FanShot

Quick: Cupcake Days Are Over For Newly-Fit Raymond Felton

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Jason Quick of The Oregonian reports that Portland Trail Blazers guard Raymond Felton believes he is now in shape after coming into training camp above his goal weight. ---------------------------- Ever since he was traded here in the offseason, some bloggers have made quite an issue about Felton’s weight, poking fun a photo of him holding a cupcake that was given to him by the team from his first press conference. ... But there he was Thursday, playing a game-high 41 minutes, zipping up and down the court, dictating the tempo, playing defense, pushing the pace. "That’s a lot of minutes for an overweight guy, huh?’’ he said sarcastically. ... "I came to training camp not necessarily overweight, but not at my playing weight that I’m used to,’’ Felton said. "So you know, with a short training camp, only two preseason games, it was going to take some time. But now? I feel great. The thing is, you are always going to have critics who find something wrong with you. But I feel like if they are talking about me, I must be doing something right.’’ ---------------------------- Here's the cupcake photo from June. Since then, he's been called "roly-poly," he's been accused of having a "potbelly" and he has had it suggested that he should "keep cupcakes to a minimum." He was also tabbed as a favorite to put on weight by the Huffington Post in July with another writer pegging Felton as a candidate to be this lockout's Shawn Kemp. This writer suggested during a November charity game that landscape mode might be the best way to photograph him at the time. Back on December 13, Blazers coach Nate McMillan admitted that Felton needed to drop weight and he's referenced his point guard's "conditioning" a few times early in this season. -- Ben Golliver | benjamin.golliver@gmail.com | Twitter