July 27, 2004

SHAQ AND KOBE--LEADERS IN TAKING THE BULL BY THE HORNS

      During his comedic press conference Shaquille O’Neal talked about how Miami was Dwayne Wade’s team and that he was simply along for the ride.  He also mentioned how important it was to have a team around him—that one man could not win by himself—and that the team concept seemed to have been lost on his former employers in L.A.  Meanwhile, thousands of miles away in glamour land, his former sidekick Kobe Bryant was holding court and talking about his future with the Lakers.  Kobe denied any involvement in Shaq’s trade or in Phil Jackson’s exit and said that he would still love to have both those men with him on the team.  It’s amazing the either of those two can look into a mirror and not have it break on them.

        Listening to these two speak at their respective conferences reminded me of the old joke about a salesman who tried to ride a bull and when he was thrown off a spectator remarked, “that’s the first time the bull threw the salesman.”  Shaq was all college play and team spirit and talked about how he loved the idea of coming to Miami—you see, he never really wanted to leave Florida in the first place for the money and the spotlight of L.A.   But at no time during the love fest did he mention that he was not going to renegotiate his massive contract and, because of that fact, Miami was pretty much the only team that could afford him.  Dallas desperately wanted Shaq, and Shaq wanted Dallas—at the time he still thought he could have his cake and a shot at the title—but it slowly became public knowledge that not only could the Mavs not swing a deal for the Big Diesel, but that his contract eliminated any real contender from acquiring him.  For Shaq it wasn’t about the team—it was about the money.

       With Kobe it was also about the money.  He could have signed with the Clippers for $100 million and really stuck it to the Lakers.  He could have been the one man to lead the moribund Clipper franchise out of the quagmire of mediocrity and into the limelight as a full-fledged contender.  In doing so he would have cemented his reputation—especially if the Clippers ever won a title--as not only one of the greatest players but also as one of the league’s greatest leaders, a la Jordan.   But the Lakers were willing to pony up more than $30 million more than the Clippers, and were also willing to excise the two men that kept Kobe from his rightful place in the league’s pantheon of all-time greats.  As long as Shaq was in Laker land he would be the man, and as long as Phil was there then Shaq was going to be the man.  Without those two Kobe now becomes the man.  He got his cake and his team as well.  Now if only he can buy his way out of a lengthy jail sentence.

       It’s not like the two former Lakers are the only participants in the bull throwing competition.  It’s actually league wide.  In Toronto we’ve heard all kinds of crap coming from those who are supposedly close to Vince Carter, but when push comes to shove Vince disavows any knowledge of any of the statements that purport to show his unhappiness with the Raptors.  He insists that since he is not the one talking that the stories should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt.  However, Vince refuses to be drawn into any conversation regarding these statements.  He neither acknowledges their truthfulness, nor does he deny them.  He simply says nothing, trying to keep his options open.  He doesn’t want any of the bull coming out of his camp to stick to him—especially since the Raptors are not obligated to trade him.  And as time goes by it is becoming more apparent that the organization does not believe it can get want it perceives to be full value for the over-rated superstar and will not pull the trigger on a deal.  In that case Vince will need to make nice with the fans of Toronto or he will have to endure a season of constant negative harassment—and who wants that.

       How about Carlos Boozer?  Now there’s one for the ages.  The Cavs come to an oral agreement with their budding superstar to throw away his existing contract, on the basis that they believe he would be horribly underpaid, so long as Boozer signs a long-term agreement with the club.  The only problem with oral agreements is that they are not worth the price of the paper they are not signed on.  Boozer’s agent was blown away with an offer from Utah and told his client to take the money and run-to hell with the repercussions.  Don’t salesmen and agents have their own wing in hell?

       And how about Tracy McGrady?  I want to go home to my mommy in Orlando—he effectively said when leaving Toronto—and be in a place where I can be the number one guy.  Oh, and I’ll have Grant Hill there just in case I can’t make it on my own. So what that I used Chicago when it appeared that the Magic would get their wish and sign Tim Duncan—and so what that I left the Bulls empty-handed when Duncan re-signed with the Spurs and the Magic came calling again.  And so what if I lost Hill but managed to become a league superstar—exactly what I wanted in the first place.  And finally so what if I changed my mind, decided I didn’t want to be the best player on a bad team, and so what if I want to play in Houston where I’ll have to be number two behind Yao Ming.   So what if I change my mind so often I can’t remember where I live.  So what if we become successful and I whine the Kobe whine about not getting my due respect because I play with a dominant big man.  So what!

       Finally, can somebody please find out whatever happened to Rasheed Wallace?   Here was the epitome of a selfish player—someone who would go off on an official at the tiniest slight, and to hell with the outcome of the game or to my teammates.  Now suddenly Wallace is being called a great teammate who re-signed with Detroit because they were a team that didn’t care about individual stats—only team performance.  Oh, and Rasheed received a nice five year contract for more than $11 million per season.   

      It’s hard sometimes to tell where the bull stops and the truth starts.  But then—can’t we say that about anyone.