In November, former Trail Blazers point guard Patty Mills signed a free agent contract with a Chinese basketball team during the NBA lockout for a deal worth upwards of $1 million. On Wednesday, the Xinjiang Flying Tigers released Mills after they say he faked an injury.
Mills is one of the most active Twitter athletes in the world, and he constantly kept his followers up to speed on the injury that he suffered on December 23. Throughout the process, he wrote about how Chinese doctors examined the wrong parts of his body, didn't understand his injury, and ultimately weren't able to correctly diagnose his injury.
At the same time, Mills and the Chinese team's front office argued over the injury, with Mills contending that it was much more serious than simple swelling, which is what the doctors had claimed. Mills says that he suffered a torn hamstring and that the MRIs can prove it.
"Due to a fake injury, the Xinjiang team has cut the foreign player Mills," team general manager Hou Wei said in a post on the team's blog on Wednesday.
Mills immediately defended himself via Twitter:
"Firstly, hammy is doing well and is on track to be back in full swing by next Saturday. That will be 3 (weeks since suffering the injury). I had both MRIs sent to my doctor in [Australia.] It was made clear from the start to EVERYONE that it was a torn hamstring and would take 3-6 weeks (to recover).
"So why the team and doctors over here are saying its not torn, only swelling and should be playing totally defeats me.
"So basically everything in the Chinese media is totally inaccurate and false. Ive been honest and professional throughout.''
Mills averaged an oustanding 26.5 points per game over his 12 games as a member of the Flying Tigers. The team is currently 9-7 on the season.
Fellow teammate and former NBA player Kenyon Martin bought out his own $3 million contract this week to remove himself from the Flying Tigers' roster.
Like Martin, Patty Mills will be unable to sign an NBA contract until the end of the Chinese Basketball Association season, which won't be until March. Mills has been very vocal about his intentions to find his way back onto the Portland Trail Blazers roster.
© 2011 Max Price - All Rights Reserved.
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