[Peja Vu]

The Kings, already missing injured big men Chris Webber and Lawrence Funderburke, played without center/forward Tony Massenburg. Tuesday morning, the 12-year veteran left word with trainer Pete Youngman that he was attending to personal matters in San Antonio and would meet the team there for tonight's game against the Spurs.

In his place, rookie Darius Songaila stepped up and scored eight points on 4-of-4 shooting. He was also sound defensively after a rough start.

Kings coach Rick Adelman wasn't pleased by the manner in which Massenburg departed.

"There are proper channels to go through, and he should have called me," Adelman said. "There is no problem on this team if you have to deal with family problems or personal problems, but I haven't talked to him. I know what he said to Pete, and I'm not going to discuss that."

Adelman said he would first talk to Massenburg before deciding if the player would be fined.

Massenburg didn't play Sunday against Dallas, and some of his teammates indicated he might have been disappointed not to have seen action.

"He didn't say anything to anybody," one Kings player said. "He just left."

http://www.sacbee.com/content/sports/basketball/kings/story/8179366p-9110678c.html

 

[Hibachi!]

Ya sure he should have called somebody, but thats not cool, hes got family problems, leave him alone for gods sake at least he told somebody :upset:

 

[Peja Vu]

Adelman understands Massenburg's absence

"I talked to him, and he had some personal things going on," Adelman said of the veteran power forward/center. "It was justified, and I understand why he had to do what he did. But the only thing was that he needed to talk to me. In this business, you have to take care of your family.
"And if you have to miss a practice, then you have to miss one. But a practice and a game, then you have to talk to the coach. But he had something he had to take care of, and I have no problem with him."

Massenburg, who scored two points and had three rebounds in 12 minutes against San Antonio, said he didn't expect Adelman to harbor any ill will.

"Everything is cool," he said. "I'm new here and we're so laid-back, I found out about the family issue, I called the trainer (Pete Youngman) and then went on and did what I had to do. I found out that the coach was a little hot about it, but once I explained to him what was going on, he understood.

"The coach understands and respects family, and he told me that. So I didn't think there would be any problem once we were able to sit down and talk about it like men."

 

[bballer27]

Originally posted by <b>SacKings384</b>!
Ya sure he should have called somebody, but thats not cool, hes got family problems, leave him alone for gods sake at least he told somebody :upset:

i agree