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Hi, Phil Jackson: Shane Larkin can palm a basketball

By Tom Lorenzo
Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

Monday morning marked Media Day around the NBA, and one of the "biggest" questions pertaining to the Brooklyn Nets this offseason has to do with the "tiny" hands of the team's backup point guard, Shane Larkin.

No, it's not really a "big" thing, but it's something, because really, we can't not ask him about the following comments made by New York Knicks' Phil Jackson to ESPN back in August, when he essentially said that Larkin's hands were too small.

Jackson said, in speaking with Charley Rosen:

"Another problem is that [Larkin] can’t control the ball because he has such tiny hands. For sure, every team needs a small, quick guard, but there are a lot of guys like that available."

When asked at Media Day about the comment, Larkin had this to say:

"I was going to palm a ball and put it on Instagram for him, but I felt like that wasn’t the right move," Larkin said. "I never met a man so concerned with another man’s hands, but it’s all good."

He then went on to say that he no longer has to worry about what Jackson has to say about his hands, since he no longer plays on the Knicks.

Later, Larkin showed Andy Vasquez of the Bergen Record and the NetsDaily team that he can, indeed, palm a basketball.

Yes, we've seen him palm a basketball. His hands aren't small.

Basketball starts tomorrow, so let's hope that this is the last "hands" piece we have to write on NetsDaily.

Meanwhile, Andrea Bargnani said in the days after the comments were published that he looked forward to responding but Team Italy's fortunes were primary.  Monday, he again deferred, diplomatically, saying he is all about the Nets now. "I don't want this to be a distraction. I want to focus on what's next for me."

When pressed, Bargnani refused to refer to Jackson, saying his poor play was the result of legitimate injuries.  Instead he said he wanted to talk about himself, his values. "Me as a player as a player, basketball is my passion, is my life. what my work ethic is, that's it."

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