Historic Knicks moment: They just assigned two players to the D League for the first time: Jeremy Lin and Jerome Jordan to the Erie Bayhawks— Howard Beck (@HowardBeckNYT) January 17, 2012

"The D-League is not the NBA," Morris said in the days before training camp opened. "I’m a guy that learns watching or getting a chance out there. I’m older. I think I’m ready to contribute right away."

"Some of our more highly-touted picks have been slight disappointments to be honest," Nurse said. "Tyren Johnson has been well below what we expected him to be. He’s one of those guys that you describe as a guy who can really play, but he’s not playing anywhere near his capabilities."

From a player perspective, (the D-League) is changing. They're not throwing fits anymore. ... They kick and scream, they're upset about it at first, but then they get here and they have a great time. They get to play. This is what these guys do for a living. This is what they love to do. They get to be part of a really supportive community.

It's the most frustrating thing in the world for me. It's really just a waiting game. (Tuesday) was a big meeting as far as how the lockout goes. Nothing got resolved. It puts me further on the back burner.

"Donnie caught me at the right time. I had just come back from a really exciting time coaching the Dominican Republic National team with John Calipari and his staff. We developed a group who had never won a medal in major FIBA event into a quality team and they were able to win the bronze in difficult circumstances. I look forward to helping others who come through our program as players and coaches."

There are guys who are kinda not realistic about your game at a D-League level. You can almost just go up to the guy and go, you gotta be kidding, you know? You go ahead and do that, but I'm gonna be honest with you and tell you that there's a time in your life when you gotta make a decision and do something else. A lot of these guys are trying to chase a dream, or maybe just coming out here for fun.
It's like American Idol, you know? And I'm thinking, you're delusional.

"The only way I would come back to the league is if I get to play with Kobe Bryant. There’s nobody who thinks like me but Kobe Bryant. I just get criticized for what he used to get criticized for because I tried to establish myself the same way he did."

"Some of these guys we brought in to be (training) camp invitees, possibly for a D-League roster. Maybe they're not for our draft, but maybe for the D-League draft...in late October, November."

"The D-League is a fascinating place. There's no one that's there that wants to be there. Everyone that's there is trying to get called up. The referees are trying to get called up. The coaches are trying to get called up. The players are trying to get called up. The scorekeepers are trying to get called up. Everybody's trying to get to the NBA. It's a very interesting environment."

"It's a real minor league system, there's no question. They've done a tremendous, tremendous job building up the D-League. But it's a very cold system. I'm not sure that's where a young man should be growing up."