What’s being said around the NBA

In a loss to Houston on Monday, Wizards center JaVale McGee passed up a breakaway dunk. Instead, he bounced the ball off the backboard, caught it, then dunked.

His coach, Flip Saunders, was upset: “That’s unacceptable. Maybe I’m too old school. Save that for the All-Star game,” he said. “We have some players that look for highlights instead of substance.”

McGee, who finished second in last year’s dunk contest, responded: “Apparently if …you’re 1-11, you’re not supposed to do stuff like that,” he said. “I was trying to get the team hyped and make a good play.”

Ex-Celtics enforcer Kendrick Perkins returned to Boston last week as a member of the Oklahoma City Thunder. After the Thunder’s 97-88 win over the Celtics, he said:

“Mentally, I was just out of it. I didn’t know whether to shoot the ball, pass the ball, hug the guy. I didn’t know what to do. I’m just really glad it’s over. I’m just glad we play in two different conferences so I don’t have to keep going through this emotional breakdown.”

Keith Smart, after the Kings dropped to 2-5 since he was named head coach:

“We got to grow up. Our team has to grow up fast. We pound the ball too much. I give them the simplest offense that you can run — you just move it to a spot, then move it to the next spot. But for whatever reason, we’re trying to make the play ourselves.”

Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov was asked by the New York Times if his team would have to call him “Mr. President” if he defeats Vladimir Putin in the Russian presidential election. Said the candidate: “I would make a special exception, just for Nets players. They can keep calling me Mikhail.”

— Barry Stavro