The Perpetual NBA Thread

**flakez** · February 24th, 2006 12:52 AM

idol ko si penny! hehehe. may orlando jersey pa niya ko.

**cardo** · February 24th, 2006 02:37 AM

I think the Knicks owner(forgot his name) told isiah to do whatever it takes(spend as much) to build up the knicks again. I think he took too seriously.

The knicks today remind of the Sixers of the late 90's. Remember when they had hughes, AI, Joe Smith, stackhouse, coleman and oh, Montross!!???

Hey Guys!!! Did anyone see espn last night? Grabe yun injury ni Vroman(Hornets)!!! Very disturbing. He went for a dunk on a fastbreak... landed on his hand and I think broke his wrist. Pinakita sa TV yun kamay nya, hanging from his arm!!! Ew!!! Its like the skin and a few tendons(within) were keeping it together... I'm never gonna watch that replay again.

**akuma** · February 24th, 2006 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by cardo

Hey Guys!!! Did anyone see espn last night? Grabe yun injury ni Vroman(Hornets)!!! Very disturbing. He went for a dunk on a fastbreak... landed on his hand and I think broke his wrist. Pinakita sa TV yun kamay nya, hanging from his arm!!! Ew!!! Its like the skin and a few tendons(within) were keeping it together... I'm never gonna watch that replay again.

yup... i saw that dunk... parang nakabitaw sya agad kaya bumagsak sya flat on his back... kaso nabagsakan nya kamay nya... ouch!!! kitang kita sa replay from another angle... thats got to hurt...

si wade din recently nag dunk tapos dumulas din... bagsak din sya on his butt... buti di sya na injured...

**theveed** · February 24th, 2006 02:15 PM

O nga naman...

Players are human too
Marty Burns, SI.com

Imagine being in your office one day when a co-worker pops in with some news.

"Hey, I just talked to Fred down in the mailroom. He said he heard from Bill in accounting that you're being transferred to the Houston office," the co-worker tells you. "Man, you better get yourself a cowboy hat!"

For most people, this would be a bit of a shock. For NBA players, it's part of the daily routine at this time of the year.

With Thursday's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline fast approaching, dozens of players around the league are nervously wondering where they might be playing next.

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Steve Francis, Earl Watson and Ben Gordon are just a few who have recently admitted to being affected by hearing their names mentioned in trade rumors.

While most players understand it's part of the job -- and that they are well compensated for the trouble -- it doesn't make it any easier. No matter how much money you make, it's no fun to have somebody tell you where to live.

"It's hard because most guys have families, maybe kids in school," says Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal. "You have a foundation in place. When you hear you might be traded, it can be a hard thing to deal with. [It] does affect our families, especially the kids.

"A lot of fans don't really think about that. They only think about the actual basketball part. Wins and losses. They don't think about how we do have families, that we do bleed. It's almost like our lives are superficial or something. Like we're not human. They don't expect us to be sad about [it] or be disappointed."

O'Neal knows firsthand how tough it can be. When he got traded from Portland to Indiana six years ago, his wife was finishing school, so she couldn't move with him, and their daughter was a newborn. "I probably saw my daughter four times all year [that first season]," O'Neal says. "It was hard on me mentally."

Players and agents, in fact, say the turmoil for an NBA player involved in trade talks can be quite extreme. A wife might have to quit her job. A kid might have to leave school and friends. A brand-new dream home might have to be put on the market.

In this day of sports talk radio and Internet chat rooms, meanwhile, it is almost impossible to insulate families from the daily swirl of trade rumors. O'Neal says his wife recently came to him after seeing a picture on the Internet showing him in a Bulls jersey. He had to explain to her that it was just a rumor, that they probably wouldn't have to pack their bags again.

"If your kid hears at school that he's going to have to move and say goodbye to his friends, he's going to be affected," says agent Jeff Fried, who represents Francis and several other players. "It doesn't matter how much money his dad might have in the bank account."

Not surprisingly, the turmoil can extend to a player's job performance. Players are human beings. They might like living in a certain city. They might like certain teammates, coaches or styles of play. They spend so much time traveling and practicing together that the mere thought of being removed from the team can lead to sleepless nights.

"Sometimes it seems like people almost go out of their way to tell a guy he's the subject of trade rumors," Sonics guard Ray Allen says. "But most guys don't want to hear that. You might be in an arena getting ready to play a game, and they'll tell you you're about to get traded clear across the country."

Adds Pistons coach Flip Saunders, "It does affect some guys. As a coach, you try to talk to them.... It's part of the business. I tell [my players] they're lucky they're not in the CBA. We used to go through 42 players in a year.... But there's no question that after the trading deadline, a lot of teams have a tendency to settle into things and players settle down."

Changes to the NBA's trade rules over the past decade have exacerbated the situation, leading to an increase in the number of players, especially the younger and lesser-paid ones, being discussed in deals. O'Neal believes some of his Pacers teammates were distracted during last month's long Ron Artest saga. "They were all wondering if they were going to be included to make the salaries match up," he says.

Meanwhile, the Web has spawned a 24-hours-a-day source of trade rumors. Even if players shouldn't believe 95 percent of the stuff they hear, they often can't help it -- especially the younger ones. Bulls GM John Paxson recently went out of his way to talk to Gordon after the second-year guard expressed some concern over a report that had him headed to Boston for Celtics guard Paul Pierce.

The problem for NBA teams is when players don't express their fears and instead choose to brood. The NBA is a macho culture. Most players won't admit to being bothered by trade talk. Yet carrying those fears can lead some to go into a shell. "I was once told that what you can't control, you can't worry about," Mavs guard Jason Terry says. "That's how I approach it, and I still feel that way. But some guys don't have the mental capacity to be strong enough. It gets them distracted."

"Players shouldn't worry about things you can't control," adds Pierce. "People make up rumors about you not even related to basketball. You just gotta deal with it. If you're in the limelight, you're going to be a target. It's part of the business."

Players aren't saying they want any sympathy. They know that regular people in regular jobs -- business executives, military people, etc. -- get transferred all the time. They just wish fans would be a little more understanding if their favorite players' thoughts might be elsewhere on occasion during this time of year.

"The first thing a fan thinks [when he hears about a trade] is, Who are we getting?" Allen says. "To them it's just like moving pieces on a chess board. They don't think about the impact it might have on [a player's] whole support structure."

NBA coaches certainly understand. That's why they all will be glad at 3 p.m. Thursday, when the deadline passes and there can be no more trade distractions for the rest of the season.

**ILuvDetailing** · February 24th, 2006 04:23 PM

Originally Posted by Cardo

Hey Guys!!! Did anyone see espn last night? Grabe yun injury ni Vroman(Hornets)!!! Very disturbing. He went for a dunk on a fastbreak... landed on his hand and I think broke his wrist. Pinakita sa TV yun kamay nya, hanging from his arm!!! Ew!!! Its like the skin and a few tendons(within) were keeping it together... I'm never gonna watch that replay again.

Patrick Ewing had a similar injury, almost the same type of fall. He ended up missing the rest of the season and wasn't the same since

**wren** · February 24th, 2006 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by cardo

I think the Knicks owner(forgot his name) told isiah to do whatever it takes(spend as much) to build up the knicks again. I think he took too seriously.

The knicks today remind of the Sixers of the late 90's. Remember when they had hughes, AI, Joe Smith, stackhouse, coleman and oh, Montross!!???

they should change their name to the "knickerfockers".

**empy** · February 25th, 2006 10:54 AM

Originally Posted by theveed

O nga naman...

Players are human too
Marty Burns, SI.com

Imagine being in your office one day when a co-worker pops in with some news.

"Hey, I just talked to Fred down in the mailroom. He said he heard from Bill in accounting that you're being transferred to the Houston office," the co-worker tells you. "Man, you better get yourself a cowboy hat!"

For most people, this would be a bit of a shock.

this is so true. i actually was "traded" to florida by my company and it was very hard on my family. we went through all of the things that Jermaine O'Neal was talking about. i also went through some serious discussions with my then-boss about accepting a "strongly encouraged" transfer to new york, which my wife was strongly against. it really was a troubling and distracting time for me and my family, kahit na hindi natuloy, and my job doesn't even involve 5 7-foot guys trying to kill me