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We're in the second half of July! And there is no shortage of stories on what's going on in the nation's capital.
Jared Dudley has back surgery, out for 3-4 months
On Tuesday, the Wizards announced that Jared Dudley had surgery to repair a herniated disc. Based on this timetable, he will return by Thanksgiving time at the latest. Hopefully, it won't be too long.
Even though Dudley may not be with Washington long term, it's still a blow to their hopes to be a more positionally versatile. Mike Sykes has more on that.
The Wizards will wear some new alternate uniforms in 2015-16
One jersey is a red sleeved "Pride" uniform while another is a road uniform with Chinese characters in place of the word "Wizards." Click here to see the designs.
Since the Wizards play in Chinatown, I have no idea why it took the NBA that long to get them jerseys in Chinese characters...
Alan Anderson will travel to Israel on a tour with Omri Casspi
According to Tzvi Ben-Gedalyahu of The Jewish Press, Kings forward Omri Casspi has created a foundation to combat an anti-Israel movement and a tour of the country next week. There will be two events that include one hosted by the HaPoel Jerusalem and the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball teams next Sunday and Wednesday respectively.
Alan Anderson will be among seven NBA players who will take part in this tour. Three of them are Kings players who are DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay, and former Wizards star Caron Butler. In addition, former Wizard and now NBA Player Relations Director Roger Mason will also be part of the tour, according to JSpaceNews.com.
Emma Meesseman and Stefanie Dolson will be in the WNBA All-Star Game
The Mystics' starting power forward and center were named WNBA All-Stars for the Eastern Conference last Tuesday. It's also a sign of a major shift in the direction of the team, for the better of course. The game's tomorrow on ABC at 3:30 p.m.
The Mystics had an eventful plane trip to and from Tulsa
The Wizards fly charter jets when they are on the road since this is a collectively bargained benefit. The Mystics, however, have to fly on the regular plane, like the rest of us common folks.
Last Monday, they flew to Tulsa, Oklahoma to play the Shock on the road which they won. But before the flight there, rookie players Natasha Cloud and Ally Malott had to dress like babies.
Fortunately, Cloud herself told us that everything was all good:
@BulletsForever @KELLYOUBREJR @allymalott not hazing at all. Just good fun by our vets. I rock baby colors very well!
— Natasha Cloud (@T_Cloud4) July 20, 2015
Yes. Believe it or not, the Mystics read this site and your comments on them!
After the win, the Mystics' flight back from Tulsa involved a delay to a layover in Atlanta via Delta Air Lines. They then missed their next flight back to Washington, which forced the team to spend an extra night. Even though I'm sure Ted can foot the bill, the team wasn't happy about it.
Thanks Delta for leaving us in Atlanta tonight. Might have left a third of your passengers behind. Hard to win loyal customers.
— Washington Mystics (@WashMystics) July 22, 2015
While Atlanta is a great city, the thing is that the Mystics don't play again until Wednesday, July 29 against the Seattle Storm due to the All-Star Break. Therefore, if your name isn't Emma or Stefanie, chances are that you had some plan to get on a quick vacation and now those plans could have been hampered. Really. The players, as you might expect, were pissed.
Dan Steinberg of the D.C. Sports Bog has more.
Weekend listening
If you're into podcasts, there were a couple of good ones involving the Wizards. Tommy Sheppard, VP of Basketball Operations for the Wizards, was on the NBA Lockdown podcast and Jared Dudley was on The Lowe Post with Grantland's Zach Lowe.
That's all folks. Enjoy your weekends!