DENVER — Isaiah Rider lived up to his reputation.
The 30-year-old NBA veteran with a history of tardiness and legal troubles was the lone no-show at the first of two practices Tuesday when the Denver Nuggets opened training camp.
How tardy was Rider? He was unable to beat the Ringling Bros. & Barnum and Bailey Circus to the Pepsi Center.
"I don't know where he is," coach Dan Issel said. "He is supposed to take his physical or is taking his physical."
Everyone on the Nuggets roster except Rider and Menk Batere, a 6-foot-11 rookie center from China, took physicals on Monday.
"It is a missed practiced as far as I am concerned," Issel said.
Batere arrived at the practice gym to shoot free throws in the late stages of Tuesday morning's practice. Rider was a no-show.
Rider signed a reported one-year contract for the league minimum of $840,000.
Rider's tardiness didn't set well with his new teammates. Point guard Nick Van Exel simply shrugged his shoulders in disgust and refused to comment, but guard Avery Johnson was more pointed.
"You let them create success for themselves, or you let them create opinions of themselves," Johnson said.
"We hope the kid can make it, but we can't give him one chance after another after another," Issel said. "If he shows up and he plays hard, he will be here. If he doesn't, he won't. It's that simple."