As tough as it is for Knicks fans to lose Isaiah Hartenstein, a reminder that things could be a lot worse off for everyone: apparently, former Knicks big man Noah Vonleh was playing for the Shanghai Sharks in China, and things did NOT end well after an injury ended his season.
“The Sharks tried to rush me back many times and told team doctors and doctors outside of the team to lie to me and tell me I’m ok to play,” Vonleh said in an Instagram post, saying his contract was voided in February but he continued to try to fight for his guaranteed money – and his tenure ended with him calling the Sharks “by far worst organization l’ve ever been a part of” and “very unprofessional,” and him waking up with people trying to kidnap him from his hotel?
“The general manager tells the hotel to send people to my room to force me out of there. There’s six people coming to my room trying to break in and grab me out the room,” Vonleh wrote on Instagram. “They using weapons to try and break in and threatening me saying all kind of things.”
He’s now sleeping in the lobby of a hotel, and, uh, Boomer’s a little worried.
“We could have a Brittney Griner situation here – do we have another merchant of death that we could use just in case he gets kidnapped?” Boomer said.
“I'm telling you right now., I am on his side and believe him, but he is really going after the Sharks and Chinese basketball, and they are fighting back,” Gio said, before explaining the salary situation and Vonleh’s living issues.
“Wouldn’t you just get the hell out of there? I mean, if they didn't pay his bonus from last year prior to the season, doesn't that tell you something?” Boomer asked. “Like, why are you going back there and putting yourself in this situation? He’s probably getting screwed over six ways from Sunday, but he put himself into this situation, and this is a kidnapping waiting to happen. Or maybe they won’t kidnap him, and he’ll just get arrested.”
“Or maybe they’ll kill him,” Gio opined.
And apparently, one Chinese operative had some thoughts on Vonleh himself…
“He loves to lose, because the further we went, the more bonus money they were going to spread out to the players,” Gio read from a report. “He loves to throw games, and was the reason why Shanghai was involved in a scandal last year against the Jiangsu Dragons.”
He said, he said, and it’s not getting better anytime soon, it seems, as Vonleh also went after the agent that Shanghai deals with a lot and calling him “one of the most corrupt grimiest agents in the Chinese basketball business.”
“Dude, just get on a plane and get the hell out of there, get back here and get home,” Gio said.
“If they’ll let you leave,” Boomer shot back. :I mean, you saw what Russia did with Brittney Griner.”
“Yeah, it’s not the place you want to go to cause issues,” Gio replied. “There's a handful of those countries right off the top of your head you’re like, I probably shouldn't go here and make waves.”
Booms wasn’t 100 percent kidding with the Griner comment originally, and admitted Vonleh is nowhere near as big a ‘name’ as she is, but…
“If he gets arrested by the Chinese, does he become a political prisoner or does anybody care?” Boomer asked.
“I think after posting all of this stuff, if they put him in jail, I think people would care,” Gio replied. “I know he isn’t LeBron James, I understand, but with all the stuff that he's saying here about how they're not paying him and breaking into his room and making him sleep in the lobby, and all these things, if he ended up in a Chinese prison, I think people would care.”
“There's gotta be something else going on here, some sort of disconnect,” Boomer shot back. “Look, it’s Chinese rules, Chinese law, and I don't think he has much of a leg to stand on. I would get the hell out of there; if you're that unhappy, get the hell out of there as possible.”