Just in time for the final fortnight of the NBA's regular season comes turmoil with the New York Knicks.
Shooting guard Arron Afflalo further refuted the assertion from interim coach Kurt Rambis that Afflalo's demotion to bench duty was discussed and agreed upon between the two.
"There's no breakdown in communication," Afflalo said on Wednesday, according to the New York Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "We never had the communication. I don’t know why he would say there was a conversation."
Rambis told reporters on Tuesday that he and Afflalo had talked about bringing the veteran off the bench while starting Sasha Vujacic.
"Of course that conversation was had," Rambis said.
On Wednesday, the interim coach added that a "front-office consensus" had made the call to start Vujacic ahead of Afflalo. Vujacic played for current Knicks president Phil Jackson when Jackson coached the Los Angeles Lakers.
Afflalo was one of Jackson's two well-received free-agent signings in 2015, when he inked a two-year deal with an option this summer. However, Afflalo's minutes and production have tailed off since Derek Fisher was fired as coach in early February.
At this point, it is a virtual certainty that Afflalo opts out of his deal, which has an even $8 million owed to him next season. As a player who has averaged 15.3 points per game on near-37 percent 3-point shooting the past four seasons, the 30-year-old should be able to cash in on this summer's salary cap spike.
Afflalo also posted a cryptic Instagram post on Wednesday:
