NBA Offseason News and Moves

[Guest GreatOne]

Oh but the enticing question of will the bottom four playoff teams in the East finish better than 38-44 much less .500 must be answered

 

Carlos Boozer gets 68 mil, BRIAN CARDINAL gets 43, Brian Skinner and Etan Thomas get over 30, it's good to know that Wally Walker (he of McIlvaine and Booth "ilk") isn't the only one without a functioning brain in an NBA front office (poor Rick Sund ) . And yet people still insist that there's nothing wrong with the NBA...................

[razazteca 0]

Problems:

 

1. High school kids

2. Some players like Kobe, Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, etc are power hungry

3. Wild and crazy owners like Cuban and Sterling

4. AND1 influence

5. Players getting over payed

[The Czech Republic 0]

Mark Cuban is great for the NBA. Go F yourself.

[Steviekick 0]

Problems:

 

1. High school kids

2. Some players like Kobe, Jason Kidd, Allen Iverson, etc are power hungry

3. Wild and crazy owners like Cuban and Sterling

4. AND1 influence

5. Players getting over payed

1. Agreed. Too many of them come into the league immature and not talented enough. Those who don't make it in gave up a shot at going to college and getting themselves some sort of education.

 

2. Partially agreed. Maybe I'm just biased, but Iverson is rightly power hungry at the Sixers. He knows he's their marquee player and that he should be treated that way. And he shows it by playing hurt most the time.

 

3. Not really. Guys like Cuban are genuinely love and are interested in their franchise, and it trickles down. If they guy at the top doesn't show that he carees, than why should anyone in the organization or a fan care?

 

4. Not sure.

 

5. Somewhat, but isn't it everyone's goal to get the most money for whatever they do?

[razazteca 0]

Power hungry players tend to runoff good coaches and the team suffers.

[Steviekick 0]

Power hungry players tend to runoff good coaches and the team suffers.

I agree with you, and I guess Iverson was par of the reason Larry Brown left Philly. It just pisses me off when people call him a team cancer for clashing with Ayers and Ford this season.

[razazteca 0]

Mark Cuban is a brilliant business man but sometimes his passion for the game of basketball has him making crazy statements which usually gets fined by the commish. After all of the bad publicity the owner eventually overshadows the team and people start thinking of Cuban instead of the Mavs.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

While guys are grossly overpaid, I wouldn't really say it's a problem.

[razazteca 0]

Its the main reason why the high school kids skip college.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

guys skipped college back when rookies made like one mil a year.

[Golgo 13 0]

Although the frequency of doing so was far less than it is now.

[Gert T 0]

The HS to pros jump also hurts in the fact that many of those players may not have shown their true ability by the time their first contract ran up, so teams have to gamble whether they are worth a max contract.

[razazteca 0]

8 were picked in the 1st round!

[The Czech Republic 0]

I still don't see the problem with Cuban. He's Steinbrenner without the pretension. He's great for the NBA. And as long as David Stern is handing out fines to Cuban for looking at him the wrong way, he's not going to disagree.

 

I think more players should go to college, because that gives them something to fall back on in a worst case scenario, since it's only LeBron and Carmelo that are getting all the endorsements. And besides, be honest: if it wasn't for their "mad ballin' skillz," there's no way a lot of those guys would gain entry into a respected school of higher education. Last year, the class valedictorian got turned down from the University of North Carolina. These guys are turning down the University of North Carolina. I guess it just bothers me.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

While guys are grossly overpaid, I wouldn't really say it's a problem.

I think it is, this is getting to baseball levels where shitty 5th spot starters are pulling down a couple of million. At this rate teams won't be able to field a team at these prices.

[King Kamala 0]

The Warriors are going ballistic signing roleplayers for big contracts. I mean come on is Derek Fisher really worth six million a year? Is he really gonna help you fight off the Clippers for the 14th place in the West?

[Hogan Made Wrestling 0]

I don't think anyone should be forced to go to college if they don't want to. Let them try to earn a living instead. If they want to go back later and get a real education (not just classes in leadership and sports fitness and so on), let them do it the way the rest of us have to: on merit and by paying their own way though with jobs and student loans.

[razazteca 0]

A minor league system needs to be made to emulated what baseball has. Let all the high school kids play a year or 2 in the developmental leagues.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

People act like college is this fix-all for your life anyway. Fuck that, I'd rather play basketball for millions. If you don't, you're a stooge.

[razazteca 0]

Some people don't belong in the professional league just like some people don't belong in college. Send them to the CBA or ABA or the developmental league to learn the "NBA" style.

[Cheech Tremendous 0]

How can anyone really blame the kids for jumping straight to the NBA instead of going to college? It's the OWNERS fault for gambling millions of dollars on an unsure thing.

 

If they went to college, it's just the universities who pocket all the money. You think any of these guys are getting real educations anyways?

 

Think of it this way. If your whole life you wanted be a lawyer and a law firm offered you a fantastic position at the top of the company directly out of high school, would you waste your time going to college? I doubt anyone would.

 

I don't like where this trend is taking the game. I would prefer a developmental league as well, but I have come to accept that this is where the game has gone and it's not going to change anytime soon.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

After seeing both interviews, it's crystal clear that Kobe is a much more unselfish and respectful individual than Shaquille.

[the max 0]

I think Shaquille was just really pissed off in his interview. I know I would be if I busted my ass and practically carried a team to x amount of titles, only for them to not offer a contract extension and trade me.

[Dangerous A 0]

After seeing both interviews, it's crystal clear that Kobe is a much more unselfish and respectful individual than Shaquille.

That probrably stems from Kobe getting everything he wanted when all the smoke cleared. Yes, Shaq is selfish, but Kobe is no saint in this. He ran the coach and number one option out of town because the owner is infatuated with him. For Kobe to say that he had nothing to do with Shaq and Phil no longer with the Lakers and that he's hurt and angry when people insinuate to it is laughable. He got what he wanted: his own team with the guys he percieved in his way to being the next Jordan now out of the way along with $136 million in his pocket. Just because his tone came off ok, doesn't mean he isn't selfish. To say that Phil and Shaq left to do "what was best for them and their families" is a joke. The Lakers will be more fun to watch IMO, but for Kobe to go and bold face lie like that is insulting.

[Guest Vitamin X]

The Lakers will be more fun to watch IMO, but for Kobe to go and bold face lie like that is insulting.

 

Do you mean they'll be more fun because they're younger and more athletic or do you mean that in a cynical anti-Laker "it'll be fun to see them stumble and fall flat on their faces" way?

 

Miami is insane about Shaq. I've had various people come up to me about it all excited, and I can't look anywhere out in the city without seeing the guy's ugly mug plastered on some newspaper. From a business standpoint, this was an extremely smart move, though I can see people jumping off the bandwagon already in January once they realize Shaq is far past his prime.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

Max, Shaq did not carry the team... he could not and will not win without Kobe.

 

A, I think Shaq's work ethic and his public insults to Jerry Buss were much bigger catalysts than Kobe. It's the same old bs, Kobe doesn't like the emphasis of the team, but he sucked it up and deferred to O'Neal in order to win 3 championships; Shaq doesn't like the direction of the team, so he demands a trade.

[the max 0]

I disagree with that assessment. I don't see anyone who can legitimately contend with Shaquille when he's on his game and has decent players around him. He's not a team player by any means, but he's more of one than Kobe is.

 

I'm not an expert by any means, but as a casual fan of the sport for a while now, I'd much rather have a big man who almost nobody can stop rather than a guy like Kobe, who without a big man is almost nothing. Just my opinion.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

Why are you guys jumping to defend Kobe after he forced out your hall of fame center, hall of fame coach, and almost ditched your team for the fucking Clippers?

[razazteca 0]

Apperently everybody is lovin Kobe's heel turn.

[Dangerous A 0]

Decent point made, Spicy. Shaq is as much to blame here as anyone, but the question remains: did he want to leave because the team was going in a direction more towards Kobe being the man with him supporting or did he already see the writing on the wall and bail publicly?

 

While that is said, Kobe basically put a gun to the franchise's head with his free agency and basically told to either make him "the man" or he would head elsewhere. It doesn't help that Kobe's agent Rob Pelinka (he of the Carlos "Bamboozler" scandal) had made phone calls to Coach K after game 2 of the finals, with the thinking that Rob, Kobe, and the Lakers were probrably starting to set wheels in motion for change even before the finals ended.

 

And X, I meant the Lakers would be more fun to watch because they will play more uptempo ball as opposed to the halfcourt team they have been the last 5 years. You were wondering why people were picking the Kings ahead of the Lakers in their pre preseason rankings. That is because on paper as of right now, the Kings are the better team. The Lakers have questions and until they play together with a new coach and new system and gel, most people are going to pick a team that has played together now for 3-4 years and while they have no rings, they are a solid, winning ball club. The Lakers got solid guys, but we have no idea whether they will work well as a team and the guys they did get are not gonna strike fear in the hearts of the league on the defensive side of the ball.