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 Friday, December 31
Hawks hope Rider will be Y2K compliant
 
ESPN.com news services

 ATLANTA -- Isaiah Rider's suspension is over after one game and he is expected to return to the Atlanta Hawks for their game against the Milwaukee Bucks on Tuesday, team spokesman Arthur Triche announced Friday.

Isaiah Rider
Isaiah Rider had been playing well before this week's problems.
Whether Rider -- averaging 23.0 points per game, 10th in the NBA -- starts at Milwaukee "is strictly a coaching decision," Triche said. "Nothing been determined."

Rider was suspended indefinitely Thursday after he missed a team flight and a shootaround prior to a 106-105 overtime loss to the Detroit Pistons.

He showed up about an hour before the game and was involved in a players-only meeting in the Hawks locker room. The Hawks said Rider hadn't contacted the team all day.

He then spoke to the media, refusing to explain his absence from their shootaround, and left the arena. The Hawks banned him from the team's charter flight back to Atlanta and told him he would have to fly commercially.

"There would not have been any suspension had he shown up for the shootaround," general manager Pete Babcock said Friday. "We announced suspension before knowing he would show up for the game."

Babcock said he promised the other players that if Rider apologized to the team, the suspension would last only one game. Babcock made the decision to rescind Rider's suspension after speaking with Rider by telephone Friday afternoon.

Rider was suspended for one game after he missed practice the day before a Nov. 18 game against Charlotte, saying his car had been vandalized.

Babcock noted at the time that Rider did not need a car to get to Philips Arena, which is located a short walk from his hotel, and suspended him for one game.

After coming to the Hawks in August in a trade with Portland, Rider missed the opening of training camp. He was excused from the team's Nov. 2 opener so he could attend his grandfather's funeral, but then failed to return for practice and was fined.

Rider's history of NBA offenses dates back to his first pro practice with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1993, when he showed up late. Other problems have included feuds with coaches and convictions for marijuana possession and assault.

 


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