Christian Wood is never shy about telling you where he believes he stands in the NBA.
"I believe I'm a star right now," the Rockets center declared during Media Day in September.
Wood displayed that same confidence after joining the Rockets last November, and nothing has changed since this season has started.
"I can be an All-Star," he told ESPN last month. "I can compete with the best bigs in the league."
If not for a badly sprained ankle, Wood might've made the All Star Game last season. He averaged 21 points and 9.6 rebounds per game last season while shooting 51.4 percent from the field and 37.4 percent from behind the three-point line. Wood exceeded expectations in his first season with the Rockets after signing with the team for three-years and $41 million.
"He's just a good basketball player," Rockets general manager Rafael Stone said at the team's end of season press conference in May. "He plays both ends. He plays inside out. He's a walking bucket."
It was a remarkable rise for a guy who went undrafted in 2015 and then bounced around the NBA for years before seemingly finding a home, but Wood now finds himself at a critical juncture. He will suit up for the Rockets Wednesday night in Washington D.C. after the team suspended him for Monday's game in Philadelphia. Wood wants to be and believes he's a star, but being a star carries responsibility.
Wood arrived late to Toyota Center for his league mandated COVID test before Saturday's game against the Denver Nuggets, delaying the Rockets walk-thru, and it was hardly the first time he's failed to show up on time. Sources tell SportsRadio 610 Wood has constantly shown up late in both his seasons with the Rockets.
Rockets head coach Stephen Silas, who has a relationship with Wood going to back to his time in Charlotte and according to Wood is the reason he joined the team, benched him for the start of Saturday's loss to Denver. Wood played a listless eight minutes in the first half and refused to play in the second half after his effort was called out by assistant coach John Lucas.
The 26-year old is the epitome of a modern day NBA center. He's a threat from every spot on the floor at the offensive end, both with the ball and without it, while being a solid rim protector at the other end who allows you to play a multitude of defenses, so why is he already on his sixth team in six NBA seasons?
"He was a bad guy with us," an executive from one of Wood's former teams told SportsRadio 610 earlier this season.
Wood played in 17 games with the Sixers in 2016 and 13 games with Silas and the Hornets the next season. He was out of the NBA during the 2017-18 season but returned to play a total of 21 games in stops with New Orleans and Milwaukee. He was claimed off waivers by the Pistons on July 17, 2019 and earned a roster spot in training camp, which started to rebuild his reputation.
"Everybody's calling around the country, 'Don't take him, leave him alone, he's a bad guy,'" Pistons head coach Dwane Casey said before Wood's return to Detroit last season. "I never saw that, never experienced it, never saw it. All I asked Christian to do was meet me halfway and he did and then some."
The good vibes about Wood's story had already started to wane, but after Saturday they have disappeared. Wood wants to be great, believes he is great, and he says the things you say when you want to be great, but at some point, the actions must match the words, and right now they don't.
