[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Pretty clear Stern knows something we don’t and has plans for NO.[/quote]
On ESPN Radio they were talking about the blocked deal. They were saying that Stern is asking for way too much knowing that no team will go for the trade and if they did they would be giving up several good young starters and draft pics.
That after this season they will only have 5 guys under contract and that the contracts are very low (leaving them with lots of cap room and not much overhead since the city of New Orleans will do anything to keep the team and the rent is dirt cheap as far as arenas are concerned) which will make the team very appealing to sell.
Something like that.
Either way its pretty weak if you ask me. I really do hope that Chris Paul gets with the PA and sues Stern/the league. They’ve now cockblocked his trade three times essentially (the original Lakers deal and then the reworked one… now the deal with the clips)
I would feel really bad for CP if he gets seriously hurt this season.
[quote]MattyXL wrote:
MASE…I guess his play mirrored his personality as well…it also runs in the family as his son is an asshole as well. [/quote]
he was a royal asshole. and if you knew his route to the NBA, you’d think he’d be a nicer guy. he came in the back door…spent time in the then minor leagues. he was a prick. played against him in a philly v. nyc all star game put on by mark jackson at columbia U during “harlem week”. great game, great crowd (capacity) and mark was a very nice dude (very humble and had gift bags for us…nba hats, socks, etc.). we won the game, my buddy took the dunk contest (and got a contract offer to play in PR the next season), i took the 3 point contest and michael anderson (drexel, SA spurs, overseas) took an mvp if i remember right…he had like 53 points.
lol @ mason. the 3 point contest took too long at half time to have the dunk contest so they awarded it based on the dunks in the game. my buddy flushed about 3-4 dunks OVER AND ON mason during the game. he was built very much like mason, but much more athletic (he could hop). we’re talking chest to chest tomahawk rim crashin in your face dunks.
I’ve heard quite a bit about Jordan being a dick behind the scenes,
[/quote]
he’s really not a very nice guy. [/quote]
That’s kind of the vibe I’ve gotten. It’s a weird thing growing up to find out childhood “heroes” are people too. On the flip side, know a couple of people who’ve met or known Barkley and they’ve all said he’s a genuine guy.
Mason was a basketball hero of mine coming from the same borough and his struggle to make it in the NBA. Its unfortunate to hear he is a prick. I still remember him cheering on the Rangers when they won the cup. Ill never forget watching him in his first year in the pre-season for the knicks, I was like who the fuck is this football player playing forward. Will always be one of my faves.
Jordan I will always hate, he broke my heart all of the time. He also had the uncanny ability to befriend all other players off the court so when he played them on the Court they deferred to him, even my favorite player of all time Charles Oakley, as tough as he was on the Court he was a pussy when it came to Jordan. He was the greatest player I ever seen no doubt, but there isn’t another athlete in any other sport that I hate more than Jordan.
Another reason why Greg Anthony will always have a special place in my heart as in his rookie year he stood up to Jordan’s bullshit on the court. Ill never forget Jordan’s face when Anthony got in his grill.
One guy who was awesome to me was Kenny Anderson, he was from nearby Lefrak City and he used to shoot hoops with me when I was in 8th grade in a local private gym in Woodside, Queens…I couldnt believe the number one recruit in the country was playing horse with me, a little fat 8th grader.
I’ve heard quite a bit about Jordan being a dick behind the scenes,
[/quote]
he’s really not a very nice guy. [/quote]
That’s kind of the vibe I’ve gotten. It’s a weird thing growing up to find out childhood “heroes” are people too. On the flip side, know a couple of people who’ve met or known Barkley and they’ve all said he’s a genuine guy.[/quote]
Barkley is a lot of fun, and great to hang out with. He’s too nice. A few of us would be sitting at a table and people all fucking night long would come up with their opinions on the sixers or what he was doing wrong, and he’d listen and be cordial. If you pushed him too far though, he wasn’t beyond putting you on your ass either though. But he was one patient motherfucker. I was annoyed for sure. I’d be sitting there like “really dude, you sat bench on your high school team and you think you know what he has to do differently?” And of course, bitches would be coming up all night and that wasn’t so bad
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
I guess it isn’t a coincidence a lot of the greatest athletes of all-time had/have their fair share of baggage - MJ, Ali, Kobe, Magic, etc.
[/quote]
Not sure what you mean by baggage. I know MJ, Kobe and Magic had a maniacal desire to be the best. Magic would shoot a few hundred shots a day and wonder if Bird shot more. MJ was maniacal in everything he did - hated to lose at anything.
I’m not sure what baggage you’re referring to with Ali. Ali was really very much a political figure as much as a boxer given the time that he boxed and given the then expectations of how a black athlete was to behave. I see Ali as much victim as anything. Put aside his act (which WAS an act and which he DID steal from “pro”-wrestling) and I wonder what baggage you refer to?
Ali boxed at a time when they expected black athletes to shut the fuck up and behave. He absolutely was targeted for induction to the Army because of his mouth and his not “behaving”. He found Islam at a time with the NOI when the NOI was regarded little more than a hate group or the equivalent to home grown terrorists. Fucking mainstream media would not even acknowledge his name change for the longest, insisting on referring to him as Cassius Clay. He lost his prime boxing years to the litigation over his refusal to enter the draft. He fought at a time when boxing WAS VERY CORRUPT (it still is). As a result of the shit that conspired against him, the man fought for too long and paid for it dearly with his health.
His most poignant words were “I don’t have to be what you want me to be” and that perhaps best summed up the whole of Ali.
No, I don’t think Ali had “baggage”, I think he had to carry the “baggage” of America at the time.
Kobe came from a great family by the way. His father Joe was a great guy and played on my summer pro league team for a few years while he was still playing professionally in Italy at age 41. How’s that for genetics??!
[quote]MattyXL wrote:
Mason was a basketball hero of mine coming from the same borough and his struggle to make it in the NBA. Its unfortunate to hear he is a prick. I still remember him cheering on the Rangers when they won the cup. Ill never forget watching him in his first year in the pre-season for the knicks, I was like who the fuck is this football player playing forward. Will always be one of my faves.
Jordan I will always hate, he broke my heart all of the time. He also had the uncanny ability to befriend all other players off the court so when he played them on the Court they deferred to him, even my favorite player of all time Charles Oakley, as tough as he was on the Court he was a pussy when it came to Jordan. He was the greatest player I ever seen no doubt, but there isn’t another athlete in any other sport that I hate more than Jordan.
Another reason why Greg Anthony will always have a special place in my heart as in his rookie year he stood up to Jordan’s bullshit on the court. Ill never forget Jordan’s face when Anthony got in his grill.
One guy who was awesome to me was Kenny Anderson, he was from nearby Lefrak City and he used to shoot hoops with me when I was in 8th grade in a local private gym in Woodside, Queens…I couldnt believe the number one recruit in the country was playing horse with me, a little fat 8th grader. [/quote]
I think Oakley might have been pussy off the court too if you get my drift
The shame of it is that my buddy completely outplayed Mason. He would not however toil in the CBA. I firmly believed if he gave the CBA a year or two, he’d have gotten a crack at the league. I can’t for the life of me to this day figure out why he didn’t pursue it. He and Mason were very similar in physical build but my buddy had a better skill set and was more athletic. However, he came from a very small school in PA (E. Stroudsburg) and never got the looks in school and coming out of school.
Kenny Anderson was a bad dude. He was the truth.
And yes, you have to admire Mason and how he worked to make it. He was blue collar. Shame he didn’t have the humbleness to go with it. He and I had words that game. LOL. He told me to stay out the lane or I might get hurt and I told him my elbows hurt too if you don’t see them coming. He’d have fucked my ass up. LOL
Kenny Anderson and Jerry Stackhouse were my two favorite players growing up. Anderson was never the same after breaking his wrist as a result of that John Starks mugging. His handle was ridiculous. That Nets squad with him, Derrick Coleman and Drazen Petrovic had so much potential.
Wow I just watched the MJ HOF speech (never watched it) and all I can say is LOL.
First, it was awkward. He was legitimately going for humor and sometimes he hit flat because his words gave you a glimpse at his maniacal ability to treat any slight or offense as motivation. He’s trying to be humorous, but he was also very petty at a time when he should have been gracious. I’ve never met him but know people that know him well and I’d say his HOF speech is a pretty good glimpse of the man if you have any ability to read people.
There is a real paradox around him from the players of his generation. On the one hand, you don’t get to the league unless you believe you’re every bit as good as the best. Even the bench guys believe this (right time, right situation, right team and I’m a star). So if you asked his contemporaries, to a man they’d go toe to toe with him and give nothing up but at the same time they couldn’t deny he was special and they did in some manner defer to him. He was the BEST of the best and in that game, it was remarkable.
For those of you wanting to anoint Lebron…too soon. He’s physically superior to Jordan, but that’s all at this point. Jordan pretty much could do what he wanted when he wanted and he came up big in big games. He won the trophy. Repeatedly. Jordan was fundamentally sounder and had a much better rounded offensive game. He did not surround himself with a dream team. There were some very good teams around when he won too. The league was definitely more competitive.
I think there is some truth to the one owner’s recent utterance of “let’s just name the other 28 teams the Generals.” There’s a kernel of truth there.
[quote]MattyXL wrote:
why did you leave out Benoit Benjamin? :)[/quote]
Dude, was watching something a few years ago and Steve Kerr came on and the host asked Kerr what the most ridiculous thing he’d seen a player do off the court was, and he said that he was at a party or club and Benoit Benjamin and his entire crew walked in with leather jackets with “Ben Jammin’” stiched across the back as they entered the party and acted like total assholes.
Great discussion going on guys. Im always interested in what happens behind the scenes and the attitude of players and what makes them tick. I remember an espn documentary about jordan… Jordan was getting so out of hand yelling at his teamates in practice so the center of the team went up to jordan and said, " If you keep this shit up im gonna break your legs and you’re never gonna play basketball again. lol Not basketball but mike piazza is a motherfucking asshole. God I hate him! he would charge fans for autographs. I saw that shit in dodger stadium.
[quote]TheBodyGuard wrote:
Wow I just watched the MJ HOF speech (never watched it) and all I can say is LOL.
First, it was awkward. He was legitimately going for humor and sometimes he hit flat because his words gave you a glimpse at his maniacal ability to treat any slight or offense as motivation. He’s trying to be humorous, but he was also very petty at a time when he should have been gracious. I’ve never met him but know people that know him well and I’d say his HOF speech is a pretty good glimpse of the man if you have any ability to read people.
There is a real paradox around him from the players of his generation. On the one hand, you don’t get to the league unless you believe you’re every bit as good as the best. Even the bench guys believe this (right time, right situation, right team and I’m a star). So if you asked his contemporaries, to a man they’d go toe to toe with him and give nothing up but at the same time they couldn’t deny he was special and they did in some manner defer to him. He was the BEST of the best and in that game, it was remarkable.
For those of you wanting to anoint Lebron…too soon. He’s physically superior to Jordan, but that’s all at this point. Jordan pretty much could do what he wanted when he wanted and he came up big in big games. He won the trophy. Repeatedly. Jordan was fundamentally sounder and had a much better rounded offensive game. He did not surround himself with a dream team. There were some very good teams around when he won too. The league was definitely more competitive.
I think there is some truth to the one owner’s recent utterance of “let’s just name the other 28 teams the Generals.” There’s a kernel of truth there. [/quote]
I disagree that James is physically superior to a prime Jordan. Yeah, he’s taller but Jordan jumped WAY better off 2 feet, handled contact better and was much quicker (not necessarily faster). For all James physical gifts he only has that left leg and he’s never gone chest to chest with ANYONE near his size at the rim and punched on 'em, it’ll always be a layup 'cause he can’t power through in the air.
I like to think of the absolute scrubs he had on his team and how he turned them into somewhat noteworthy players. To name a few…
Bill Wennigton
Horace Grant (extremely overrated)
Luc Longley (he got some ridonkulous contracts after his stay with the Bulls)
Stacey King (awful)
InvisiBill Cartwright (a good offensive center with the knicks, hugged on Jordans nuts for the rest of his career)
Steve Kerr (puuhlease)
Jack Haley (I kinda liked him)
Randy Brown (BUUURICK CITY)
Jo Jo English (I think he won a championship with this pussy)
Will Perdue (hate this MFer)
He actually won championships with this filth. He did it as much with his head and his guile as his physical ability. The best ever for me.
[quote]MattyXL wrote:
I like to think of the absolute scrubs he had on his team and how he turned them into somewhat noteworthy players. To name a few…
Bill Wennigton
Horace Grant (extremely overrated)
Luc Longley (he got some ridonkulous contracts after his stay with the Bulls)
Stacey King (awful)
InvisiBill Cartwright (a good offensive center with the knicks, hugged on Jordans nuts for the rest of his career)
Steve Kerr (puuhlease)
Jack Haley (I kinda liked him)
Randy Brown (BUUURICK CITY)
Jo Jo English (I think he won a championship with this pussy)
Will Perdue (hate this MFer)
He actually won championships with this filth. He did it as much with his head and his guile as his physical ability. The best ever for me.[/quote]
The funny thing is that ALL of those dudes could play. They obviously couldn’t sustain it for long periods against the best, but each and every one of those dudes were ball players. Some (most) guys in the league are niche guys, in that they fit a specific role (Kerr a marksman, Brown a stopper) but they all had game.
