OK, so maybe calling him a thief might be a little strong, but … nah, he’s a thief.

I know – I am a die-hard Jazz fan and am too familiar with the John Amaechi years. Simply put, he was a terrible player – he really had no business being in the NBA for five years.

Let’s be clear – he was not awful because he is ####. He was awful on his own accord. By all accounts, he was a nice enough guy off the court. Back then he was whiny in the press and rumored to be part of the malcontents (including Mark Jackson and Deshawn Stevenson) on the team, but that really makes him no different than any other NBA player. There were frequent stories about his run-ins with Jerry Sloan – again, not all that unusual.

I don’t care that he is #### – if people want to make a big deal about it, so be it. But honestly, Amaechi really wasn’t a player that would merit any attention other than being ####.

But reading excerpts from Amaechi’s book disgusts me. But it has nothing to do with his personal lifestyle and everything to do with his professional attitude. Let me set the background. The Jazz signed him in 2001 as a desperate attempt to shore up the front-line They gave him a 4-year, $12 million contract – a significant amount of money at the time.

Over the next two seasons, there were numerous rumors about Amaechi’s poor work habits and attitude. It was apparent to anyone watching him play that he was dogging it on the court. In 104 regular-season games, Amaechi averaged 2.6 points, 1.8 rebounds and shot 32 percent from the field.

Basically, he stole that money.  Maybe not a smash and grab, but a theft nonetheless.  Think Enron, not stick up at the Kwik-E-Mart. 

Well, that’s how I view it now – at the time, I just thought it was a bad signing. But it is now apparent that Amaechi never intended on giving a full effort in exchange for paid wages.

First, he writes about his relationship with Sloan. "I respect the game of pro basketball. I just don't think it's all that important. I wasn't going to be embarrassed by Jerry Sloan because basketball had a proper role in my balanced life and I didn't blindly worship a game he made pretty much the entirety of his existence."

OK, so basketball wasn’t as important to him as it was to Sloan. At the time, many said he didn’t take it seriously at all, but we’ll give him a pass and take him at his word that he was just well-balanced.

Later he writes about his poor performance after his contract. It is interesting to see where he places the blame. He writes: “"Why does the performance of so many players decline after they sign multiyear guaranteed deals? It's a little thing called human nature. Plenty of guys - Karl Malone and John Stockton are the obvious examples - play hard no matter how much they make. Other guys lack the discipline. Predicting which player falls into which category is the key to scouting."

Later he continues: "The problem was not my commitment to the game. I was working as hard, with what I had, as anyone on the team. The truth is Sloan and Jazz management hadn't done their research - otherwise known as scouting. They could tell you all my court tendencies, how I played the game and why I should fit into the system. But they knew nothing of my character."

So let’s make sure I’m clear here – he admits he had the skills to fit into the Jazz system. But it is their fault that he was a failure because they didn’t know he was going that he was lazy, selfish and dishonest. And obviously Utah’s research should have uncovered that – it’s not Amaechi’s fault that he’s such an untrustworthy character. Sure, he puts in a throwaway line about working hard, but in the same breath he basically admits that his dropoff was due to lack of effort.

What kind of man blames the team for that and takes no responsibility? I’ll tell you who – a con man, a thief. Amaechi had no intentions of fulfilling his end of the contract but he took the money anyway.

Right now, many people are saying that Amaechi should be proud of coming out of the closet and for the things he wrote in his book. After reading a few excerpts, I think Amaechi shouldn’t be proud, he should be embarrassed.

*Statistics and excerpts from the book were taken from Steve Luhm, writer for The Salt Lake Tribune.