More "Carlos" news

Not THAT Carlos, sorry. I’m talking about the other Carlos. The original Carlos of the Utah Jazz, you might call him. The one who was supposed to be The Next John Stockton, not The Next Karl Malone.

Yep, Carlos Arroyo.

So, first we hear that the former Jazz point guard/Team USA assassin has released a song on the radio.

Go ahead and thank me in advance, because I found the Puerto Rican pop star in the making’s debut ditty for you. Enjoy:

The song, by the way, is called Oculto Secreto. And while I’m not fluent in Spanish, I was pretty certain that roughly translated to “I Hate Jerry Sloan” until I read something from ESPN Deportes. (Sorry, forgot to tell you to bring a Spanish-English dictionary for this blog.)

Arroyo told the ESPN reporter that he probably should have taken a different route – purely coincidental that that rhymes with pout – with the Jazz coach when their relationship started to sour after Arroyo decided that no Jazz fan would ever accuse him of not shooting enough (a la the one and only beef some fans had with Stockton).

Sloan, of course, wanted Arroyo to pass the ball to his teammates more often than he tried passing it to the hoop, and, well, Arroyo didn’t last too long in a Jazz uniform. After starting 71 games in 2003-04, he ended up being sent to the bench in Sloan’s doghouse and then to Detroit midway through the next season.

Hindsight being vente/vente, Arroyo can’t help but wonder how things might have turned out had he reacted in another way.

“When (our differences) emerged, I should have approached Jerry Sloan,” Arroyo said in his recent ESPN Deportes interview. “I should have done it right there; waiting for things to just happen was not the right decision.”

Arroyo eventually went to Orlando for a couple of seasons after his Detroit days, but never really made a name for himself like he flirted with after dropping 25 points on the U.S. basketball team in his country’s upset victory in the 2004 Olympics. He played in Israel last year.

Which brings us to our final Arroyo tidbit.

I recently passed along a report that the point guard was trying to make an NBA comeback. Supposedly, the Chicago Bulls were going to offer him $1 million to play this season.

Turns out, that report from a Puerto Rican newspaper wasn’t exactly true.
He’s actually being offered $1 million to NOT sing “Oculto Secreto” anymore.

Kidding!

Not about the not-playing-for-the-Bulls part, though. At least that’s the word coming out of Chicago.

Here’s what Chicago Sun-Times reporter John Jackson wrote about the situation:

“If you thought the Bulls signing Carlos Arroyo didn’t make sense, you’re not alone. The Bulls agree with you.

A Bulls source said Tuesday that there was “no truth at all” to a report in a Puerto Rican newspaper over the weekend that the veteran point guard was close to signing a one year, $1 million contract with the Bulls.

The Bulls are deep at the position with Derrick Rose, Kirk Hinrich, Lindsay Hunter and Jannero Pargo capable of playing there.

There is a feeling that the report came from the agent for Arroyo as a way to drum up interest for his client.”

Sadly, that is all the Carlos Arroyo news for the day.