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lewis> guys mention in the article
Big 2001 trade cost Sonics, Mason says
FRANK HUGHES; The News Tribune
Published: December 9th, 2006 01:00 AM
New Orleans Hornets guard Desmond Mason was in Los Angeles on Wednesday night playing against the Los Angeles Lakers.
Mason took the time to speak with former Sonics players Shammond Williams and Vladimir Radmanovic, and Mason said all three came to agreement on one thing:
If the Sonics had not broken up the team in 2001 by trading Gary Payton and Mason to Milwaukee for Ray Allen, Kevin Ollie and Ronald Murray, the team would have achieved more success and Howard Schultz would not have felt compelled to sell to Clay Bennett.
“Honestly, if we could have kept that group of guys together ... the outcome would have been a little different,” Mason said before the Sonics hosted the Hornets Friday night at KeyArena. “That is what good teams are made of, like Detroit and San Antonio, they keep their guys around, they let them grow together, they let them play together and learn each other. You can get good that way.
“When you keep cycling guys in and out, it is hard to get a good feel for basketball. I honestly think the situation would be better. I think Nate (McMillan) would still be here and Howard would still be owner.”
The biggest issue with that notion is that the Sonics would still have Payton, whom Schultz did not like and who the players did not particularly like playing with. But Mason said they could have gotten past that.
“If Gary had stayed, Gary was Gary. This city has known Gary for a long time, and Gary is not going to change for anybody,” Mason said.
“ ... As a team, you just learn who Gary is and you go out and play basketball. As an owner and other parts of the organization, you have to do the same. If you let him be him, that is when you get the best out of him.”
Mason said he thinks Schultz being forced to trade Mason in order to move Payton soured Schultz on the NBA, then the financial structure of the NBA made him want to get out.
“It just sort of got to the point where it wasn’t what he thought it was going to be from the business side of things,” Mason said. “I think he lost his passion for it. He was a huge fan of basketball, but the way things happened and a lot of controversy just kind of took it out of him a little bit.”
Ex-Hornets president visits
Paul Mott, the former president of the New Orleans Hornets and a close friend of Clay Bennett and the Sonics’ new ownership group, attended Friday’s game.
Mott said his presence was nothing more than he and his wife wanting to see the Hornets play for the first time since he left the team. He is working for Major League Soccer.
Mott said he would like to get back into the NBA but does not see himself becoming a part of the Sonics’ organization. He was once rumored to be a team CEO candidate.
At first, Allen feared surgery
Injured Sonics guard Ray Allen said when he had his initial magnetic resonance imaging scan on his bruised right ankle, he thought he was going to have to have surgery.
But a follow-up CT scan revealed that there was not as much damage to the talus bone in Allen’s ankle as originally thought and that doctors thought it might be cured by rest and rehabilitation. The diagnosis was a bone bruise.
“The only way to help it is to stay off it,” Allen said.
Allen, who has missed the Sonics’ past two games, said the injury already feels better after resting for a few days. He said he will be re-evaluated a week from Monday to determine if he is ready to play after the team returns home from a five-game road trip through the Midwest.
The injury “came at a good time because we didn’t play a lot of games this week,” Allen said. “This is probably the only time during the season where we haven’t had a lot of games.”
Allen also said he is fortunate to be staying back from this upcoming trip, which begins Tuesday in Milwaukee, because his fiancee, Shannon, is due to give birth to the couple’s second son on Christmas Day.
“The baby could come at any time, and I can be there,” Allen said.
http://www.thenewstribune.com/sports...-5473703c.html
lewis> guys mention in the article
except that payton is a hall of famer. he's a shadow of what he used to be, but he was one of the top 10 pg's ever, and certainly the best defensive one.
lewis is carryin that sonics team now, imo he doesnt need ray allen to win, this guy has game. Gary? the dude who went to heat to ride shaqs left nutt to win a ring? riders dont deserve respect
Lewis and Allen>Mason and Payton
n/m
Last edited by atxrocker; 12-10-2006 at 02:26 PM.
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