Emerging Out of the NBA's Abyss

Each of the big four sports leagues has an abyss; a city were floundering (usually cheap) owners hire incompetent, bumbling management and decade long playoff draughts ensue. The NFL has the Arizona Cardinals, MLB has the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the NHL has everybody who contributed to the neutral zone trap, and the NBA, well the NBA has the Los Angeles Clippers… the Atlanta Hawks… and the Golden State Warriors. Each of these teams is mired in a long standing tradition of ineptitude. Giving away good players (the Clippers), taking on unfortunate contracts (Warriors), having public ownership squabbles (the Hawks), and constantly defying low expectations with worse results, all of which leads to losing, losing, losing and (are you with me here) and losing some more. Yet each of the three goes into this season with renewed optimism. The Hawks splashed around free agent money and are looking to leave behind their basement dwelling as the NBA’s worst team. The Clippers revamped their back court, which they hope can mesh well with a burgeoning front court; and the Warriors, well the Warriors didn’t do anything, which given their torrid finish to last season must be considered a prescient move. For franchises of this ilk, myriad expectations often go horribly, horribly awry (see Clippers 2002 – 2005), yet for one of these three the playoffs shouldn’t just be a wistful dream, but an actual reality. For this week’s installment of Achanceyougottatake Sports, we take a look at the NBA’s abyss teams through the beloved format, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly…


The Good:

Last offseason was just another stellar botch job by Warriors management. New head honcho, Chris Mullin, having finally usurped control of the team from the maligned Garry St Jean, grossly overpaid for guys whom he considered “quality locker room characters.” While I agree with his conjecture to bring in players who work hard, play defense, and present themselves well off the court, if you’re going to give them long term, big money contracts they have to be able to score a little too. Giving your backup center and backup point guard a combined 12 years and 90+ million is just plain stupid, but smart, very smart, was trading cap space (which never works out as well as teams hope, see Hawks 2003 – 2005) and your marginal starting point guard for Baron Davis. The Warriors finished the season as the NBA’s hottest team because the addition of Davis gives them the NBA’s most potent backcourt. Mullin followed that with a spectacular draft and for the first time in years the team heads into the season with realistic playoff aspirations. Shooting guard Jason Richardson has developed into a bonafide allstar, complementing his ridiculous athleticism with an all around game. The presence of Davis means they no longer need to rely upon scoring from borderline bust Mike Dunleavy, instead they can allow the Duke forward to connect on open shots which Davis and Richardson create. They do have question marks, most important of which will be Davis’s health. He has a wonky (a technical term) back, which has forced him to miss an average of 27 games for the past three seasons and back trouble never really goes away. The other question, is who’s going to play defense for them. Mickael Pietrus gives them an athletic stopper off the bench ¬- although they would be better served starting him at small forward over Dunleavy – but they lack a legitimate shot blocker and rebounding remains an issue. Still, if Davis stays healthy, this team will be able to score in bunches, given their talent and Phoenix’s roster turnover, I would wager that the Warriors will lead the league in scoring. If they can hold their opponents to 100 points a night, they should steal that last playoff spot away from Memphis.

The Bad:

Every year the Clippers seem to have a preternatural ability to derail the train before it really gets chugging… and really it’s a shame that they continue to squander the considerable talents of forward Elton Brand. The Clippers went into the offseason with three primary goals, re-sign free agent forward Bobby Simmons, find an experienced point guard to tutor prep-school phenom Shaun Livingston and add an experienced shooter. Predictably the Clippers failed at two of the three. They lost Simmons to Milwaukee when the Bucs offered him 47 million over five years. Teams often get caught into overpaying young players who have breakout seasons, when the best thing for the long term good of the franchise is to say goodbye. The same thing derailed Toronto when they overpaid to keep Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams, and Alvin Williams after the team’s ’02 playoff appearance. So while I applaud the Clips for drawing the line on Simmons, they then turned around and grossly overpaid for shooting guard Cutino Mobley. They not only gave an inferior player virtually the same money (40 over 5), they gave an inferior player five years older virtually the same money. Nobody else was offering Mobley anywhere near the 40 million the Clippers offered him, what were they thinking? Simmons’ stats are better across the board, he doesn’t need to dominate the ball, and he’s a much tougher defender. It’s what I call the Joe Johnson rule, If 47 million is too much for Simmons, then your team is right in taking a pass, but try and recoup something for him (as the Suns did with Johnson). The Clippers best move was shipping oft-injured ill-positioned PG Marko Jaric to the T-Wolves for temperamental PG Sam Cassell. While Cassell is a head case, he’s also an extremely gifted guard who can pull the team on his back and carry them for short periods, at 6 million his contract is reasonable and since it expires after this season it’s a short gamble before you give the reigns to Livingston. But putting Cassell in the backcourt with Mobley, and alongside Corey Maggette on the wing, two questions become relevant: 1) When are these three ball hogs ever going to get the rock to Brand, and 2) Who in the world is going to play defense? Those two problems will be more than enough to de-rail any momentum and condemn the Clips to another bad season.

The Ugly:

If things are bad for the Clippers, then they are truly ugly for the Hawks. They have an eroding fan base, questionable coaching, even more questionable management, and 85 small forwards trying to play five different positions. Will they be better than last year? Sure, but only because they have a little more talent, the kids are one year older, and - lets face it - at 13-69 it would take immeasurable skill not to be better, but this offseason was nothing if not ugly for the NBA’s worst run franchise. The signing of Joe Johnson turned into a public spat when primary owner and NBA governor Greg Belkin attempted to block GM Billy King’s move. Belkin, who already was ostracized from the Hawks other owners, was taken to court (never a god sign for the health of the franchise) and ultimately bought out. While his removal was likely inevitable, he was right to object to the Johnson deal. Not only were the Hawks grossly overpaying Johnson, but they were then giving up young guard Boris Diaw (likely no big loss) and two draft picks (likely a HUGE loss). First of all, I love Joe Johnson and I wish the Suns had been able to tie him up to a reasonable contract, but he is not worth 14 million a season. That is franchise player money and he simply isn’t a franchise player. Last year Johnson finished second in 3pt shooting, dropped in 17 a game and covered adequately for Steve Nash when the floppy topped Canadian needed a breather. At a glance, all of those things, and his age make him a great addition, except that it is reasonable to assume that Johnson’s numbers were inflated because he played alongside Nash and Amare Stoudemire. After all, what is the central tenant of an MVP: improving the play of those around him. Well, the Suns had two MVP’s last season and Johnson had plenty of open looks as a result. At seven million he’s a steal at fourteen an albatross. The worst part for the Hawks however is that they didn’t sign Johnson to play his natural position, instead (because they already have fourteen other swingmen…) they intend to shift him over to point guard. Yes, the man passes well for a shooting guard, but he passes well for a SHOOTING GUARD. Whatever else Johnson brings to the table, he is not adept at penetrating the lane. If Johnson were such an able PG, then Nash’s absence would not have been so noticeable last season and the MVP would not have been a short white guy from Canada… Worst of all for the franchise, everything else the Hawks are struggling with was put into perspective when center Jason Collier died of heart failure last weekend. A terrible tragedy for the lowliest of NBA franchises.

A-Dressing the Need for Better Attire

I’m sorry, but there is not an issue in sports that I care less about right now than NBA commissioner David Stern’s dress code. On the one hand, people in all segments of life are required to dress a certain way while representing their profession. For some it means donning a mank polyester shirt emblazoned with your employers insignia, for others it means donning slacks and a unfortunately patterned, silk noose. It isn’t a cultural thing and it certainly isn’t a racial thing. I’m white, yet when I leave the house for work, my employer expect me to dress in a certain manner (although I’m not sure why, because the sweatpants and holey t-shirt I’m wearing right now look dy-no-mite). Forcing the players to wear appropriate “corporate” attire, isn’t denying them their ethnicity, Allen Iverson can still wear his do-rag over his corn rows when away from the arena (just as my father does when he’s away from the Hospital, have you ever seen corn rows on a bald man, it’s special!), it’s just asking them to do what millions of other workers, of all ethnicities, do in thousands of other professions every day. On the other hand, if Stern thinks that having his players dress like Michael Jordan, David Robinson, or Magic Johnson will give them the professionalism of Michael, the class of the Admiral, or the charisma of Magic, well, he’s gravely mistaken. The NBA is suffering through a severe widening of the gap between fan and player and while Stern hopes that a dress code will make his players more approachable to fans over thirty, some players reaction to the proposal only magnifies the chasm.

“I don't see it happening unless every NBA player is given a stipend to buy clothes,” Marcus Camby

Oh really Marcus, because the 7 million you’ll be making this season wont be enough? Maybe you and former teammate Latrell Sprewell can pass around a hat at games which will allow you to buy a suit and tie and help him feed his family on 9 million a year. Given such a crass level of public ignorance among a select few of their players (I have no doubt that Sprewell and Camby are among the ignorant minority, but they are a vocal minority) it doesn’t matter whether the NBA dresses their guys in bright pink bunny suits, the people are still going to think they’re a$$h%#@$...


Let Them Eat Cake

Speaking of Latrell Sprewell, I cannot help but take amusement from his situation this offseason. Last year, after the T-wolves offered him a reasonable (if not slightly inflated) three year contract offer, the mercurial shooting guard infamously said, "Why would I want to help them win a title? They're not doing anything for me. I've got a lot of risk here. I've got my family to feed." Well, that winning attitude coupled with the fact that he’s no longer a very good player has meant that instead of the 21 million over three years, Spree is looking at a one year MINIMUM contract… Seems as though the man once famed for choking his coach will have to find a way to feed his family on only a million a year, oh the humanity. If Latrell is really wodnering how he's going to feed his family this year, then perhaps he should take the advice of famed humanitarian Marie Antoinette and "let them eat cake."