Perhaps the most amazing feature of the whole Andrei Kirilenko trade fiasco is that none of his statements have been in English. And as of yet, he hadn't gotten with English language media to clarify the whole thing. All of this came to a screeching halt last week, when he sat down with television station KSL 5. From The Salt Lake Tribune:
"I'm stuck," Kirilenko said. "I don't know. I'm stuck in this situation." He added that he would trust whatever decision Larry Miller made about a possible trade. "I just want him to help me again and help the team," he said.There's more, but you get the gist: Resignation and well-meaning trooper-ism on the part of Kirileno. He's calmed down a bit since his initial demands, so it's not like this is a direct translation of his Russian statements. But it is worth considering how much context--linguistic and otherwise--influences athletes' opinions. When Kirilenko's on top of the EuroBall world and speaking to his native fans, it's easy to fantasize about freedom. Back in Utah, surrounded by his Jazz teammates, well, that's a whole different ball game.
[...]
"I don't want to be an anchor for the team," Kirilenko said. "Right now, I feel like an anchor, game-wise and money-wise. I want Jazz to be as happy as possible."
To end this on a cheery note: Kirilenko earnestly tells reporters that "I want to get the spark. I want to burn the floor." If that's not a quote for the ages, I don't know what is.
