Larry Orton: ‘Fans were great’ to his son
July 7th, 2010 | 
Author: By LARRY VAUGHT
If there is one message that Larry Orton wants University of Kentucky fans to remember about his son, it would be thanks.
“The fans were so great to Daniel, and me,” said Larry Orton after he returned to Lexington Tuesday from watching his son play summer league games with the Orlando Magic. “They meant everything to him and me. They were always so nice and were just great to us from day one.
“You can’t beat Kentucky fans. You just don’t find anybody like Kentucky fans. You can talk about Kansas, North Carolina and Duke fans all you want, but they are not Kentucky fans. It’s better than Oklahoma football, too. I have never seen anything like it.”
Former UK coach Billy Gillispie told the Ortons that when he came to Oklahoma City to recruit Daniel.
“Gillispie said he knew I thought Oklahoma football fans were crazy, but he said to multiply that by 10 for Kentucky basketball fans — and he was right. It’s crazy,” Larry Orton said. “I’ve never seen fans like this. This will sit out in the cold for hours to get an autograph. But they will just wait and wait because they love the Cats so much.
“The fans cared about Daniel when he lost his mother. They worried about him when he got hurt (from an elbow to the face) in a game. They were always there for him and the fans will never know how much I appreciated that or how much he needed that.”
He says his son, the 29th pick in the first round of the recent NBA draft, has work to do to get ready for his NBA career.
“He’s out of shape and still needs to rehab that knee, but he just needs work more than anything,” Larry Orton said. “The Magic know all that and believe in him.”
His son was ejected from his first summer league game when he got two technical fouls. He went 0-for-6 from the field in his second league game Tuesday.
“Both players got ejected. But the NBA guys like that stuff in a big man. They don’t want you to back down. You can’t be weak in there and play,” Larry Orton, who plans to move to Orlando, said.
He says it is not complicated when it comes to what his son has to do in the weeks and months ahead.
“All he has to do is listen and live in the gym,” Larry Orton said. “I told him that before I left. There’s nothing hard about that. He just has to do it, and I think he will.”
Posted in UK Basketball
I am a fan of Daniel, though I am and will always be disappointed in the way he finished his UK career. He is in the perfect place to learn and grow and mature as a pro. He will always be one of our BBN family, as will Larry. Thanks for posting this, Larry.
I agree with Dale, a 0.0 gpa was not a very nice thank you to the program or the fans, but he was and always will be a Wildcat and a lifetime citizen of BBN.
It would appear the Orton family finally got some decent advice…”Don’t Burn Your Bridges”. I hope that Daniel’s apology, his defending Coach Cal, and Larry’s praise of the “Great UK fans” is sincere and not merely major PR/damage control.
No doubt that Billy G promised the moon (to) Daniel, the death of his Mother, new coaching staff, injuries, all affected Daniel’s attitude, (we understand) but that doesn’t justify the O.O GPA.
I would wish Daniel luck, but he in a man’s world of the NBA and luck will not get the job done. Success will take hard work, and dedication. I hope he is ready for the challenge…I do wish him well.
I agree with the others about how he left things with UK, I know he is young, but he made an adult decision to go to NBA early.
However I wish him nothing but the best and hope things look up for him, sounds as if he is having a hard time right now, he just needs to let that go and listen and learn and give it all he has.
Good luck Daniel, and good luck on your move Mr. Orton.
More coming with Larry Orton later
How is he out of shape? Wasn’t his whole point of dropping out of school to work out? I am not sure Larry’s angle here, but I am certain there is one.
Well Larry… Daniel should have thought a little more about how much he appreciated the fans, the program and his teammates before he quit on them this past spring. His dropping out of school will eventually cost the team a scholorship, and it just feeds into all the negativism that surrounds Cal and his one and done recruits.
The KY program would have been much better off if Daniel HAD gone to Kansas where he would have played even less.
Mr. Orton, As a mother of four, I can tell you 4 out of 4 of mine pretty stupid mistakes at Daniel’s age. I only met Daniel once (at the Women’s Clinic), but you could tell he was a well mannered, well behaved young man. I am sorry he left U and did not finish the semester, but I have a son who finished his last semester (unfortunately it was also only his second) with a grade point average real close to Daniel’s. That doesn’t mean my son was not a good person; he is just a young man who made some decisions that weren’t very good. I feel the same for Daniel. I wish you and him the best of luck in his pro career. He will always be a Wildcat. And, I want him to make himself and you proud. If he does, he will make us all proud. Go Big Blue! Go, Daniel!
I too wish Daniel the best, but I also want to remind him that life is not measured by what he does on a basketball court, no matter what most BBN fans think. It is measured by how he treats his fellow men. By apologizing and admitting his mistakes has mended many hearts in the BBN. Keep your head held high, Daniel, follow your dreams as far as they take you, if your dreams hit a snag, find a new one to follow and never give up, keep looking, learning, loving and taking care of yourself and those you love. Remember you were also a part of a remarkable story of the 2009-10 basketball program at UK. You were a part of the Hoops for Haiti. Everyone makes mistakes, learning from them is what is important. Not matter what happens remember to Keep Smiling. Good luck, stay calm. Go Cats!
While I can understand that he may still need rehab for his knee don’t understand why he wasn’t in shape- just having gome through all those workouts for teams prior to the draft. Hope for his sake that Daniel gets his stuff together or begins to learn a FOREIGN language for future use.
Questions about out of shape are valid and indicate Daniel did not work out the way he should when he went to California — and was with his brother, not his father. Sarah and Linda you both made great points. One of my kids also had one terrible semester grade-wise in school due to immaturity. Daniel is still just a kid, but hopefully all is going to be fine with him
Had Daniel stay for a couple more years at KY he would probably be one of the all-time greats that had play at ky,but we will never know i thought the way he was coming along he was going to mature to a great player.