Empty the Bench

Okay, it’s not his native tongue and you can’t poke too much fun at the guy when he absolutely butchers the English language, but Utah Jazz forward Andrei Kirilenko really should consider hiring a better tutor.

Last week, Fox Sport’s Charley Rosen reported that “AK’s wife is miserably unhappy living in Salt Lake City, and she’s been nagging him to find a way out of there. The only option they’ve come up with is to try to force a trade by being a malcontent.” (hilarious)

Tim Buckley reports today for the Deseret Morning News, however, that AK-47’s wife is NOT the reason for his pissy attitude this season. Check out Kirilenko’s Ivan Drago-like quotes on the subject:

“This is not true,” Kirilenko said before the Jazz’s game against the Trail Blazers. “It is, like, unbelievable lie. Because, first of all, we built house. Secondary, Masha is opening her clothing store. It’s not true at all.”

“Masha likes Salt Lake,” Kirilenko said. “She probably doesn’t weather in the winter, but the people … we don’t have any problem with. It surprises me. It couldn’t be from the first hand, though. Somebody probably guessing.”

So there you have it… Masha is totally happy living in the middle of nowhere Utah. I hope Andrei is the official spokesman for her clothing line.