Mike Woodson denies claims he dislikes Iman Shumpert

Iman Shumpert may have played the worst game of his career on Monday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The shooting guard, who appears set to be dealt elsewhere before the NBA's trade deadline in February, finished with zero points, zero rebounds, zero assists, and a plus-minus of minus-22 throughout 23 minutes of play.

Head coach Mike Woodson has been open in his criticism of Shumpert since the season started, and Shumpert has been critical of Woodson's lack of support regarding the trade rumors.

It's clearly a relationship doomed to fail, but Woodson strongly denies claims that he dislikes the 23-year-old.

"If I didn't like him, I don't think he'd be averaging 30 minutes on my ballclub," Woodson told NY Post. "You got to look at that. I like everybody on our team. So that perception is bulls-t, if you ask me. If I didn't think much of the man, he wouldn't be playing. If I don't think much of you, you're not going to play.

"I'm going to play guys I like and think can help us win and who play hard. He's one of those kids. That's why he's been a starter on this team since he's been a rookie. That perception is bulls-t, if you ask me."

Woodson said he and Shumpert needed to have a talk following Monday's game, and the two did just that during the team's practice on Tuesday.

"He just reminded me I got to stay read to play, stay energetic," Shumpert said. "He thought I wasn't energetic yesterday. He felt he hadn't come down on me in a while. I don't take it offensive when my head coach comes down on me. That's what he's supposed to do - ask the most out of me."