Sonics center Jerome James is frustrated that his sprained right foot hasn't healed as fast as he hoped. But things could be worse for Seattle's 7-foot-1 center: James could be living in a flooded home.

Early this season, James was renting a Bellevue home when a toilet broke, which caused leaking in the bathroom. Because James was with the Sonics on an eight-day trip in early November, the flooding spread and his place was severely flooded, causing $35,000 in damage.

"Just my luck: the toilet broke," said James, who is expected to be on the injured list at least another week. "We were gone for a while. And it just kept re-filling and flooding. The whole upstairs was flooded. The whole downstairs was flooded."

James was forced to evacuate. And when Sonics forward Vin Baker heard about it, he offered a stay in his five-bedroom Mercer Island home.

"He demanded that I come stay with him," James said. "I could have stayed at a hotel, but he acted like a great teammate. He said to me, 'You're going to make an impact on this team. And I'm going to be right here with you to help you along.' "

James has lived with Baker — rent free — since mid-November.

Via

Oklahoma City

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