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pink this baby
Accepting the award for the Lakers, NBA Commissioner David Stern.
Why not, he made it possible.
I refer to the February 1, 2008 trade of Pau Gasol to the Lakers in exchange for (drumroll please):
The man, the myth, the uniform stuffing known as Kwame Brown. (Who Memphis chose not to resign).
Sir Marc the Lesser, younger brother to Pau. In fairness, an adequate NBA forward, but no Pau Gasol.
Jarvis Crittenton. Traded (along with his 5 ppg) to the Wizards for a future draft choice.
Aaron McKie. A retired player included to make the cap space work under trade rules.
A 2008 draft choice. This became Donte Greene and then Darrell Arthur (5 points, 4 rebounds per game).
A 2010 draft choice. Considering the Lakers will likely win the le, this would be the last pick of the first round. Essentially, a worthless pick.
In other words, Pau Gasol (19 points, 10 rebounds) for the basketball equivalent of chum (fish bait).
Why?
Easy enough. Memphis has never made money. Things were getting bleak before the trade got made. The Grizzlies might have needed an escape hatch, a buyer, or backing for a line of credit. Maybe even dibs on a relocation site.
Suddenly the Grizzlies traded Gasol and all the talk about moving or folding went away. Just recently Memphis tapped into a $20 million loan from the NBA.
Funny thing.
The Grizzlies didn't entertain a single offer from any other team in the league. Went straight for the Lakers lousy deal. Stuck the fans in Memphis. Stuck the rest of the league.
But made David Stern a happy man.
Next up, LeBron James.
Stern will eventually do for King James what he has done for Kobe. A marquee player will appear on the Cavaliers roster for a pocket full of magic beans. Or maybe it will end up being the Knicks roster. That would make Nike happy. And Nike and NBA seem to smile at the same moment an awful lot.
It will happen.
Just as surely as the league chastised a referee for calling LeBron James for travelling earlier this season. As surely as the Lakers caught all the breaks against Denver. As surely Pau Gasol is a Laker.
Congratulations Kobe, you did it all by yourself.
Sort of.
http://community.foxsports.com/blogs...g_Out_Mr_Stern
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NBA Championships so easy even a caveman could do it!(See Pau Gasol) If there is any dispute that the NBA is not rigged we can now completely put it to rest. We know that the NBA will NOT miss out on extra playoff series tv ratings and revenue.
It is not possible for so many series to go to seven games. David Stern to staff, Do not forget the conference calls with the referees for tonight's finals! "Now guys (and gals) we need you to stretch things out a bit. Only call charges on the Magic and load up Dwight Howard with early fouls and DO NOT blow the whistle against Kobe!
After our meeting last week, I thought we had an understanding about LeBron. You guys don't seem to get it! Nike has bought a $10 million campaign from us with the puppets! We MUST have your cooperation or NO playoffs for you next year!
Now let me get this straight, in February 1, 2008 the Memphis Grizzlies traded Pau Gasol to the Los Angeles Lakers for Kwame Brown (stiff and a bust),Javaris Crittendon(OK?),Aaron McKie(who?)and the the draft rights to Mark Gasol.
When the trade was announced General Manager for the Lakers Mitch Kupchak said "We are extremely pleased to acquire Pau Gasol."You BET he's pleased. The Memphis Grizzlies give up the centerpiece to their franchise for nothing. Here's how it went down: Memphis Grizzlies can I help you?
Yes this is Commissioner David Stern can I speak with the GM on duty please. Yes Mr. Stern! o Chris I need your help. Los Angeles, our largest market, is hurting for some playoff action out there and we need you guys to ship out Gasol to them. I'll make it up to you later. "No problem Sir we'll get on it right away."
It doesn't seem unreasonable that the same thing occurred with the Boston Celtics acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen before they won last year's NBA Championship.
It is public knowledge that Tim Donaghy th NBA referee pled guilty to passing along insider information and had a nasty gambling addiction. He also alleged that the NBA refs altered the outcomes of playoff games in 02' and 05'.
It's not a reach for a reasonable person to believe that manipulations occur for the benefit of the large market team, even if the trade isn't a good deal for the small market team.Where there's smoke there's fire. Just like Wrestling, the NBA playoffs feature an outcome so easy even a caveman (or a commissioner) could do it.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...an-could-do-it
pink this baby
lmao, Spur fans in complete disarray tonight, just hunting for any way to discredit their arch rival that is better then them.
they're not his own writings, though the two articles both revealed the very truth.
You know, that's the one difference between the KG/Ray Allen trades and the Pau Gasol trade. At least the Celtics gave up Al Jefferson, a promising young big. The Lakers gave up... nothing, really.
+ a top 5 draft pick
While there very could have been a "behind closed door" trade with Gasol going to the Lakers, let's assume up front there wasn't. Is this really good for the NBA? Having one team dominate the league by appearing in the Finals 50% of the time? I know many NBA fans - (well, non-Laker fans, anyway) - looked on in disbelief as the Lakers signed on Karl Malone and Peyton as well they should as they went on to appear in the Finals yet again. Again, is this really good for the NBA's image?
And people wonder why the Lakers provide perhaps one of the biggest fan polarities in professional sports. As is the case in just about everything else, don't necessarily do what's right - do what makes the most money.
Sure. Look at how popular the NBA was in the '80s when at least one of two teams appeared in the Finals every single season. Look at how attendance jumps in American League ballparks when the Yankees come to town. Like it or not, every league needs a brand-name, whether it's the Cowboys in the NFL, the Yankees in MLB, or the Celtics-Lakers in the NBA.
That is a pretty damning trade The fact he made no other attempts to get something better suggests a conspiracy but if that was the case you would think some other teams would do something about it.
fine with me..we get a ring.
Oh man Spur fans are a complete mess. Love it
fifyOh man some of these Spur fans are a complete mess. Love it
Yes. We all know the polar fan base the Yankees have (just ask Boston fans). Here's what is interesting when comparing the Lakers, the Yankees, and the Cowboys WRT appearing in their respective sports' championship over the last 30 years:
Lakers - 15
Yankees - 9
Cowboys - 3
So, the Lakers have been there 66% more times than the second place Yankees and 5x more than the Cowboys, which would suggest (to me, anyway) that the polarization of the NBA's fan base should be (and probably is) a LOT more than in MLB or the NFL.
It's ridiculous to think the Grizzlies would give up a franchise player coming off his best career year in his best basketball prime for absolute dog .
They could have been a contender for a playoff spot this year with Gasol manning the center.
If I was a grizzly season ticket holder I wouldn't show up to any game, and let my empty seat do the talking.
I have to agree, that trade f'd up the league forcing everyone to suffer more years of LA smack. It lined up perfectly with the Boston trade to to recreate teh LA vs Boston thing that didn't happen this year due to an injury.
That said the officiating in the finals has been fine. LA is the better team. They got far less favortism that Cleveland did vs Orlando.
why did the grizziles make this deal? i keep forgetting. did someone promise them laker season tickets? did david stern hold a gun to their heads? i'm pretty sure that they wanted the biggest expiring contract out there, and they got it.
it's a bit much to blame a 2008 trade for sixty years of domination!
if spurscenter is spamming threads and pissed im happy
there were rumors that Kerr offered Amare Studamire and Memphis said no because of $
you will get your ring but, did you earn it without the NBA mafia?
There was no playoffs hopes for the lakers before the trade, why do you think kobe was crying in the radio demanding better players
at Spur fan in complete disarray
Spurs fans are completely out of line for insisting on fairness in the leauge - they should know better that it's not about them or any other small market team. In fact, it's the small market teams that just fill out the schedule.
The Celtics helped the league with their championship, but if the Lakers win it's really a product of forced success with a d-bag star player and a d-bag coach leading the way. I'm sure if I was a Laker fan, I'd be defending this lop-sided trade all the way but in reality it only cheapens the success that this team has had - sorry there are no arguments for that.
exactly
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