Clearly, they didn't want to endure Larry Brown's grueling training again during the offseason.
Larry Brown was quite taken aback by this. He even said to the media, "I was very surprised. In the end, all I could say to the association was, 'Fine, we'll just go with the players who are willing to show up.'"
Larry Brown later drew up a list for them. This list included some young players, even rookies with just one year under their belts.
"Give me a few young guys, like Wade, Stoudemire, LeBron, and Carmelo, and just have them on the bench," Larry Brown said. "I'll tell them, 'You might not play a single minute, or you might play 20, but you are the future of this team. You need to learn the right way to do things from the other players.'"
Larry Brown was known for his dislike of developing rookies, but now he had made such a decision. This was a clear indication of the dire straits this edition of the Dream Team was in.
