FanHouse Peter Vecsey

Of course you bite your lip a little bit when you congratulate Peter Vecsey for being named a recipient -- along with Doug Collins -- of the Curt Gowdy media award for 2009.

Vecsey, the long-time writer for the New York Post, and Collins, NBA and Olympic television analyst, will be honored by the Basketball Hall of Fame during its enshrinement ceremonies in September.

You begrudgingly tip your cap to Vecsey because he was a beat writer's nightmare. And I was a beat writer for a while, covering the Golden State Warriors. As a national writer, Vecsey had a knack for interjecting himself into your team's beat every now and again, and in general, making a general nuisance of himself.

Peter Vecsey presents a handful of interesting theories about Don Nelson and the Warriors today. In the span of several paragraphs, he suggests the following theories, all of which need to be taken with a bowling-ball-sized grain of salt:

1. The Warriors are thinking of buying out Nelson rather than risk player mutiny next season;
2. Nelson benched Baron Davis in the pivotal second-to-last game of the season because he was angry Davis "partied" the night before;
3. Nelson benched Davis in a passive aggressive attempt at getting fired so tha he can retire while still collecting his salary;
4. Nelson benched Davis with the Warriors "unspoken blessing" in a passive aggressive attempt to anger Davis enough to opt-out of his contract and leave.
   

Obviously a lot of these theories contradict each other, and even a careful examination of his column makes it difficult to figure out what's based on actual reporting and what's pure conjecture (a frequent problem when it comes to Vecsey). But assuming Nelson is on the way out, it'll be interesting to see if he becomes a candidate for any other job or simply (finally) retires.

Pretty much every team that had even a passing interest in Mike D'Antoni would have to consider Nelson, right? His teams won't play a lot of defense, but they'll score a ton points, put butts in the seats and do wonders for the local mock turtleneck economy. That has to count for something, right?

Peter Vecsey is one of the most respected columnists covering the NBA. One of the reasons he's so entertaining is because he often dabbles in rumors, which ostensibly come from a well-connected network of NBA sources (and, um, the occasional fan email). After this week, though, he may want to weed out his Rolodex.

Still stinging from a retraction he had to print about a ridiculous (and damaging) story about Sam Mitchell, Vecsey once again rushed a story to print without taking the time to verify actual facts. Today, Vecsey led off his column with a sad tale about how Derrick Coleman was in dire need of a heart transplant.

Some information is better left unlearned. Yet I wouldn't be doing my job justice if I didn't report that Derrick Coleman, 41 come June 21, is in urgent need of a heart transplant. Details are scarce, but the few collected are scary.

Toward the end of Coleman's 10-year NBA career, he was diagnosed as suffering from arrhythmia. The disorder was treated with medication and it stopped his heart from skipping a beat and alleviated his shortness of breath, etc.

For whatever reason, Coleman's condition severely worsened lately, hospitalizing one of the toughest hombres in league history. Only a couple of his closest friends - Charles Oakley and Ricky Mahorn - have been able to see him.

Actually, Peter, you wouldn't be doing your job if you simply re-printed rumor without verifying the facts. While it's true that has been hospitalized for the last 10 days with an irregular heart beat, his situation is hardly serious, let alone dire. Terry Foster of the Detroit News contacted Coleman to get his reaction, who said he was shocked to hear that he was apparently on his deathbed.