We’ve seen the haircuts and backpacks for rookie hazing, but now we have dolls and strollers. Lol. Nothing like seeing a big grown ass man push a stroller with a baby doll in it.
Usually we see the vet players making the rooks do things, this time it’s the coach – Byron Scott. He gave each one of his rookies (Dion Waiters, Tyler Zeller and Kevin Jones) baby dolls and pink strollers. Check out the pic and their reactions…
*PHOTO above in gallery*
According to Nick Friedell at ESPNChicago.com:
Waiters and Zeller received their baby dolls at shootaround while Jones had a baby doll and a stroller waiting for him a couple hours before the game. The players are trying to take the baby dolls, and the jokes that come with them, in stride.
“Just rookie initiation, I guess,” Jones said with a laugh. “Just trying to have fun with it. You’re only a rookie once, so you just got to have fun with it.”
Scott didn’t offer an explanation regarding the baby dolls before the game, but each player realizes the hazing is just part of the game. Waiters’ baby doll, Mary, and Zeller’s baby doll, LaQuesha, sat quietly on the side of the Cavs’ locker room while Jones’ baby doll, Connie, sat in front of his locker.
“(Scott) didn’t tell us (why),” Zeller said. “He just had them out there for us. It’s just something you’ve got to do as a rookie. It’s a rite of passage.”
Jones, who was called up from the Cavs’ D-League affiliate on Tuesday, isn’t sure if the baby dolls will be around all season or will travel with the Cavs. He does know the rookies will have to carry the baby dolls’ diaper bags on the road with them.
“Apparently you’ve got to carry milk and Pampers in this little pink bag,” Jones said. “You’ve got to make sure it’s always full with that (stuff) and bring it in and out of the arena with you, and you get in trouble if you don’t have it with you.”
