"Spree andme..." (December 18, 1997)

Let me just say straight off, I just went to a buffet for lunch with my departmentat work. I am very full and feel quite loagy. So my brain isn't working that well. I want tovent and rant but I just can. I don't really know why. I'll give it a shot.

Does anyone care if Latrell Spreewell comes back this year? No I didn't think do. I don't. Does anyone really care if Johnny Cochrane is Spree's attorney? It's not for altruisticreasons, I tell you that. Cochrane is trying to become an agent. He can use his popularityand media exposure to lure clients. It's a perfect situation for him. If he doesn't reduceSpree's sentence, nothing lost. If he does, ball players will fall over themselves to get anagent who can reduce suspensions and have that kind of media and professional clout. I can just imagine Cochrane's salary negotiations with the Washington Wizards.

Cochrane: "This is a race issue. My client has not received the respect he deserves fromWashington. He is asking for, and it is a fair market value, $100 million over six years. Those people on the other side of the table are low balling him, thinking he is just anotherstupid basketball player. They are disrespecting my client and all other black players. People think this is a money issue. They are offering my client $90 million over 6 years. That is not the market value. They are putting my client into slavery with that wage. Thisis a black, white issue. It's a race issue."

Of course on the other side of the table, sitting next to Abe Polian is Willis Reed. Last timeI checked, he was black. So I know this is hypothetical, but most teams have black menin positions of authority, either as coaches, assistant coaches, general managers, assistantgeneral managers, etc. Personally, I think it's never a race issue with owners. It's alwaysa money issue. Most owners don't even care who the hell is on their team. They want towin and make money. Or is that make money and win. I think it's the latter over theformer. If it's with a whole team of white guys, well that's a dream. If it's with a whole teamof black guys, then it's O.K. If it's with a team of near CBA players and Michael Jordan,then it's the Bulls. You see, it's all about money. Even this Spreewell thing is aboutmoney. People are saying the NBA is exercising too much power and this could be thestart of something larger. I don't see it.

Side note here: Spreewell was not denied his right to work. Cochrane, I think, did say hewas stripped of his constitutional right to work. Wrong. He can work. Get a job like usnormal people. Work in a 7-11 or K-Mart. If you want to play basketball, you could playin the USBL (because the CBA has an agreement with the NBA) or abroad. You could domany things. The NBA is a business. Spree, you were suspended from that company fora year. Find another job at another company. That's how you should take it. Ok, sidenote over.

Back to the money. This about greenbacks. Spree was screwed out of $24 million, right? Wrong. He screwed himself. This is not a black man stereotype about genitalia. The NBAplayers association is worried that teams and the NBA will be able to rescind contracts nowwith more freedom and ease. All I have to say to those members of the playersassociation is chill out. Sorry dude, but that ain't happening. Because of one incident, thatdoes not set precedent to use that small fine print rule as a basis for all other infractions. If another player hits a coach then you know he's gone for a year and his contract isterminated. If a player sucks the glass dick for a month, he'll be gone as well, like RoyTarpley. Those are examples that have set precedents for similar actions. Tarpley set theprecedent and then Richard Dumas was cut after he was caught dust bustering coke. Idon't see Stern and co. wielding this new found power like a sword. On the contrary, Sternknows how important image is. He doesn't want to can players left, right and center. Hewants them clean and straight. So this one "example" will be sufficient in straightening outthe players. If they screw up like Spree (and only if it's like Spree, hitting a coach) thenhe's gone, otherwise they'll have to make up some new punishment.

Now that that is out of the way, I have some more rants. Spree is done. Ike Austin isplaying great. Who would have figured that. The Raptors, well, they just suck don't they. MattnSteve wrote a small tidbit about Sharone Wright. It wasreally good. I had read that Sharone Wright felt really bad after his accident because he let theteam down. The some brass of the Raptors would rather have had Wright die so his capspace would open up. You have to love the NBA. NBA action it's fantastic. Wright wouldhave made some difference if he was there, but the injuries to the Raptors are so severethat they have not had a healthy 10 players since training camp.

The Celtics look great. I was watching them versus the Raptors and they are playing veryconfidently. Chauncy Billups will only get better. Antoine Walker is as good as ShareefAbdur-Raheem. Walker is the last legacy of M.L. Carr. Not bad, don't you think? After somany stupid moves, he did make one final good one. Have you noticed that Rick Pittinohas the best collection of six foot guards in the NBA. Dana Barros, Tyus Edney, DeeBrown and Billups are all 6'3" and under and the first two are under six feet. Who needsa shooting guard when you have four point guard sized players. Talk about small ball.

What the hell is 2-ball? I have no idea. What were they thinking? The NBA has had somegreat ideas in the past, but this really sounds stupid. I thought they should have just forcedsome really good players into the dunk contest to make it more interesting. People wouldhave liked to see Isaiah Rider, Kobe Bryant, Eddie Jones, Shawn Kemp, Kevin Garnettand others go to a dunk off. The NBA should have made them do it. Who wants to watchDarvin Ham, no matter how good he is? They should just have added a horse gameinstead. Have horse with a time limit. You could have Reggie Miller, the Persons, Chuckand Wesley, Dale Ellis and maybe Joe Dumars for some class and they could have gonehead to head. Aw well, I'm not the marketing genius that the NBA has working for them.

Finally, scoring is down again in the NBA. What the hell is wrong with everyone? Why isscoring down again. Shooting percentages are down as well. Are defenses that good? Is that the reason? Are players contesting every shot and they are so athletic they can getto anyone on the floor? I don't know. I may write a longer article another day. The gamesare getting more boring. Running is almost gone and replaced by ball control half courtplodders. At least Boston is trying to run and press. That was fun, even with crappyshooting. Maybe Kareem coming in as a coach will reinvigorate the running game. Remember, he was the guy who used to pull down the boards outlet to Magic and start"Showtime" running.

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