“This is our escape route” — the issue that Andray Blatche once had against the Washington Wizards is now his stand for another one of his former team. For those who don’t remember, Blatche had gained a reputation of being a spoiled athlete who lacked a certain amount of motivation to contribute to his team. Back around then, he had stated in an interview how the team could have guided him better than letting him be and using him as an escape from the team’s failures.

It seems the reputation that Blatche gained in Washington did not leave him in the Brooklyn Nets. At least that’s what the former NBA center has recently claimed on an episode of Above the Rim podcast. Blatche started the conversation with a Wizards’ assistant general manager wanting to end his career. Although he does not exactly remember the name of the AGM, he stated it sounds something like Milton.

Now, although we don’t have concrete evidence on this, it seems Blatche is talking of Milt Newton. Wizards hired Newton in 2003 as their Vice President of player personnel. The Timberwolves hired him as a GM in September 2013, which means he shared significant time with the Wizards. Despite all this, Blatche claimed on the podcast that the only time he got fed up playing in the NBA was when he was with the Nets.

The 38-year-old recalled the time his team lost against the Chicago Bulls and the team tried blaming everything on him. “Saying I was a locker room problem, and I was this and I was that… That shi*t blew my mind… I said, understand this, ‘I’m the scapegoat’. I’m that person. Because you know my past. You can say, yeah, he did this again,” Blatche stated on the podcast.

He believes that his image from the Wizards of being an unmotivated player made him an easy escape route for the Nets as well. However, Blatche questioned how could he have influenced players like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Joe Johnson and more who were also on the team. He just believes once a player gains a certain reputation, it does not leave him easily.

What were Andray Blatche’s issues in his former NBA teams?

Drafted by the Wizards with the 49th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft, the team offered him a 2-year, $1.06 Million contract as a rookie. However, his performance in the first two seasons stayed sub par as he averaged below 5 points per game. But it seems a 15+ Player Efficiency Rating (PER) in the next few seasons and a 17.6 PER in 2010 gained him enough faith from the Wizard to retain him in the team. By the time, his PPG had also increased from below 5 to 14.1.

Subsequently, the team offered Dray another contract worth 5 years, $35 million. However, despite receiving a decent deal, Blatche’s performance did not reflect the kind of growth the team would’ve expected. Notably, the Wizards had increased his playing time from 27.9 minutes per game to 33.9. But his PPG only increased from 14.1 to 16.8, while his PER dropped to 16.9 .

Wizards benched Andray Blatche in March 2012, giving lack of conditioning as the reason. The team then waived him via amnesty clause in July 2012. Now, although Dray was coming mostly off the bench with the Nets, his PER peaked during his two seasons there. But this was not without any off-court troubles, which also included him being questioned in a case of s*xual assault.

Seemingly, the extra burden for the Nets was too much to carry. And after his two year long stint with the team, Blatche had to take his basketball talents to the Chinese Basketball Association.

Stay tuned for more such updates. And join us for the exciting second episode of the “Dual Threat Show” as our host BG12 sits down with Georgia Bulldogs star and Mountain West All-Freshman Team Selection, Asia Avinger.