The Detroit Pistons have fined Richard Hamilton and Chris Wilcox for being absent from Friday's morning shootaround, according to Ken Berger of CBSSports.com. The fines were levied because neither Hamilton nor Wilcox apparently had an excuse for missing the shootaround.
Berger also reports that Austin Daye and Rodney Stuckey received fines for showing up late to the shootaround. They missed the team bus, but at least they didn't skip it entirely.
Other players absent from the shootaround on Friday were Tracy McGrady, Tayshaun Prince and Ben Wallace. None of them were fined because they were apparently excused from the shootaround. Per Berger, McGrady and Prince were sick, and Wallace was dealing with the "sudden terminal illness of a close family member." We now know that that illness was with Wallace's brother, who died today at the age of 58.
Although there was a lot of talk yesterday that this incident could help speed up John Kuester's firing, Berger says that no coaching change is planned right now. The Pistons are going to apparently propose a buyout for Hamilton before March 1 (the deadline for him to be eligible to end up on a playoff team's roster), but it doesn't sound like the chances of the buyout actually happening are very good.
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