2010 Free Agency Discussion Thread

[Lamrock]

Solid signing, though with the loss of TA, I don't see their bench improving, even with all the additions.

[JaoSming]

I like it, I loved West's blocks as a Celtic, so yea, I'm happy

[kibaxx7]

Then this means Lafayette is gone or Finley won't be resigned, I guess. Solid pickup, but a big gamble.

[air gordon]

what is the big gamble? no one else wants him and he probably is on a cheap contract

harangody filling in as the new Scalabrine instantly upgrades their bench

[Andrew]

Good pickup for the Celtics. And if the rumours are true, their secret weapon to counteract the Heat, possibly as early as opening night.

[shadowgrin]

West will probably tell everything to KG and KG will trash talk LeBron all game about that.

[The X]

Great move by the C's

[TheMC5]

LeBron will face an endless and merciless torrent of "yo mama" jokes every time those teams play. It'll be better than Larry Bird shooting over people and then calling them assholes while running back down court.

















Wait, no it won't.

[shadowgrin]

Larry Bird telling the defense where he will shoot and shooting over people at that exact spot he told them and then calling them assholes for making him hurry his shot because of the defensive coverage while running back down court.

Fixed.

[shadowgrin]

Kwame Brown to join Bobcats.

To the surprise of countless NBA observers, Kwame Brown and Michael Jordan are together again.

A reunion that no one in the league expected after their well-chronicled difficulties in Washington will be taking place in Charlotte this season after Brown struck a one-year deal at the veteran minimum with the Jordan-owned Bobcats.

Speaking of Kwame. An old article...

Two months into his Lakers tenure, Jackson questioned Brown's toughness and his inability to recover from a strained right hamstring. "I'm not putting pressure other than just call him (a sissy) every time I see him in the locker room," Jackson said. Jackson accented his accessment by making cat-like "meow" sounds as Brown walked past him. Later, Jackson walked into the locker room, pointed to a brown mink coat stashed on top of the coat rack and started laughing hysterically. "See that's Kwame's," he said.

After a triple-overtime loss to the Charlotte Bobcats in December of last season - in which Kobe Bryant scored 58 points - Jackson put the blame on Brown, who had three turnovers down the stretch. "We're going to feed him Butterfingers on the flight home just so he can feel the effects of it."

Ronny Turiaf was one of Brown's best friends on the team. When I asked Turiaf to give me his favorite Brown memories, he mentioned Brown's dunk over Chicago's Andres Nocioni and of-course, Brown's most endearing Laker legacy - as the cake chucker.

If you don't recall. Brown had gone out to celebrate Turiaf's birthday at an L.A. night spot, when a man carrying a $190 cake approached Turiaf for a picture. Thinking that the cake was a gift for Turiaf, Brown grabbed the cake from the fan and tossed it at Turiaf's face. He missed. "Actually, he got me in the back of my head. I had to wash my hair a little bit," Turiaf said with a laugh.

Jackson's initial reaction to the incident was equally hilarious. He said it was "natural" that the cake slipped from Brown's hands. The saddest part of the Brown trade might be the end of Jackson's one-liners.

From faggot to pussy. Phil Jackson must've gotten tips from Jordan or the other way around.

[Jackal]

Kwame's a little fag. Most frustrating player to watch play.

[shadowgrin]

Another Kwame Brown flashback. From his Wizards days.
Sadly, no faggot incident. That must've happened during Jordan's last season.
Italics mine.

There was the time they discovered that he was eating Popeyes fried chicken for every meal, including breakfast, because he didn't really know how to grocery-shop. The sports management firm that represents Brown, SFX, assigned Richard J. Lopez, a 36-year-old business manager, to shepherd him. Lopez found that he essentially became a parent.

Lopez knew Brown had a closet full of new suits -- he had helped hang them there. "Kwame," he explained, "you have to take those suits to the dry cleaners." That was fine, Brown said, but he didn't know how to do that, and he still didn't have anything to wear.

Brown looked at his manager. "Are you going to stay over?" he asked tentatively. Lopez, stunned, realized Brown had never spent the night alone before. Lopez took off his shoes.

Things kids who've gone to basketball camps and colleges already know. Like footwork. "He was like a guy who wants to go into high finance, and he only took a couple of classes," says Wizards forward Popeye Jones. (You know you're in trouble when someone like Popeye Jones implies that you suck)

When Brown twisted an ankle during an exhibition game and untied his shoe on the bench, Jordan said, "Lace that thing up. I've played with ankles 45 times worse than that." (You what saw MJ did there?)

"I wish you would stop correcting me and just let me play," he implored Collins one day. "Kwame, you don't know how to play," Collins said. (lol)

He liked to haze the rookies in small, collegiate ways. Jordan would grab a basketball, and drop-kick it high into the stands and make them run the stairs to retrieve it.

He was having such trouble breathing during practices that Collins feared he was seriously ill. It turned out he had exercise-induced asthma, because his lungs weren't developed enough for his size, and couldn't cope with the pace of NBA workouts. Basically, he had never worked hard -- he simply didn't know how.

"Stop being a baby and start growing up and playing, and earning the respect of your teammates," Collins shouted. "They're tired of you. They're tired of you getting knocked down, and laying around. They're tired of you holding your back. And holding your head. And holding your thumb. You're the one who has to be in that locker room, and meet them eye to eye." (Kwame is a indeed a pussy)

After a while, Jordan came into the locker room. He sat on a bench with Brown, and put his arm around him, and hugged him. "You're going to be all right," he said. For several minutes, he talked to Brown in soothing tones. "Doug is tough, but in a few years you'll understand how good he is," he said. They still believed in him, Jordan affirmed. "We put our necks out for you," he said. "We think you have the ingredients to be a great power forward for a long, long time." (Jordan made a funny, lol)

[TheMC5]

Larry Bird telling the defense where he will shoot and shooting over people at that exact spot he told them and then calling them assholes for making him hurry his shot because of the defensive coverage while running back down court.

Fixed.

Truth. Sometimes when you're posting after having been awake for over 24 hours, you forget important details.


And to actually comment on the topic, I really the Delonte West pick up for Boston. He won't be the difference maker in terms of winning a championship, but the less you have to play Nate Robinson at the point, the better. On that note, can Avery Bradley run the point at all?

[rise]

That's pretty unfair. Nate Robinson can be pretty good when he's hot.

[shadowgrin]

Avery Bradley is basically an Eddie House clone. If he's better than House in shooting the long ball, we'll have to wait and see.

[TheMC5]

That's pretty unfair. Nate Robinson can be pretty good when he's hot.

He can score with the best of them when he's on, but the man is not a point guard. He's a horrifically undersized shooting guard. His point guard instincts are awful. But you're right, he can score.

[JaoSming]

That's pretty unfair. Nate Robinson can be pretty good when he's hot.

yea but the less he plays the point the better......just because he's short doesnt mean he should be a PG.

[air gordon]

the cake story. lmao. where did the collins quotes come from? i wonder which player spilled the beans on those gems

edit...
i was thinking about Joe Johnson backlash. from an owner's/management perspective- they were forced to resign & overpaid him. revenue will continue to pour in even if the team maxed out as a 2nd rnd playoff exit

[shadowgrin]

Probably the rooks or other younger players.
The faggot incident did happen in his rookie year. Article

Brown became maddeningly frustrated, a kid convinced he was being repeatedly fouled in intrasquad scrimmages by two veterans, Christian Laettner and Jahidi White, who weren't quick enough, Brown believed, to stay with him. He would drive toward the basket and feel himself being bumped by a hard hip, sometimes losing the ball, infuriated the referees wouldn't blow a whistle. "That was a foul," he finally groaned.

Play stopped. There was an electric silence. A wide-eyed Jordan was walking toward him. "You (expletive) flaming (expletive)," Jordan exploded. "You don't get a foul call on a (expletive) little touch foul, you (expletive). You don't bring that (expletive) here. Get your (expletive) ass back on the floor and play. I don't want to hear that (expletive) out of you again. Get your ass back and play, you (expletive)."

A stupefied Brown could say nothing. He looked close to tears, thought a witness.

And more...

He thought Brown was cocky and disrespectful sometimes, particularly when the teenager nagged him about playing a one-on-one game, hinting that doom awaited him. Finally, Jordan agreed to the game, Brown grinning on the court, convinced his youth and height would be indefensible weapons against this shorter man twice his age. Early in the game, believing he had a lunging, jabbing Jordan off balance, the kid dared to say, "You reach, I'll teach."

Jordan snapped, "You teach, and I'll knock you on your damn ass."

He proceeded to humiliate Brown, mocking him while scoring at will, declining to help him up when the teenager fell hard to the floor, winning lopsidedly and, at the end, yelling at Brown to acknowledge his superiority in front of the team: "You better call me 'Daddy,' (expletive)."

So that's where that line came from.
0:50 of the video.

phpBB [video]

[Andrew]

Seems to me Kwame brought a lot of it on himself. No hard feelings though, I guess.

[rise]

Speaking of shitty big men, Sean May got released from the New Jersey Nets after an injury.

http://www.wchl1360.com/details3.html?id=15801

[Murat]

Yes, Sean May became an underdog. Charlotte, Sacramento, New Jersey and out.

[rise]

To think the Bobcats could have drafted Danny Granger, David Lee, or Nate Robinson before Sean May...

[Murat]

If you look college stats May was a good choice... Became a NCAA champion with Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Marvin Williams at North Carolina.

[Dan's Brain]

If you look college stats May was a good choice... Became a NCAA champion with Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants and Marvin Williams at North Carolina.

Well, there's a quartet of NBA superstars.