I asked Michael Kidd-Gilchrist the last time before Friday in Brooklyn when a coach chose not to play him in a basketball game.
“First time,” he replied.
No, not just in the NBA or at Kentucky, ever?
“First time ever,” said Kidd-Gilchrist, in his seventh season with the Charlotte Hornets.
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This is awkward for everyone involved. Kidd-Gilchrist, the second overall pick in the 2012 draft, hasn’t played in either of the past two Hornets games, a win over the Nets and Sunday’s home loss to the Portland Trail Blazers.