Comments on: Deron Williams, Dwight Howard talked about teaming up “for years”

By: lakerluver

lakerluver — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 21:45:48 +0000

D12 is a fool. Nash, Pau, Kobe, and Howard trumps any team in the league. Nash, Kobe and Pau only have 3-4 years left. They retire and D12 is the face of the LAKERS. Howard would only be 29 by that time and the LAKERS would have millions to spend on free agents. I guess the pressure to follow Mikan, Wilt, Kareem and Shaq is too great.

By: 1972wasalongtimeago

1972wasalongtimeago — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:47:30 +0000

The MJ/LeBron comparison is ridiculous, at least at this point. In 10 years, we’ll talk. But what can be discussed now is the Chicago/Cleveland comparison.

MJ was blessed to be drafted to a world class city. Who wouldn’t want to be a multimillionaire sports hero in Chicago?

Cleveland? Imagine you’re a multimillionaire, you have the world at your disposal, but you have never left your home town. And your owner sucks. And your front office sucks. And your teammates suck.

That’s why MJ didn’t bolt. His city and organization were good enough that he was smart to stay through the lean years. LBJ would have been an idiot to stay in Cleveland. And every single free agent in the history of free agents (money being equal) go somewhere that gives them the best chance to win. LBJ was no different.

By: blueintown

blueintown — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:25:04 +0000

Fun fact: Each of those guys has been paid or signed to at least one max contract in their career. It’s probably just a coincidence.

By: blueintown

blueintown — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:22:51 +0000

HE. DIDN’T. HAVE. TO. Why is this so difficult to fathom?

By: scalfor3

scalfor3 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:04:57 +0000

can’t break a rule that doesn’t exist yet. red was ahead of the game (again)

those guys obviously had some great teammates with them (albeit guys who benefited tremendously from playing with legends), but they didn’t scheme to team up together to forgo the competitive balance of the league. i dont blame lebron for leaving cleveland and their incompetent front office, but teaming up with another (at the time) top 5 player and an all star was kind of a chickensh*t move.

jermaine wiggins made this comparison on a sports radio station up here. its as if 1989 MJ decided he was gonna team up with olajuwan (10th in scoring that year) and dominique wilkins (5th in scoring that year). can you imagine jordan doing that?

By: heat256

heat256 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:00:55 +0000

Mickey Arison, who owns the Heat, publicly took the blame for allowing a private event for fans to be publicized, so it’s on him. I don’t care that they celebrated how they did. I want a team to enjoy itself and be silly, but get down to business when it matters. We want athletes to be themselves but if they are outspoken or brash, we belittle them. For the most part, we as fans are total hypocrites. The Heat didn’t do it last year as they were too overwhelmed with figuring out how to make the pieces work. They got back and had a little fun this year and were more focused when they needed to be. Perhaps some FAs will go to the Nets as they do to the Heat, but by and large, as we see with Camby, they want to be paid first. The ones who sacrifice their stats and their money for the good of the team are the ones that help win. I saw it with Battier and I expect Allen to do the same. If Joe Johnson’s game starts to go south as he ages (a possibility), while Howard is a defensive beast, his offense doesn’t scare anyone enough and do you want Deron Williams as your No 1 or 2 scorer?

By: mikey1977

mikey1977 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:48:18 +0000

Yeah chadnic30….the fact that Durant publicly proclaimed this when he signed his extension with the Thunder did nothing to help me form my opinion…..I said it’s very likely….he’s a standup guy and already on a championship caliber team my opinion is Thunder for his entire career…based on his own comments….

By: llfreedman

llfreedman — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:46:04 +0000

I agree with bougin89. I completely disagree with heat256. “What do fans give athletes?” How about the demand to see them that drives the businesses, and teams only pay athletes because fans want to watch them establishing a profitable business model for professional sports leagues. Fans are passionate- good and bad. That’s that special connection I was talking about…Fans let a player know when they feel let down. At the same time, I’m sure there is nothing like the celebrity in a city that a star player gets when things are going well. Sports brings out emotional attachments in all of us. That is why fans and (formerly) athletes value loyalty so highly in sports. We grow attached to our favorite players in ways people in other occupations don’t come close to.

By: adfranco

adfranco — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:20:04 +0000

Nothing wrong with saying you want to win, but there is a less arrogant way in going about it. How about “we want to try hard and bring this city a championship?” But 8 championships?
And don’t get me wrong, I think D Howard is a big ahole in the way he has handled this. But tell me what team in recent memory has acted like the Miami Heat in 2010? I don’t recall the Celtics throwing a pep rally and predicting loads of championships when their big 3 got together.
Yes, Howard is stupid for opting in another season with the Magic when he could have signed with the Nets this offseason without them trading players. But if this trade goes through, I’m sure there will be FA’s out there wanting to play for that team for cheap to have a chance to get a ring the same reason old players started flocking to the Heat after their big 3 got together.

By: chadinkc30

chadinkc30 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:19:00 +0000

I’m really sure Durant will be in OKC his whole career…..what are u on? Keep thinking that & you’ll be saddenly mistakened

By: edweird0

edweird0 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:08:28 +0000

Seriously. What a load of crock.

By: heat256

heat256 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 19:05:59 +0000

So players who land on a new team and are giddy at the prospect of possibly winning titles and say it – tongue in cheek mind you – are ridiculed? Would you rather have them be indifferent and say “I don’t care if we win, I’m getting paid either way”? Sure seems like it. I have NO problem with stars wanting to join up and play together. They can even act like royal a**holes about it (like Howard) or handle it poorly but still well-intentioned (James). If me and my friend were in the same field but different companies and I had the opportunity to go work with him and have fun and maybe achieve more career accolades but not always more money? I’d do it too. In case people forget (and they sure as hell do), Wade, James, and Bosh took less to bring Haslem and Miller to MIA. Wade asked James and Bosh to take less for those guys (Haslem particularly) and they said yes without a moment’s thought. Hate them for teaming up, but at least give them props for embracing sacrifice for the team. Unlike Melo and now Howard: two dopes who could have just signed outright with their new teams without having to make the gut their rosters of talent just so they could get there faster. That’s why I don’t see the Knicks and Nets as true threats in the ECF.

By: klownboy

klownboy — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:58:24 +0000

As long as the Nets do not gut their roster to bring in Howard, it’s all good. From the number of teams that may be in on the trade, it looks like the Nets won’t gut it…
http://wp.me/p1gCK6-pR

By: adfranco

adfranco — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:46:49 +0000

If Howard and Williams don’t act like idiots after Howard gets traded to the Nets (if he gets traded) and predict “not 5, not 6, not 7″ rings, then they won’t receive the same negative attention.

By: blueintown

blueintown — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:42:56 +0000

The Colts did jettison Manning. They cut him the day before his giant roster bonus. As they should have.

By: mikey1977

mikey1977 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:41:43 +0000

Well said jagwar73….as a long time Magic fan…Howard disgusts me…he’s toyed with this franchise for two years and now wants to orchestrate his way out of town on his terms….the Magic need to make the best deal and that’s NOT with the Nets…..

By: bougin89

bougin89 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:36:49 +0000

mikejd12…The Colt’s didn’t jettison Peyton Manning. They gave him a ton of money knowing he was injured and even after sitting out a year would have picked up his huge roster bonus if he was the missing piece but they were not a good team. Peyton wanted to play for a contender in the twilight of his career so it worked out for both sides.

By: jagwar73

jagwar73 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:25:36 +0000

The more I learn about Dwight the less I care for him as a person. Great player but needs to play with a guy like Deron to ever win. Got to have the good guard play to win in the league.

By: mikey1977

mikey1977 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:22:04 +0000

Tim Duncan….Dirk in Dallas…great character guys that stayed and built a team and their respective franchises to a championship…this generation of “superstars” knows nothing of loyalty…the lone exception…..Kevin Durant….he’ll likely stay with the Thunder for his entire career…

By: blueintown

blueintown — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:16:47 +0000

“A man is only as faithful (loyal) as his options.” -C.R.

By: 1972wasalongtimeago

1972wasalongtimeago — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:15:55 +0000

In case you didn’t read this post, Magicbus thinks MJ, Bird, Magic, and Doc played sans superstar teammates.

In total, not including the 4 HOF players who “did it by themselves”, these 4 guys had 11 HOF teammates. ELEVEN!

Magic had 3, MJ had 2, Doc had 1, and Bird had 5.

Plus, the way the Celtics got Bird was so shady that they made a “Bird rule” so teams couldn’t do it again. And then, in order to keep Bird in Boston, they created another “Bird Rule”. Two Bird rules. One got him to Boston. One kept him in Boston.

By: bougin89

bougin89 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:07:33 +0000

You cannot compare professional athletes to any professional in a market where the professional doesn’t make money off of fan support. As an NBA fan I’ll gladly call out an NBA player who is acting like a crybaby(Dwight Howard) just as I’ll also gladly call out a GM for making a lousy signing/trade or owner for being a lousy owner(see what’s his face for the clippers).

My point is the players have a right to try to force trades or sign elsewhere, but then they have to be prepared to face the consequences of the fans that feel like they aren’t loyal to the team they root for.

By: chitownmatt

chitownmatt — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 18:02:35 +0000

Loyalty is a virtue few men have.

The fact that it is rare does not make it any less a virture; if you think otherwise then you are less a man.

By: findthetruth90

findthetruth90 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:48:36 +0000

Sound

By: 1972wasalongtimeago

1972wasalongtimeago — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:48:23 +0000

What can I tell you, it’s a combination of being very excited about the Heat winning the championship, the sumer being slow at work, and kids being away at camp.

More free time + World Championship Team + Instigation Gene = More posts.

Sue me.

By: findthetruth90

findthetruth90 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:47:56 +0000

You und dumb

By: magicbucs

magicbucs — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:41:29 +0000

Always remember that those players would be nothing if us the fans didn’t show up to games, buy their shoes, shirts, jerseys and help pay their inflated salaries. I for one am never buying anything Adidas, never downloading a jay-z song or giving any more of my hard earned $ to the nba. Until maybe when stern leaves as commish

By: magicbucs

magicbucs — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:38:05 +0000

Jordan said it best. “I never wanted to play with the best, I wanted to beat the best.”. All these stars teaming up just means they can’t do it on their own like MJ, magic, bird, dr j did. Yes they all had a few great players with them but never had other super stars to help them.

By: tyler200829

tyler200829 — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:28:03 +0000

YAWN….the heat are easily the best team in the east considering rose will be out for a while and they won’t survive like they did last year. The nets will finish 4th behind the heat celtics and sixers in that order. Then get blasted in the second round and they’ll feel the pressure to disassemble come time of the luxury tax….and please nobody else say the lakers can run through the west and beat the heat….I’m taking all bets on that one

By: eaglessuperfan

eaglessuperfan — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 17:04:47 +0000

Orlando is out of their minds. You NEVER get JACK when you trade a star u do not control. The Magic are being offered way more than they should ever dream of getting. Their rookie GM obviously has no clue. Just look at history (Charles Barkley, ETC) They should have just traded him last year and got it over with and never tried to get him to opt in.