Rashad McCants Has A Lot To Prove In His D-League Return With The Legends

Way back when, two weeks before this D-League season even began, yours truly wrote on Twitter "Will Rashad McCants be the D-League story of the season? Probably."

Four months, three games, a web series portraying the former NBA player as the bisexual leader of a high-end shoplifting ring, McCants himself saying he's better than all but a few NBA All-Stars and numerous will-he-or-won't-he moments later, I'm sticking with that Tweet (and I feel really smart for Tweeting it despite the fact that McCants has played in just seven percent of the Legends games this season).

To get everyone on the same page, the great Marc Stein broke the news over the weekend that McCants will be returning to the D-League's Texas Legends sometime today after McCants said just last week that the D-League is nothing but a plea from the league for him to show humility (which he obviously hasn't found):

"The Development League is nothing but what my agent told me is a plea from the league saying, that ‘We want you to show humility to get back in (the NBA),'" McCants said.

After initially saying he was better than 70-percent of the players in the NBA, McCants upped the ante after being told his agent thought the percentage was even higher.

"I was being modest saying 70-percent," McCants said. "My honest opinion is 95-percent. I don't even think there are top-tier All-Stars who are better than me, and they know who they are."

Well, if McCants is better than 95 percent of the players in the NBA -- include some "top-tier All-Stars" -- he better freaking dominate the D-League.

So what will I consider a disappointment from McCants? Anything less than the 28.0 points, 11.3 rebounds and 10.7 assists that fellow talented headcase Terrence Williams put up in his three game stint with the Springfield Armor earlier this season.

Ultimately, however, I believe the rest of McCants career -- no matter what happens -- will ultimately be considered a disappointment considering what might have been.

Consider that, in 2002, McCants was ranked above Chris Bosh, Andre Iguodala, Brandon Roy, Deron Williams as the fourth-best player in his high school class; he had his hung in the rafters at the University of North Carolina, perhaps the most storied basketball program in NCAA history; he was a lottery pick in front of Danny Granger, David Lee and Monta Ellis.

All in all, McCants was all set to have a rather successful NBA career but then he, seemingly, got in his own way in what's spiraled into McCants finding himself having to convince an NBA general manager that he even deserves a spot on his team's D-League squad.

"Providing opportunities and second chances is what the D-League is all about," Nelson told ESPN's Stein. "And that's exactly what Rashad needs right now."

Opportunities and second chances are certainly what the D-League is all about, this is true, but the young man seems to be his sixth or seventh opportunities that he has been given since beginning his professional playing career not long ago.

I'm all about reclamation projects and people changing for the better, but, eventually, the chances are going to stop coming for McCants -- probably sooner rather than later. Let's hope this is the time the talented, troubled player has his head on straight and is truly ready to put the past behind him.

(This isn't the first time I've closed a McCants column out like that, but hopefully it's the last -- and for the right reasons)