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Did this offseason really happen?
Posted by: Joey Parker on September 1st, 2010
The author's views are entirely his or her own and may not reflect the views of the Utah Jazz.Like usual, I paid a huge amount of attention to the NBA happenings during this off-season. I was on ESPN.com, Twitter, and Hoops Hype pretty much every day. And yet, now that the slowest part of the off-season is upon us, I can’t believe that what happened….really happened.
All of the following things are actually true; they REALLY happened. No…seriously, they really did happen!:
- LeBron James, the biggest star in the NBA, actually went on NATIONAL TV to announce that he was leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers. Not only did he leave his “hometown” team in the dust, but he did it on ESPN, in Prime-time. But wait, that’s not all. He left to go to a team with two other huge stars, meaning the NBA has it’s first “New York Yankees” style franchise. That thing that non-Yankees-fans hate about Major League Baseball? Yep, it has made it’s way to the NBA.
- After LeBron announced he was leaving, Cavs owner Dan Gilbert posted an AWESOME rant on the Cavs website, which, astoundingly, guaranteed that the Cavaliers would win a title before the Miami Heat would. Yes, the same Cavs team that couldn’t get to the Finals WITH the best player in the league was now going to make it there without him. This really happened! Here is the proof: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/07/08/dan-gilbert-letter-lebron_n_640318.html
- Wesley Matthews, the guy who had to fight during the 2009 training camp to make the Jazz roster, signed a five-year, $34,000,000 contract with the Blazers. That is $6,800,000 per year…for a second year shooting guard. Right now is when the Jazz fan who has been camping in the wilderness all Summer pipes up and says “OK, haha, now you’re just messing with me!” But NO, Mountain-man, it’s true! The Blazers tried to steal one of our players yet again with an outlandish deal, only this time we called their bluff. Now they are stuck paying $34,000,000 to a guy who will back up their best player! Here, with the proof, is a really cool kid:
- This one needs a little setup. You know that city called New Orleans? The one that was nearly destroyed by Hurricane Katrina 5 years ago? Well, their basketball team has this guy named Chris Paul, who is the SECOND best point guard in the NBA. He was there during Katrina. Since then, he has been something of a superhero to Hornets fans. Well, this particular superhero decided that New Orleans hasn’t really suffered enough. He decided that to torture them even more, he was going to go behind the scenes and tell everyone that he wanted OUT. Well, this must mean he’s a free agent! He can do whatever he wants, right? Um…nope. He has two years left on his contract. He hasn’t a leg to stand on. He apparently just decided to crap on a city that is still cleaning up from the last disaster to hit it.
- While we are speaking of kicking people while they are down, lets mention Mr. Carmelo Anthony, or, as I like to call him, “The Back-Peddler”:
Mr. Anthony is also NOT a free agent. Yet, he chose this Summer to proclaim that he no longer wants to play in Denver. Big deal, right? Pro athletes do this all the time! Weeeell, yeah, except one little difference: Carmelo’s coach, George Karl, is CURRENTLY battling life-threatening cancer. There are two kinds of people in this world: those that screw over their cancer-riddled coach, and those who don’t. Unfortunately Carmelo is in the latter group.
The previous items were all true. 100%. Given that fact, I can’t possibly imagine how any of these things that have happened are GOOD for the NBA. Unless you live in Miami or you are just a bandwagon fan, the LBJ-Wade-Bosh union is an absolute disaster! The CP3 and Melo stories are more proof to some people that NBA stars are self-serving brats. And the Wesley Matthews story proved that NBA teams will NEVER, EVER stop over-paying players.
So, pretty depressing news all around. But lets end on a good note: at least football season starts today! GO UTES!!!!!
Replies: 12
Views: 1128
12 Responses
this has been such a crazy off season.
I hate that Lebron went to Miami its such a selfish cowardly move. I hate that the league and its bandwagon fans and ESPN are excited about it.
Melo and Chris Paul are wannabes. Any player that thinks they are greater than the team is just a loser.
And most of all its a crazy off season because the Jazz actually did something!
Diana of course ESPN is excited about it. They have to suck up to Lebron, those who talk about him have to or they’d get fired if they didn’t. Don’t belive me? Check this out… http://nba.fanhouse.com/2010/07/28/espn-pulls-story-showing-lebron-james-in-full-party-mode/
Also not to mention they were the ones that gladly cancelled all programs that “decision” night to satisfy him. Awesome post Joey, it really was a crazy offseason! I love you found that kid doing a news report on Wes! Made my night!
who is that kid? Kelton? is that you?
PS. I hate to say this, but, I don’t think you can wrong Melo for the timing of his contract and Coach Karl’s health.
Adam yeah I know why espn is excited and you can’t fault them but it sill bugs me
It also bugged me that they pulled that story. Heaven forbid there should be negative press about the self anointed King!
I don’t know who that kid is.
He came up when I typed “Wesley Matthews” into YouTube. I think he is my go-to sports reporter from now on though.
I agree that people don’t have to put their life on hold just because their coach is sick, but I still hate it when NBA players pull this crap, even when their coach DOESN’T have cancer. That fact just kind of amplified my annoyance with him.
Joey sorry I did mean to mention awesome find with the Blazer kid. I want to start making my own Jazz analysis youtube videos!
The NBA is no stranger to the “Yankee style” franchise. Seems like one team or another does it every year. This year its Miami, previously we have seen it from LA, Boston, Denver, Houston, Phoenix, ect. History will show that stacking all stars some times pays off and sometimes doesn’t. Ask Malone and Peyton. We should really stop acting like this trajedy is brand new to the NBA and will kill it in no time flat.
And Portland’s move may not be so stupid. That money may be very well spent.
Kaleb
Boston, Houston, and LA (w/ Malone & Payton) tried the super team thing, but they did it with old players. The Heat have 2 of the top 5 and arguably 3 of the top 10 players in the league, and they are all in their absolute prime! Way different from those other tries at this. So I think it is a brand new thing, and like I said, it is HORRIBLE for every team outside of Miami. And what if CP3 and Melo really go to NY and say Deron somehow went to the Magic in two years to do the Super-team thing. That would mean that about 8 of the top ten players would be on three teams! I’m sorry, but that really would be a disaster! I would switch my prime allegiance to the NFL in the heartbeat if that actually happened!
Regarding Portland- I think Wesley is a very good player. He definitely won’t be a bust, but he is definitely overpaid and I’m glad the Jazz didn’t match even though I really love him as a player.
Haha. Great post. I’m with you on all of it. And tho I generally despise football, I am pretty excited for my Alma mater this year.
ESPN is going to report any big sports news that happens and will take advantage of every big opportunity, so I don’t know why it bugs you that they did it. Look at all the ratings it got them.
Go Football! Go Cougars! It’s this time of year that basketball is an afterthought to me because they aint doin’ anything and Football is king now.
Lots of stuff happened. It was fun. I believe it all did happen.
I understand the desire for these basketball players to compete at the highest level. That argument sticks no matter how you attack it. But is orchestrating a scenario like LeBron and Wade did this summer the mark of true competitor? Not in my head, to be the best you beat the best, not join them. Oh well, Miami target #1.
What does Denver do with Carmelo? If he won’t sign the extension they will try to trade him to a perennial lottery team for all of their assets and young talent, problem being, no team will trade off all of their assets unless Carmelo signs the extension and I don’t think Carmelo would agree to a sign and trade if it lands him all alone on a team with no other assets. If the Nuggets cant come to terms with him, their going to get little to nothing out of him.
How can you not understand Chris Paul’s frustration, I think he has been commendable for his efforts to work with the Hornets.
Wesley Matthews, great kid, he worked hard and deserved a raise… just not that kind of a raise. I just wish the Jazz would have extended him some kind of reasonable offer just to see if he would pay them back for the chance they gave him. He should only be met with applause in the ESA.
mean while back at the ranch… in my opinion the Jazz become the #2 team in the west. the 11-12 season is gonna be big one for the Jazz, let this team play together for a season and then AK’s fortune comes off the books and all of a sudden the possibilities seem nearly endless.