15 million contract with Oklahoma City, sources said Friday. Utah will have seven days to decide about matching the offer sheet and keeping the restricted free-agent guard.     The Jazz will have to take into account the luxury-tax implications of matching the offer, especially with young guards Ronnie Brewer and Morris Almond already on their roster. Miles averaged 5.0 points and played in 60 games last season.     Miles would be able to compete for a starting job with the newly relocated Oklahoma City team, which went 20-62 last season in Seattle but is building around top draft picks Kevin Durant, Jeff Green and Russell Westbrook.     "I'd be excited for C.J.," Deron Williams said. "I want him back here in the baddest way. I think he can be a great player for us if he gets the opportunity. I don't think he's ever been really given an opportunity to come in and prove himself."     Troy Weaver, who spent four years as the Jazz's director of player personnel and head scout, left in May to become Oklahoma City's assistant general manager. Although Weaver liked Miles, Oklahoma City general manager Sam Presti was said to have driven the deal.     Even though he has played three seasons, Miles was the 14th youngest player in the NBA last season. The 21-year-old was a second-round pick by the Jazz in 2005, part of the last class of high school players able to enter the draft.     He showed flashes of his potential during a 10-game stretch at the end of December and beginning of January. With Gordan Giricek banished by Jazz coach Jerry Sloan, Miles stepped in and averaged 10.5 points on 55.6 percent shooting.     But Miles found himself the odd man out of the rotation after Kyle Korver's arrival in a trade with Philadelphia. He bounced game to game from the end of the bench to the starting lineup as an injury replacement for Brewer or Andrei Kirilenko.     The Jazz and Miles also were at odds over his decision to skip the Revue both this summer and last. Miles' camp saw it as an injury risk with potentially millions at stake as a free agent; Sloan saw it as the wrong decision for a young player trying to develop.     This week, Sloan described Miles as having been "way, way behind" at the start of training camp last year. Miles' representatives believed he was punished for the decision and questioned why it was being revisited months into last season.     Williams said he thought Sloan "held it against [Miles] a little bit last year" that he didn't play in the Revue while adding that Miles "put himself in a position to get a lot of money in this league, and I think a lot of people speak highly of him."     "I think people think that C.J. was just not going to get any offers or he's just sitting at home, but he works out hard every day," Williams said. "I talk to him once a week and he's always working out, always getting better."     When he was in New York as part of a USA Basketball promotional trip, Williams said "a lot of guys, LeBron [James] and some of those other guys, were saying how impressed they were with C.J."     What was missing was evidence that some team was prepared to make Miles a serious offer. He returned to the Jazz last season on a $945,610 qualifying offer. But that all changed Friday.     Miles' offer from Oklahoma City is on par with what Detroit's Amir Johnson (three years, $11 million) and Washington's Andray Blatche (five years, $15 million) signed for last summer. The two were fellow high school players and second-round picks along with Miles.     The offer to Miles is guaranteed for three years with a fourth-year team option. It is said to dwarf previous multiyear contracts the Jazz had talked about with Miles, believed to be worth no more than $4 million for two years.     Jazz general manager Kevin O'Connor said, "If he does get an offer sheet, we'll look at what the numbers are and we'll make some determination." O'Connor added: "There's very few restricted free agents who have signed yet. They are the last ones to sign."

What do you guys think, I personally think the Jazz should match the offer sheet and try to keep him, he can be a special player in the future.

Sup fellas. This is the third game of the 2008 Knicks Summer League. We've split the first two games 1-1, and it's coming down to the wire! This may very well be the most significant of all these insignificant games in terms of unimportant momentum needed to finish out the rest of this meaningless mini-season. Today we'll be facing D'Antoni's former team's team, the Phoenix SummerSuns, who also maintain a 1-1 record. Introductions!

SummerKnicks starters: Mardy Collins, Von Wafer, Anthony Roberson, Wilson Chandler, Paul Miller

Rounding out the SummerKnicks: Antonio Graves, Dan Grunfeld, Marcus Hall, Delonte Holland, Brandon Hunter, Antione Johnson, Zhang Songtao, Renaldo Balkman, Nate Robinson, Danilo Gallinari (italicized means injured)

SummerSuns starters: DJ Strawberry, Alando Tucker, Marcus Vinicius, Judson Wallace, Robin Lopez

Rounding out the SummerSuns: Jiri Hubalek, Taquan Dean, Justin Cage, Jared Jordan, Vladimir Golubovic, Ekene Ibekwe, Ivan McFarlin

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The Packers want Favre to go to an AFC team or stay with them as Aaron Rodgers' backup. As far as AFC teams go, the Ravens may be the best fit. They are a good team that have a closing window and needed help on offense. They still have a great running game and defense, but their passing game needs help. Brett can provide that and make us contenders again. So yeah, we should go for Favre.