Joe Alexander: Bucks should share 'bust' label

Former Milwaukee Bucks forward Joe Alexander blasted the team in an interview published by the website Basketball Insiders.

Former Milwaukee Bucks forward Joe Alexander blasted the team in an interview published by the website Basketball Insiders.

The Bucks selected Alexander, 28, with the No. 8 pick in the 2008 draft.

The 6-foot-8, 230-pound forward averaged 4.2 points and 1.8 rebounds in 67 games over two seasons before the Bucks declined to pick up his third-year option.

Over three seasons at West Virginia, Alexander posted averages of 12.1 points and 4.8 rebounds.

He told Basketball Insiders that the Bucks "contributed heavily" to his "bust" label.

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“I don’t think there is a hard definition of what a ‘draft bust’ is,” Alexander said. “Ultimately not being in the NBA is on me, but as far as ‘who is a bust?’ you have to look at Milwaukee and the management that drafted me. If you want to label anyone with the term ‘bust’ — it’s the Bucks. When Milwaukee drafted me, I was touted as a ‘project’ and someone with a lot of potential who could contribute had I learned to play the game. That’s what the Bucks told me. I needed time. I didn’t start playing basketball until I was 16 years old, but I was the most athletic guy in the entire draft. The Bucks knew that. Everyone understood this. I could’ve been drafted by any other team in the league and they would’ve given me time to develop.

“Obviously the No. 8 pick is expected to have an illustrious and longer NBA career than I’ve had, so that’s fine, but I think that Milwaukee should certainly share that [bust] label. They contributed heavily to it. Heavily. For the Bucks to pull the plug on me, I thought, was dramatically irresponsible on their part. What it did was label me as some sort of a problem player. It made everyone in the league look at me different when 12 months before any team would’ve died to have me.”

Since leaving the Bucks, Alexander has played in the D-League and Russia. He signed a training camp contract with the Denver Nuggets before this season.

In December, Alexander signed with Maccabi Tel Aviv after leaving the Santa Cruz Warriors. 

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