Perhaps being treated like by the team, local media and fans while sick as a dog might've, just might've, had something to do with that.
im a spurs fan and i liked bill laimbeer. he was a whiny b&*h but every time he hit a 3 with that shotput style... i mean... how can you float around the 3pt line and still be a "banger"? (amazing)
and if you read what i said before, he was the only one that sean thought gave him a chance (out of the old pistons)
They won a game, so they are feelin ballsy no question.
You freaking Idiot. Can't you read. Nobody's pissed cause they hate Sean. IT's their basis for hating him. Nobody's arguing Sean didn't want to be there. We're saying there are reasons for his subpar season and he wasn't sandbagging it. READ!!!!!!!!!
Hey dumb they are bagging on him for his performance while playing sick.
whottt will dump on a sick Elliott but not a healthy Billion Barry...
you've been listening to too much steven a smith.
but no, i dont think he liked the trade. I DO think he would have adapted and adjusted (with the meds) just like he did here. if that second trade back had never happened... i think he would have adapted.
Yeah, I saw that. I only used Laimbeer because he's the only Pistons player I could think of that was pretty much unilaterally reviled. And yet Scotty Pippen got loads of respect. I could never quite figure that one out.
Even before he came here, right?
Elliott is one of the most revered players in Spurs history. It's not hard to understand that if you come into a Spurs fan forum and dump on him you aren't going to be greeted with rose petals...
Sure, he was sick throughout the 90s. His kidney illness was a direct result of the inflammatories he had been taking for his knees. Again, none of this is new news, except perhaps to Piston Fan.
I'm not talking about his illness. He never wanted to be here and played like it.
Did he play they way he did because of his illness or because he hated Detroit?
You can't say for sure either way.
Excuse us for not revering a guy who has said on record that he never wanted to be a Piston and then forced his way out...
Who can blame him? If he's going to be dumped on for nutting it up and playing while sick...
Piston Fan
You guys would be the same way if the situation was reversed...
See Smith, Charles. No player hating then...
um idiot...I can go back a couple of pages and see you saying he dogged it and then pull the Isiah card to excuse it...it might even be on this page..
So exactly what you are saying different than the Pistons fans? You are just excusing it.
I don't why you guys are expecting the Pistons to have a love in for a guy that wanted out of their city and off their team...and it had nothing to do with kidneys and he did pout...he pouted, I watched him do it. He wanted the out of there.
I watched him break down and cry during the middle of that season in an interview about how miserable he was there...the middle of that season...when they were talking to him about his struggles.
I am sure he had good reasons to do it, and I don't care if he did or not he's still a SA hero..but he wasn't Mr.Piston.
But you guys are acting this is all the Pistons fault...it's just as much the Spurs and Elliott's fault. He did not want to be there...it showed in his at ude and his play.
And if some guy came here and did the same thing you guys would act just like the Pistons would...
They are right...we trash Alonzo Mourning on this site and we don't give a about his kidneys and I've even seen one prominent member of this board say it was karma for his at ude towards Drob.
whottt, maybe he hated it there because he was playing while sick and getting treated like ?
But I know, Barry plays like and you ride his nuts like he's the second coming...
I can say for sure he hated Detroit, it's fans, and he wanted out of there...you are dead on. And he would have even if he had been healthy. And I agree that a miserable guy does not play as well as a happy guy.
I think it was the aids rumor that really made him want out.
But anyway thanks for trading him back...I know part of the reason the Pistons traded him back to SA was because it was the best thing Elliott and what he wanted...so for that...I give heartfelt thanks to the classy Pistons organization. It worked out incredibly well for us and Sean...you guys unfortunatley got ed.
I'd say that definitely was a contributing factor...how does that change the Pistons fans POV though?
Isiah was their hero...he saw Sean wasn't gonna be a "Piston" didn't have the desire or the mindset.... and he wanted him off his team...sounds like something AJ would do to me.
You act like I hate Sean Elliott...he's my second favorite Spur ever....and the main reason for that is because all he ever wanted to be was a Spur...not a Piston.But I know, Barry plays like and you ride his nuts like he's the second coming...
Man, I finally waded through all the in this thread and I have to say that I'm shocked (SHOCKED!) that there is an issue where two fans from different teams don't agree on. I was pretty young when all this went down (and I was actually something of a Pistons fan at the time as well.) I didn't know anything about the kidneys at the time but when I did watch the Pistons games there was clearly something physically wrong with Elliot. I remember wondering why in the they didn't get the ball to him more.
What I want to know is what the did the Pistons expect? You were taking a guy out of one of the most friendly fan atmospheres in pro sports and throwing him into a pressure cooker of a team still living in the shadow of championships? And one that was built significantly differently than his old team, where he had had so much success? All of that would combine to a heap of problems adjusting for one of the best players in the league, which Sean never was. He was always a role player, a very good one at times, but never really a superstar.
All the kidney and Zeke talk aside, I think the Pistons just bet on the wrong horse, kidneys or no. And you know why I think I'm validated in this, ask any of the fans on this forum what they think about Dennis Rodman. He went through all the same that Elliot and he fell apart down here just as bad in reality. His rebounding numbers were good but he never really became a part of the team and actually helped them win. And I'll probably get blasted for saying that, but face facts, you watched the WCF in 95 the same as I did. Who jacked up a bunch of ty 3's and who was supposed to be covering Horry? Who took his shoes off on the bench?
So who here loves Rodman as much as they do Elliot? And what Pistons fans here think that Rodman couldn't make it work here because he was a quitter? Elliot had a lot of working against him, and to accuse him of faking/exploiting an injury is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.
It’s amazing that no Piston fan knows the cir stances around their own team during this time period. I didn’t think I’d have to do a whole history piece, but I guess it is needed.
Dennis Rodman was sitting in front of the arena with a loaded weapon. Pistons get spooked. The Spurs, because John Lucas wasn’t a fan of Sean Elliott, trade Elliott a 24-year-old small forward who is coming off of his best season for a 32-year-old power forward with suicidal thoughts who had suffered through an injury plagued season. Every basketball pundit in America is laughing at the Spurs for trading an All-Star caliber player for a lunatic. The Spurs were happy because they found someone crazier than John Lucas to pair with the coach.
The Spurs play that season with Lucas and his motto of “Pass To David”. That allowed Robinson to average almost 30 points per game and almost win MVP. Rodman plays pretty well, but the Spurs lose in the first round because they were a gimmick team with no real second option.
In Detroit, Sean Elliott signs a contract extension. The contract stipulates that he has a no trade clause – with the only teams he can be traded to being the Phoenix Suns, Houston Rockets and San Antonio Spurs.
Elliott starts off the year slowly. Isiah Thomas calls him out and says he isn’t wanted. Thomas was pissed that Rodman was traded and that the Bad Boys were no more. He holds that grudge on the court and the stories circulate about how Elliott and Thomas don’t see eye to eye and how Thomas doesn’t pass to him.
Then Elliott complains of flu-like symptoms and they start running tests on him. They see that his kidney blood test numbers were through the roof, so they put him on a medication and steroid tail. Elliott’s play suffers as he loses a lot of weight and he experiences other reactions to the medication. Rumors start floating around because Elliott is in and out of the hospital. He continues to play basketball against the advice of some of his doctors and with his condition a secret.
The Pistons then try and trade him to the Houston Rockets for Robert Horry. The Rockets reject the trade after running Elliott through a physical. They tell Elliott that he’s in serious danger and that his basketball career is most likely over. (Interestingly enough, those same Rockets go ahead and win the NBA championship).
Before Elliott can announce what his condition is, the Detroit media publishes a report that Elliott has AIDS and that is why he’s been in and out of the hospital. Because of the AIDS report, Elliott is forced to hold a press conference to tell the world about his kidney condition and how he’s on steroids. He also says that doctors tell him he’ll eventually need a kidney transplant.
The season ends and the Pistons finish 20-62. The draft comes and the Pistons get the third pick. With Grant Hill drafted, the Pistons call the Spurs looking to trade Sean Elliott. The Pistons don’t want Hill to have to come in and face another All-Star quality small forward. They want to clear the way for him but their options of trading partners are limited to the Rockets (who want no part of him because they think his career is over), the Suns (who have Dan Majerle, Wesley Person and Richard Dumas at small forward) and the Spurs.
(Also notice how the Pistons quietly got Thomas and Laimbeer to also retire to give the control of the team over to Hill)
New Spurs general manager Gregg Popovich fields the call and is interested even though there is serious doubt to the health of Sean Elliott. The Pistons eye Bill Curley and say that if he’s around when the Spurs pick, they’ll trade Elliott for him. Curley magically drops to the Spurs and the Spurs pick him to complete the pre-arranged deal. At this time, this trade isn’t looked upon as a steal because of Elliott’s medical condition and the Pistons Nation swearing that Curley is the reincarnation of Laimbeer.
By this time, Elliott gets his medicine intake lowered and is taken off the steroids. That allows him to gain back the weight he lost and have a full summer working out. The Spurs use Elliott as their number two scoring option and Popovich also goes out and gets former Spur Avery Johnson, who is more than happy to pass the ball to Elliott.
The Spurs finish with the best record in the league and make it to the Western Conference Finals, where they lose to Robert Horry and the Houston Rockets. Even though they lose, it’s the best showing in franchise history and that team lays the framework for the beginning of a successful Popovich era.
In Detroit, the Pistons still suck – winning only 28 games. Bill Curley plays like the worst player to ever dribble leather, while Sean Elliott becomes an All-Star. The hate for Elliott begins in Detroit while the championship foundation is being laid in San Antonio.
Question.
Wich trade was worse.
Elliott for Rodman
or Curley for Elliott????
They actually though Curley was a GOOD player?!?!?! lmao, OMG, even Hubie Brown that night first thing he said was "This to me sends up a red flag that there might be a trade"
In other words, this guy is a stiff the Spurs have two good bigs, WTF would they draft this balding Jack Haley for.
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