Kenneth Faried’s career has really taken a dive since just a few years ago when he was a promising talent and an important role player for the Denver Nuggets. Faried was signed by the Brooklyn Nets this summer, but appeared in just 12 contests for the team, averaging a meager 9.8 minutes per game. The disgruntled Faried was bought out by the Nets on January 18. Faried then Signed with the Houston Rockets. Now with Houston, Faried opened up to Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News about his disappointing tenure with the Nets:
“It’s very frustrating. A lot of, ‘We’re going to play you when injuries,’ and a lot of, ‘We’re going to play you when in this moment, that moment,’” Faried said Tuesday. “Just tell me when you’re going to play me or tell me if you don’t want to play me. Tell me if you want me here or not. Because I’m a real honest player, I’m going to give you my heart, give you my all. And I wear my emotions on sleeve. I’m not going to be happy if you keep lying to me and telling me false statements.”
…
He believed the Nets didn’t trust him. Or, at least that’s what they said.
“That was the perception. The, ‘I don’t know you yet,’” Faried said. “A lot of beating around the bush as to why they wouldn’t play me. So it was like, if we figure something out then let’s immediately make that move. Because I don’t want to hinder y’all and y’all hindering my career, pretty much.”
…
Faried returned to New York to prepare for Wednesday’s game against the Knicks at the Garden, and he’s much happier with the communication from Rockets coach Mike D’Antoni.
“Mike told me right away to my face, ‘hey you’re not going start right away, we’re going to have Nene start, but you’re going to play. So be ready to play. And you may play a lot of minutes, because we need you out there.’ And I respected that because he told me the truth and kept it real. If he said, ‘hey, we don’t need you tonight, we want to get acclimated to the offense before we put you out there,’ I’d have understood that, too. I respect it either way.”
Faried has only played one game for the Rockets, but in that one game, he played a significant role, scoring 13 points and snaring six rebounds and 23 minutes. He even knocked down the fourth 3-pointer of his eight-year NBA career, going 1-2 from range on the night.
