Looking Forward, Looking Back
Wednesday, 21. June 2006, 04:48:05
I sent this e-mail to family and friends on August 3, 2005. Tonite, the Miami Heat sip the champagne of champions. Congrats to all the competitors and big-up to Dwyane Wade for playing power ball and getting to the free throw line, 'cuz that's where it's at.
Did you about the huge trade the Lakers made?? I mean, former Lakers
(West, Riley, Scott). If this trade stands up, Miami has a red-carpet
invitation (black-tie only) invitation to the championship and the after
party. The TV ratings and the gate receipts of the Heat are going to go
through the roof...they have a white point guard who Riley compared to
Steve Nash, immediately - even though Jason Williams' game is clearly
And-1 Mix Tape Tour or Urban Legend style...Nash's game is wide open, but
he is more under control than Williams.
I would dare say that Jerry Buss pissed off the wrong folks. It is almost
unfathomable that the prior relationships of West, as the GM who hired
Riley and drafted Byron Scott and Eddie Jones and traded for Shaq, did not
play the definitive role in this trade. I would argue that West and Riley
are probably not big fans of Jerry Buss, Phil Jackson or Kobe. and we
know how Shaq feels about Kobe...this was a true power move of epic
proportions...it's the biggest trade in league history - with lop-sided
implications for the Heat...they've added a point guard, a do-everything
small forward in Walker and a defensive stopper who can score in James
Posey...and Posey can play...he was good in Denver and in Memphis...he'll
get minutes and make huge plays when needed, especially against Indiana
and Detroit.
Miami gave up very little...Eddie Jones (former Laker going to Memphis,
sweet), Rasul Butler, a couple of 2nd round draft picks and some cash.
Even Danny Ainge wanted to get down on the Laker beat down...He gave up
Antoine Walker - whom he brought back into the fold after trading - and
publicly admitting the error of his ways...what's going on here.
I told you I cut the Lakers off when they brought Phil in...I know Shaq
loves him, but there is something rotten in LA now and even though they
won a few rings, I'm not feeling them anymore...Your coach is a buddhist,
but he's blasting players in a book, why? The Lakers, a franchise built
by MIKAN, CHAMBERLAIN, JABBAR, JOHNSON AND O'NEAL, trade a big man...why?
I did some research...the only teams to not repeat in the Finals (in
consecutive or non-consecutive years) in the last 30 years were the '04
Pistons (jury is still out-different team than the Bad Boys), '83 Sixers
(Moses Malone), the '77 Blazers (Bill Walton), the '75-'76 Bullets (the
Big E)-Sonics (Jack Sikma, not great, but good) teams that played two
years in a row...The Sixers and Blazers didn't repeat because the teams
were disassembled...but every team since then has repeated - Lakers ('80,
'82, '85, '87, '88), Boston ('81, '84, '86), Chicago ('91-'93, '95-'97),
Houston ('94-'95), Detroit ('89-'90), San Antonio ('99, '03, '05), LA
('00, '01, '02)...all of these teams, with the exception of the Bulls and
Pistons had great big men (Jabbar, Parrish, Olajuwon, Duncan/Robinson,
Shaq)...and the Bulls had Jordan (best player) and the Pistons had Isiah
(arguably, the best little man of all time). So where are the Lakers
headed with Kobe and Kwame Brown? It's all about Kwame Brown because you
know what you'll get from Kobe. And I don't like the notion of pinning
the hopes of a franchise with links to George Mikan on Kwame Brown.
That franchise is done. I believe if West and Riley stay in the game, the
Lakers could be in trouble for a long time...and the trade of Shaq may go
down in history as a move semi-analogous to the trade of Ruth - not in
that it will turn the Heat into the Yankees, but in that it will keep the
Lakers out of the Finals for at least 15 years.
Did you about the huge trade the Lakers made?? I mean, former Lakers
(West, Riley, Scott). If this trade stands up, Miami has a red-carpet
invitation (black-tie only) invitation to the championship and the after
party. The TV ratings and the gate receipts of the Heat are going to go
through the roof...they have a white point guard who Riley compared to
Steve Nash, immediately - even though Jason Williams' game is clearly
And-1 Mix Tape Tour or Urban Legend style...Nash's game is wide open, but
he is more under control than Williams.
I would dare say that Jerry Buss pissed off the wrong folks. It is almost
unfathomable that the prior relationships of West, as the GM who hired
Riley and drafted Byron Scott and Eddie Jones and traded for Shaq, did not
play the definitive role in this trade. I would argue that West and Riley
are probably not big fans of Jerry Buss, Phil Jackson or Kobe. and we
know how Shaq feels about Kobe...this was a true power move of epic
proportions...it's the biggest trade in league history - with lop-sided
implications for the Heat...they've added a point guard, a do-everything
small forward in Walker and a defensive stopper who can score in James
Posey...and Posey can play...he was good in Denver and in Memphis...he'll
get minutes and make huge plays when needed, especially against Indiana
and Detroit.
Miami gave up very little...Eddie Jones (former Laker going to Memphis,
sweet), Rasul Butler, a couple of 2nd round draft picks and some cash.
Even Danny Ainge wanted to get down on the Laker beat down...He gave up
Antoine Walker - whom he brought back into the fold after trading - and
publicly admitting the error of his ways...what's going on here.
I told you I cut the Lakers off when they brought Phil in...I know Shaq
loves him, but there is something rotten in LA now and even though they
won a few rings, I'm not feeling them anymore...Your coach is a buddhist,
but he's blasting players in a book, why? The Lakers, a franchise built
by MIKAN, CHAMBERLAIN, JABBAR, JOHNSON AND O'NEAL, trade a big man...why?
I did some research...the only teams to not repeat in the Finals (in
consecutive or non-consecutive years) in the last 30 years were the '04
Pistons (jury is still out-different team than the Bad Boys), '83 Sixers
(Moses Malone), the '77 Blazers (Bill Walton), the '75-'76 Bullets (the
Big E)-Sonics (Jack Sikma, not great, but good) teams that played two
years in a row...The Sixers and Blazers didn't repeat because the teams
were disassembled...but every team since then has repeated - Lakers ('80,
'82, '85, '87, '88), Boston ('81, '84, '86), Chicago ('91-'93, '95-'97),
Houston ('94-'95), Detroit ('89-'90), San Antonio ('99, '03, '05), LA
('00, '01, '02)...all of these teams, with the exception of the Bulls and
Pistons had great big men (Jabbar, Parrish, Olajuwon, Duncan/Robinson,
Shaq)...and the Bulls had Jordan (best player) and the Pistons had Isiah
(arguably, the best little man of all time). So where are the Lakers
headed with Kobe and Kwame Brown? It's all about Kwame Brown because you
know what you'll get from Kobe. And I don't like the notion of pinning
the hopes of a franchise with links to George Mikan on Kwame Brown.
That franchise is done. I believe if West and Riley stay in the game, the
Lakers could be in trouble for a long time...and the trade of Shaq may go
down in history as a move semi-analogous to the trade of Ruth - not in
that it will turn the Heat into the Yankees, but in that it will keep the
Lakers out of the Finals for at least 15 years.
WIDGETIZE