BY WEB STAFF sportsnet.ca
Hedo Turkoglu appears to want his Toronto Raptor days to come to an end according to a translation of an interview he gave to Turkish television recently.
The Basketball Jones blog reported Friday that the desire to leave stems from a March 28 incident when Turkoglu missed a game due to stomach illness and was then spotted later that night out at a club.
According to the translation in the blog, Turkoglu, provided his version of the event:
“After the game, I went back home. Some European teammates called me and said, “Hedo, are you sleeping?” Then they told me where they were hanging out, which is actually 100 meters away from my home. I said, “OK” and when I arrived, all the guys were here. And if you check the camera records, you will see that I left there in 15-20 minutes with Andrea Bargnani. I guarantee it. And if they prove me wrong, I will give back my contract!” said Turkoglu.
“The day after, the whole controversy erupted. They claimed that I intentionally skipped the game. And the worst thing is that the people making the claims were from Raptors’ management and they wanted to suspend me for two games. My attorney settled the dispute and Mr. [Bryan] Colangelo promised me that things would stay between us. The following day, I was fined and did not play against Miami.” Turkoglu said in the interview.
“When the circumstances turned against me, I lost my enthusiasm for this city. My lawyers have talked to the front office recently. Honestly, I do not want to go back to Toronto. My lawyers talked to Mr. Colangelo and I hope that they will come up with a solution soon” said the 31-year-old.
“During this process I talked to [Raptors head coach] Jay Triano several times. I promised him that whether he starts me or not, I will do my best on the court. However, if I had a more temperamental personality, I would have left the team. Yet, I did exactly the opposite. I did my best. I told him that I have no problems with him. I am not a young player, so it’s not a big deal for me to come off the bench” said Turkoglu.
Turkoglu came to the Raptors in a sign-and-trade deal with the Magic and has four years left on his five-year $52 million contract.