Mark Madsen thinks he's got this old timer beat:
Ouch. Perhaps I should mount a defense . . .
Did Grant Hill "tailspin" after signing a max FA deal with Orlando (rejecting the Spurs)?
"Tailspin" may be a harsh word.
On the other hand, after signing his max long-term deal with Orlando, Hill played in exactly four games the next year.
The next year, Hill upped it to fourteen games played. (The six years before, Hill averaged 72.5 games played/year.)
Before rejecting the Spurs' max offer, Hill had made the All-NBA 1st or 2d team 5 years straight. After, nothing. Not even so much as a 3rd team mention the rest of his career.
The year before Hill rejected the Spurs, he averaged 25.8 ppg. After, Hill never averaged as much as 20 again in any year.
So, to summarize, Hill played a total of 18 games in the first two years of his max deal.
Perhaps we should ask the Orlando GM whether he thinks Hill "tailspinned" after he signed Hill to that long-term max deal. (Although it might be tough to find him, he no longer works in basketball.)
Okay, what about Kidd, a tougher "tailspin" case to be sure.
Question -- how many NBA players can you name whose scoring average went down each year for seven years straight? Kidd's did starting the year after he rejected the Spurs FA offer. A remarkable feat really.
Each of the two years before Kidd rejected the Spurs, his Nets went to the NBA Finals. After Kidd signed that max deal with NJ? Kidd's Nets never went to the Finals again.
But the real Kidd "tailspin" happened off the court. His perfect marriage to TV "broadcaster" Joumana ended in a divorce that was messy and humiliating even by celebrity standards. Joumana rolled her eyes at the thought of living in homely SA with no major media gigs, but the end of that romance (in the badlands of Jersey) was no thing of beauty.
Okay, Greg Oden --
Yes, he was a bust before the Spurs went after him, no doubt.
But last summer both NBA Finalists (no less) wanted to sign him -- he had his pick.
Now he's looks done, with no offers from anyone.
Like Kidd, however, Oden's real tailspin came off the court. Although a bust, Oden was considered something of a victim of unfortunate cir stances -- injuries beyond his control.
Now, he's looked upon more like a villain -- perhaps facing felony battery charges for punching a woman.
Maybe not a tailspin, but certainly no inspiring comeback story.
So now we come to . . .
You may be right, but if so, both the New York Times and Los Angeles Times (articles linked below) are wrong.
According to both those papers (and my less than perfect memory), Pop flew to Detroit in the summer of 2000 in a desperate mission sign Hill as FA. In fact, Pop sat outside a hotel room, hat in hand, waiting for an audience with the great Mr. Hill.
Why was the normally self-assured Pop so desperate? Could it be he loved Hill's crossover move that much?
Nope -- Pop thought Hill was headed to Orlando as a FA and might lure Tim Duncan there with him.
Pop was only half right as it turned out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/07/07/sp...land-hill.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/jul/16/sports/sp-53908
Well, I tried.
Did the Spurs really have a max contract to offer anyone in 2000? I remember them having one for Duncan, but I don't know that they have another, especially since Robinson was probably on a max deal back then.
Kewpie doll for you.
The Spurs had a max for Duncan.
And then a "what's left over" max for someone else (Hill).
The Spurs offered Hill the $2.25 million exception for the 2001 season and then a six-year contract worth at least $90 million for the next season.
I doubt they would have done that. That's crazy against the CBA. The Wolves got ruined when they got caught trying to do that. Still haven't recovered.
Well, Grant Hill 3 did lead to Hill's breakdown in LAC. Caron Butler has pretty much had a career to forget since his rejection of the team.
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