Reserve guard House waived by Bobcats

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Charlotte Bobcats waived reserve guard Eddie House on Saturday, hours after he missed a victory over New York due to what coach Bernie Bickerstaff called an excused absence.

In his pre-game media availability, Bickerstaff announced House would not play. The team did not announce his release until nearly two hours after the game, with Bickerstaff and the team scheduled to fly to Los Angeles after the game to begin a West Coast road trip.

House started five games and averaged 11.1 points in 23 minutes. He also had 25 steals while playing in a rotation at the off-guard spot that included Steve Smith, Jason Kapono and Keith Bogans.

"Eddie handled himself as a professional since he joined our organization and we know we will see him on an NBA roster very soon," Bickerstaff said in a statement. "We had a situation here with a lot of players at one position and this was a difficult decision."

House was acquired in July in a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Dec. 5, 2004 SportsLine.com wire reports