The Nuggets are going to need a bigger clown car.
Where in the world is point guard Ty Lawson? Last seen making a goofy face for the camera in Las Vegas during the all-star break, he was a no-show Wednesday at practice. Some way, somehow, Denver misplaced its point guard.
The Nuggets have no all-stars. They lead the NBA, however, in clownish behavior.
This team has a nasty habit of making coach Brian Shaw look like a fool. He fights the good fight but doesn’t fret the losses or the knuckleheads who ruin his life. When his best player skips a practice, however, I felt compelled to ask Shaw:
Are the Nuggets still listening to their coach?
“I think so. The guys who are here seem to still be enthusiastic,” said Shaw, noting that every NBA season invites conflict between players and their coach. “You’re always going to have some guys who tune you out, some guys who aren’t happy because they aren’t touching the ball enough, some guys that aren’t happy because they’re not on the floor enough. That comes with the territory. If there is a guy who tunes you out or isn’t getting it done, you go down to the next guy.”
So suspend Lawson. Go on to the next guy. The Nuggets aren’t making the playoffs, but is professionalism too much to expect?
In a lost season, on a team without any sense of direction, Shaw opened the first practice since a victory over the Lakers in Los Angeles on Feb. 10, scanned the court at the Pepsi Center and re-enacted a scene from the classic movie “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
Lawson? Lawson? Lawson?
“You can hear every excuse in the book. But, at the end of the day, if a guy’s late, he’s late,” Shaw said.
The point guard was AWOL. Lawson didn’t bother to tell Shaw that he would be absent. Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop to look around once in a while, you could miss it. Perhaps an eight-day break was not quite sufficient for Lawson to get the icky feeling of the team’s lousy 20-33 record out of his system.
Late in the afternoon, while general manager Tim Connelly worked the phones in an attempt to make a trade, Lawson offered a statement via social media: “Travel plans got derailed … but I’m always ready to go to war with my brothers. I know the season hasn’t gone the way we all wanted but I’m a nugget until the day I die #nuggetsnation #letthehatecommentspileup.”
Well, I guess that explains it all. If the Nuggets had been going to war, Lawson would have been there, ready to drive the lane and dish the rock. But if we’re talking about practice? His brothers were on their own.
We can also thank Lawson for coining the perfect way to describe a team that has become an unintentional joke. Hashtag: Let the hate comments pile up.
Who will get blamed for Lawson’s lack of professionalism? Fair or not, it will be Shaw. Why? Shaw gets blamed for everything bad in the Pepsi Center, from not being George Karl to the outrageous cost of beer inside the arena.
“It’s all a reflection on me,” Shaw said. “When it comes down to it, the head coach is responsible for everything.”
The coach looks at the Denver roster and sometimes feels as if he has adopted a locker room of overgrown children.
“Every team has professional guys and guys that aren’t professional. I don’t even want to say unprofessional but guys who need improvement in that area. Like I say all the time, our players help me deal with my kids at home. My kids at home help me deal with our players,” Shaw said.
Of course, at age 27, in his sixth pro season, Lawson might be a bit old to be treated like a child. While it might make more sense to send Lawson to his room without dinner or ground him for a week, the Nuggets might take the easy way out and settle for fining him. But is taking chump change from a player with an $11.6 million salary going to cause hardworking fans feel better about spending their hard-earned cash on a Denver team that doesn’t bother to show up on too many nights?
After the NBA trade deadline passes at 1 p.m. Thursday, perhaps Lawson will feel comfortable enough to show his face in Colorado.
The Nuggets can’t trade Lawson if the team can’t find him. Right?
Load up the clown car, Nuggets Nation.
We’re headed down the road to nowhere.
Lawson’s driving.
Mark Kiszla: mkiszla@denverpost.com or
