Skip to search.

Breaking News Visit Yahoo! News for the latest.

×Close this window

Ball Don't Lie - NBA

Ball Don't Lie

Tue Oct 19 09:00am EDT

Sacramento-area kids give Carl Landry a story-time assist

By Dan Devine

Carl Landry(notes) and Francisco Garcia(notes) of the Sacramento Kings visited with children last Saturday afternoon at the Elk Grove Library in Elk Grove, Calif., just outside Sacramento, as part of the Kings' "Paint the Town" community outreach program. Unfortunately, as he read aloud the story of a fox preparing to feast on a sly piglet, Landry stumbled over the word "fatten." Thankfully, the children in the room were ready to pick up the power forward's slack.


Great job, kids. I'm sure that your parents and teachers really appreciate how willing and able you are to help out someone who's having a tough time. I know Francisco Garcia appreciates it, because he said he was going to share the nice story with every other member of the Kings at their next practice, and I'm sure they loved it, too. Ah, gentle ribbing. It really is the best kind of ribbing.

[Video Rewind: Governor a loss for words in debate]

As always, the credit must go to the gladiator in the arena. We've all misspoken in public, and Landry deserves heaps of credit for handling the flub with grace ("Hey, I'm not used to that — I'm in shape, I'm an athlete" was a strong comeback) and continuing to read aloud a bit longer (showing the kids that making a mistake is OK) before handing off the book and asking that the group give the new readers their undivided attention (a productive way to put a bow on the incident). Plus, according to BDL reader Chris — who shot the video, shared it with us and believes the book from which Landry was reading was "My Lucky Day" by Keiko Kasza — Landry and Garcia "were both actually pretty cool, sticking around for autographs, pics, etc." That's what you want to hear.

So, super nice, graceful and productive. Basically, Carl Landry off the floor is kind of like Carl Landry on the floor, except with sweatpants.

[Photos: More images of Sacramento forward Carl Landry]

Other popular stories on Yahoo!:
• Report: Tiger's ex gets huge divorce settlement
• Video: Crazy dunk incorporates soccer skills
• NBA bans new sneakers due to "unfair advantage"

digg delicious

Related Articles

Launch Article Browser

Ball Don't Lie

Add to My Yahoo! RSS

Related Photo Gallery

More NBA Photos »

Y! Sports Blog