Tap here to view theScore's NBA Offseason Tracker, which includes the latest transactions and rumors.
Joel Zumaya may have competition for the worst technology-related injury excuse.
Sharpshooter Matt Bonner had his worst 3-point shooting percentage since 2007-08 last season, knocking down a respectable 36.5 percent of his outside looks. Most players would be fine with that mark, but the red-headed sandwich enthusiast has a 41.4-percent career mark and derives his value largely from that skill.
Assuming Bonner switches phones this summer, it's a safe bet the 35-year-old's shooting form returns.
That's because Bonner, who led the league in 3-point percentage in 2010-11 when the iPhone 4 was hot, believes the new, larger iPhone 6 may have hurt his stroke. As he told Tim O'Sullivan of the Concord Monitor:
I hate to make excuses, I was raised to never make excuses, but I went through a two-and-a-half month stretch where I had really bad tennis elbow, and during that stretch it made it so painful for me to shoot I'd almost be cringing before I even caught the ball like, 'Oh, this is going to kill.'
...
Everybody is going to find this hilarious, but here's my theory on how I got it. When the new iPhone came out it was way bigger than the last one, and I think because I got that new phone it was a strain to use it, you have to stretch further to hit the buttons, and I honestly think that's how I ended up developing it.
Bonner's tennis elbow excuse may be fair, as he shot 28.6 percent across January and February, an uncharacteristically long slump. The iPhone 6 was released in the U.S. in September, but there's no saying if Bonner was an early adopter. The timeline of his shooting suggests he got the phone as a Christmas present.
In any case, Bonner will know better for 2015-16. He's an unrestricted free agent, and while he wants to return to the San Antonio Spurs, they may not have the requisite roster space, though he'd only command a veteran's minimum contract. The Los Angeles Clippers and owner Steve Ballmer, former CEO of Microsoft, may be able to entice Bonner to fill their need at center with a more elbow-friendly phone.
A second-round pick in 2003, Bonner has averaged six points and 3.1 rebounds over 762 career games and ranks 11th in all-time 3-point percentage.
- With h/t to Pro Basketball Talk
