Reeves Nelson sat out the first half of UCLA’s 92-60 win over Chaminade at the Maui Invitational Monday as punishment for missing the team’s flight to Hawaii Saturday.
Nelson missed the team’s bus to the airport and flight to Maui Saturday, so he ended up on a separate flight. He also missed a players’ banquet in Hawaii, and coach Ben Howland kept him from the media leading up to the game. The junior forward scored one point and grabbed five rebounds in 11 second-half minutes of UCLA’s first victory of the season.
Not only was Nelson’s move pretty boneheaded for obvious reasons, but it comes a week after he was suspended for being late to a team meeting the day after the squad lost its season opener to Loyola Marymount. There were reports suggesting Nelson was considering transferring. He was reinstated after missing the team’s loss to Middle Tennessee State.
Reeves is probably UCLA’s best player, and as a junior, he’s expected to be a team leader. Being late to team meetings and team buses is the antithesis of setting a good example. If the team is going to have success this season, they’ll need him to stop being a knucklehead and get with the program.
