Boozer, Sloan, Barkley weigh in on Fisher

One of the hottest topics the Jazz had to deal with over the past week was the second visit of the season by veteran guard Derek Fisher, who asked to be released from his contract in Utah last summer and shortly thereafter signed with one of his two former teams, the Los Angeles Lakers.
In asking out, Fisher cited the need to be close to the best possible medical care for his young daughter Tatum, who has battled retinoblastoma, a rare form of childhood eye cancer.
The first time he returned to Utah this season, numerous Jazz fans booed him relentlessly.
Fisher was hurt, and longtime teammate Kobe Bryant took notice as well.
After the Lakers were done beating the Jazz in a TNT-televised game Thursday night ‘ a game in which Fisher was greeted with more cheers than jeers during pre-game introductions ‘ Bryant slammed the ball to the floor, screamed an expletive and later explained why he was so mad.
As reported previously, here is what he said:
‘He (Fisher) took it personal. I know I sure as h— did. I was talking with Derek when he was going through that whole situation ‘ contemplating whether or not he should play, and saying how the city (Salt Lake City) embraced him, and he felt he owed it to the fans to come back and play despite the situation. And then to come back here the first time and be received the way he was received ‘ I saw how it affected him. Derek’s the type of guy that’s not going to say anything, but I’ll say it for him: He took it personally tonight, and we wanted to send a message.”
On Friday, Jazz All-Star Carlos Boozer was asked to respond to Bryant’s reaction.
He was not previously aware of what Bryant had said or done, but readily answered after asking for, and receiving, a short summary of his words.
‘That’s how he felt,” Boozer said. ‘He has the right to voice his opinion. I’m sure that same sentiment was shared by some other people. But that’s their right.”
Boozer ‘ a teammate with Fisher for just one season, one in which the Jazz advanced to the NBA’s Western Conference finals, but an acquaintance of his for several yeras ‘ also was asked about the Fisher matter before Thursday’s game.
‘He’s always going to be a brother of mine, no matter what uniform he puts on,” said Boozer, adding he had spoken to Fisher just the night before.
‘We definitely miss his experience,” Boozer added, ‘but we’ve been able to make up for that ‘ and a lot of us have grown up a lot with his absence.”
Jazz coach Jerry Sloan also was asked about the Fisher situation before Thursday’s game.
‘I don’t have any animosity, or anything at all, toward Derek,” he said. ‘We wished him well when he left. ‘ We wish him well (now).
‘We knew that it would hurt us to lose him,” Sloan added, ‘because he gave us consistency at the 2 (as starting shooting guard) and he gave us consistency (as a backup) at the 1 (point guard). Every day, we pretty well knew what he was gonna be able to do.”
When pressed, Sloan made it abundantly clear he did not want to engage in an extended discussion regarding Fisher’s departure.
‘Otherwise,” the Jazz coach said, ‘you’re just trying to drag something out that’s no need to be drug out.”
Among the other voices weighing in on Fisher last week was that of NBA retiree Charles Barkley, who offered this regarding the booing in his capacity as a TNT commentator:
‘(Fisher) shouldn’t take it personally. He asked to be (let out of his contract) and the fans took that personal. It’s no big deal. If you ask to leave and go to a team that’s a rival, people are going to be offended. He didn’t ask to go to Seattle. They have good doctors there, too.
‘Those (Utah) fans had a vested interest in him. They supported him, they loved him and then for him to come out and say, ‘I want to go somewhere else,’ and to the Lakers, one of their rivals, the fans took it personally. He shouldn’t worry about it. Fans are going to boo you if (you) don’t want to play for their team.’