When the Houston Rockets took the court for opening night they were without Lithuanian 7-footer Donatas Motiejunas. The last time he took the court, he played 37 minutes scoring 21 points and grabbing 8 rebounds. That was March 26th.
Seven months later we still don't know when Motiejunas will return. Hell, we still don't really know what was wrong with his back to begin with.
But in an awkward 10 minute on-court interview with Joel Blank we did learn a few less-than-valuable tidbits about D-Mo. Here's five awkward things we learned to match the interview.
1. Donatas Motiejunas has taken Sam Dekker under his wing.
This fact doesn't instill confidence, D-Mo is only in his fourth NBA season and has only logged one quality season, so he's not quite at a Kevin Garnett level of veteran respect, but he's 17 years closer to it than you and me. So in our rush to make Sam Dekker the new fan favorite, we'll let this slide.
2. People would offer D-Mo a ride while he was walking on the street.
Lots of questions here. Where in Houston does D-Mo live that he walks around town? Shouldn't a guy with a back injury be taking a car places? If D-Mo were not in a basketball jersey and the average Houstonian saw him at a concert... Would they say "that's Donatas Motiejunas, sometimes starter for the Houston Rockets?" Or "that guy must be a basketball player." The latter, right?
3. D-Mo loves the Melissa McCarthy movie Spy.
When asked to list his five favorite movies, D-Mo goes with The Warriors (remake, not original) and Spy. Don't get me wrong. Everyone can enjoy whatever cinematic masterpieces they want. And D-Mo is entitled to his opinion, though fact dictates Pitch Perfect is the best movie ever.
Was anyone expecting a seven foot tall Lithuanian dude who plays in the NBA and has the honor of calling James Harden just "James" to offer up Spy as one of his favorite movies of all time. It's not even the best Melissa McCarthy movie! Don't judge a book by its cover, folks.
4. D-Mo loves house music.
After throwing us a total curveball, D-Mo played to a total stereotype. The European NBA player is into house music. Wub-a-dub-a-lub-lub.
5. James Harden is a Real Madrid fan.
D-Mo hits us with the truth. When the Rockets hit the cafeteria for a meal after a work out the TV is on the world's game. D-Mo and Joel fail to clue us in on what team D-Mo supports, certainly a heavily accredited lower division Lithuanian power house.
We do learn James Harden and Trevor Ariza support Real Madrid. Clint Capela supports Bayern Munich.
Watch the interview for yourself here. Or don't... that's why I summarized it for you.