The Real Reason Andrei Kirilenko Cried

Last Saturday the Utah Jazz lost to the Houston Rockets 84-75 in the first game of its first round playoff matchup. During the game, Utah's 2004 all-star, Andrei Kirilenko, played only 16 minutes and was upset about his lack of playing time, which, reportedly, brought him to tears.

In reality, I think AK-47 was crying because his wife has revoked the deal the couple once had. Mrs. Kirilenko, Masha Lopatova, used to allow him to bed one groupie per year. A "get one groupie" pass, if you will. While most of us will never know Andrei's pain, I believe we can all empathize. That is quite the loss he has suffered.

The real shame here is that Mrs. Kirilenko has got this all screwed up. If anything, she needs to give him an extra free pass this year to break out of his current funk. Kirilenko needs a slumpbuster and his wife needs to understand this.

Photo from here.