LaMarcus Aldridge Gives Back $7.25 Million in Buyout with Spurs (Edit: Woj Says $5.8 Million) (Edit 2: Ouch, Looks Like Only $2.7 Million Now) (Edit 3: Wait, it might actually be $7.25 million)

[offset formation]

Lma is a little and quit on us...why are you being such a cuck?

He quit on you too...yet here you are sucking his .

Stfu

He didn't quit on us. He was being sent to the bench and read his rites. Pop and company were taking him out of the end of games and every half ass spur fan was ing he needed to either traded or benched for Jacob so they could push the tempo?

Quit taking twos, they say. Make more threes they say. Why doesn't he shoot more threes, they say? Why does LMA only have two shots that half they say? He's not asserting himself they say. Holy , so many of you are ing schizophrenic or psychotic or both.

Lmao.

LMA said ok, my style doesn't fit what either the coaches or fans want, let me get out to another opportunity, be a good teammate in the interim, give back gobs of cash so the Spurs can have some flexibility. Etc.

He handled this exactly as he should and good for him. Hope he rangs.

EABOD, capische?

[daslicer]

Well, guess what? We're not talking Kawhi, we're talking LMA, so if there's somebody that's been deflecting from the get go is you not me.



No he didn't get out of the way. He took the most shots for that entire series. He was full on 4 more 2PA than the second guy (nephew) for the entire playoff run. I dare you go look it up and tell me I'm wrong. Don't give me revisionist history.

And back to deflecting to nephew and giving this guy a pass. This guy was the big addition in the offseason that was going to put us over the top. I get that nephew was made, but that doesn't mean giving this loser a pass.



Go look up the 15-16 playoffs. He took the most ing shots in the playoffs by a mile. More than nephew, more than Duncan.

I get that a lot of players are prima-donnas, LMA included. But that's exactly why this loser now has to go beg/chase for a ring elsewhere. And I have every right to point it out.



It wouldn't been nice to show some fight, and at least that you care. I get that he was never in the mold of the big 3. Which is exactly why this team stuck too long with this loser.



We can all play that game. If the Spurs lose that game 5 at home they probably lose the series as well. See how easy it is? Now you're trying to deflect to Manu, and I'm not going to bite. The point is that this guy had to be constantly bailed out or carried, because he never owned the role he was supposed to have.

I see the constant ing and deflection about Zaza (some of it is fair), but I want to make sure people don't forget that LMA was ready to fold in the previous series as well.



Sorry, got spoiled with the big 3, actual winners that understood what was to sacrifice to win, and made sure you knew they were going to fight for it.

You keep deflecting to racism and what not (I have a few posts here in case you didn't notice, people know who I am), what you can't spin is this loser came and went just like we thought he would: empty handed.

You are the one that brought up Kawhi in the first place when you said in your own words Lamarcus could have rode Kawhi. It's clear you are the one deflecting.

1. You want to keep screaming Lamarcus took the most shots in that series fine and that's great selective accounting. You don't factor in most of his shots came in the first two games where he shot 33/44 which was 75 percent and average 39.5 points. Kawhi took the most shot attempts in games 4-6. If we are being honest I have said this in many posts prior going all the way back to the '16 series if you want to dig up my old posts which was both LMA and Kawhi choked in the series against the Thunder. Kawhi in games 2,4,6, and Lamarcus in games 4 and 5.

2. I don't even know why you get angry about LMA taking more shots than Tim during the playoff run. Tim is my favorite player of all time but he was washed up in the playoffs. He was just that bad. It was painful to watch him struggle to run up and down the court. Also the Spurs swept the Grizzlies that year with Lamarcus taking the most shots. It really comes down to the Thunder series when we debate this and I have already given you my answer above.

3. Yeah I really didn't care about him quitting since I mentally checked out of that series as a fan once Kawhi got taken out by Zaza. I didn't even bother to watch any of the games after game 1. Pop showed to me he didn't give when he refused to call out the Warriors dirty hatchet job of using Zaza right after game 1.

4 Yeah I know you are not going to bite since you have Manu's shoved hard in your mouth. Going by your logic we can also say Robert Horry,Fisher have bailed out Shaq,Duncan,Kobe during the playoffs when they had bad games by hitting clutch shots. It still doesn't take away that those 3 guys were the main reason why their teams won the series. Manu was just good role player in that series but good role players can't carry stars. Lamarcus' numbers in the Rockets series was better than his regular season numbers so I really don't know what else you wanted from him. he even deferred to Kawhi like you wanted since Kawhi had the most FGA attempts the first 5 games of that series. Just like a woman you can't be happy even when you get what you want.

5. I appreciated the big 3 and never took them for granted. I enjoyed them as much as I could knowing it was a once in a lifetime deal to have 3 star players who cared about winning over stats. Unfortunately those type of players are a needle in haystack. Currently in the league I believe only Jokic fits that mold and maybe Giannis but we'll see.

[daslicer]

He didn't quit on us. He was being sent to the bench and read his rites. Pop and company were taking him out of the end of games and every half ass spur fan was ing he needed to either traded or benched for Jacob so they could push the tempo?

Quit taking twos, they say. Make more threes they say. Why doesn't he shoot more threes, they say? Why does LMA only have two shots that half they say? He's not asserting himself they say. Holy , so many of you are ing schizophrenic or psychotic or both.

Lmao.

LMA said ok, my style doesn't fit what either the coaches or fans want, let me get out to another opportunity, be a good teammate in the interim, give back gobs of cash so the Spurs can have some flexibility. Etc.

He handled this exactly as he should and good for him. Hope he rangs.

EABOD, capische?

He was going to get hated by these people simply because he could never measure up to Tim Duncan which very few will ever measure up to in this game. I have been given the advice "Never walk into a situation trying to fill in the shoes of a great man because you will be judged unfairly against that man's legacy." Lamarcus made that mistake by coming to the Spurs.

[daslicer]

Lma is a little and quit on us...why are you being such a cuck?

He quit on you too...yet here you are sucking his .

Stfu

I always pride myself in not being a hypocrite so I can't be upset at Lamarcus quitting this year. I would have quit to if I had to play for a senile 100 year old coach who has an ego the size of a mountain. Who constantly makes stupid game time decisions along with line ups that don't make sense. It's like working a job where your superiors are dumb and incompetent along with the work environment being toxic. Chances are you going to be looking for a new job on the side and once you get that job you will quit.

[ElNono]

You are the one that brought up Kawhi in the first place when you said in your own words Lamarcus could have rode Kawhi. It's clear you are the one deflecting.

Hey, I'm not the one using Kawhi as an excuse to give this guy a pass.

1. You want to keep screaming Lamarcus took the most shots in that series fine and that's great selective accounting. You don't factor in most of his shots came in the first two games where he shot 33/44 which was 75 percent and average 39.5 points. Kawhi took the most shot attempts in games 4-6. If we are being honest I have said this in many posts prior going all the way back to the '16 series if you want to dig up my old posts which was both LMA and Kawhi choked in the series against the Thunder. Kawhi in games 2,4,6, and Lamarcus in games 4 and 5.

I'm simply responding to the argument that he got out of the way. Not only he did not, he turned around and demanded a bigger role.

2. I don't even know why you get angry about LMA taking more shots than Tim during the playoff run. Tim is my favorite player of all time but he was washed up in the playoffs. He was just that bad. It was painful to watch him struggle to run up and down the court. Also the Spurs swept the Grizzlies that year with Lamarcus taking the most shots. It really comes down to the Thunder series when we debate this and I have already given you my answer above.

That was a fair answer, and I don't necessarily disagree with it. I think nephew baggery does overshadow LMA's chokes, and that's just not right, IMVHO.

3. Yeah I really didn't care about him quitting since I mentally checked out of that series as a fan once Kawhi got taken out by Zaza. I didn't even bother to watch any of the games after game 1. Pop showed to me he didn't give when he refused to call out the Warriors dirty hatchet job of using Zaza right after game 1.

Turns out you weren't getting paid what he was getting paid, nor you had the role he had in that team, so cool story about your feels, but completely immaterial to the fact that he shriveled and quit, tbh.

Nothing personal, I'm ok with you quitting on the Spurs, I'm not ok with him quitting on the team.

4 Yeah I know you are not going to bite since you have Manu's shoved hard in your mouth. Going by your logic we can also say Robert Horry,Fisher have bailed out Shaq,Duncan,Kobe during the playoffs when they had bad games by hitting clutch shots. It still doesn't take away that those 3 guys were the main reason why their teams won the series. Manu was just good role player in that series but good role players can't carry stars. Lamarcus' numbers in the Rockets series was better than his regular season numbers so I really don't know what else you wanted from him. he even deferred to Kawhi like you wanted since Kawhi had the most FGA attempts the first 5 games of that series. Just like a woman you can't be happy even when you get what you want.

You can drag Horry, Fisher, the whole '96 Bulls team if you want too (why not?), and still doesn't contradict a word I said. In the overtime for that game, LMA missed 2 freethrows, his only shot, and had two turnovers. He got bailed out by Danny Green and Manu. Again, demands bigger role, shrinks when it matters.

Demanded to be paid and have the role of a leader, never acted like one.

5. I appreciated the big 3 and never took them for granted. I enjoyed them as much as I could knowing it was a once in a lifetime deal to have 3 star players who cared about winning over stats. Unfortunately those type of players are a needle in haystack. Currently in the league I believe only Jokic fits that mold and maybe Giannis but we'll see.

Totally agree with that. I got spoiled, I admit it. Then again, that makes me reflect on divas like LMA. Don't forget he didn't start his act here on the Spurs. When he left Portland, like this was already being written:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...zers/29718151/

He always wanted to be presented as The Man, but he never assumed the responsibility that came with it.

[Slippy]

You know everyone and their mother ed that he slowed the game down and was the reason we were getting outscored because he was getting beat on the perimeter.

The reality is we've been getting housed without him. The lane is almost always wide open. He clearly lost a step on perimeter D but was still a very real presence inside. And his primary responsibility isn't perimeter defense anyway.

This has been therapeutic for me to see all these LMA haters having their pushed in because everything they said was going to happen has not.

So true, been thinking this too . Thought Lamarcus out would solve our defensive problems.

Reality bites haha

[daslicer]

Hey, I'm not the one using Kawhi as an excuse to give this guy a pass.



I'm simply responding to the argument that he got out of the way. Not only he did not, he turned around and demanded a bigger role.



That was a fair answer, and I don't necessarily disagree with it. I think nephew baggery does overshadow LMA's chokes, and that's just not right, IMVHO.



Turns out you weren't getting paid what he was getting paid, nor you had the role he had in that team, so cool story about your feels, but completely immaterial to the fact that he shriveled and quit, tbh.

Nothing personal, I'm ok with you quitting on the Spurs, I'm not ok with him quitting on the team.



You can drag Horry, Fisher, the whole '96 Bulls team if you want too (why not?), and still doesn't contradict a word I said. In the overtime for that game, LMA missed 2 freethrows, his only shot, and had two turnovers. He got bailed out by Danny Green and Manu. Again, demands bigger role, shrinks when it matters.

Demanded to be paid and have the role of a leader, never acted like one.



Totally agree with that. I got spoiled, I admit it. Then again, that makes me reflect on divas like LMA. Don't forget he didn't start his act here on the Spurs. When he left Portland, like this was already being written:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sport...zers/29718151/

He always wanted to be presented as The Man, but he never assumed the responsibility that came with it.

You brought up Kawhi in the first place. If you didn't want it to to about Kawhi you shouldn't have mentioned his name.

1. Fine if you are upset about LMA demanding more touches in the summer of '17.

2. Nothing to say here.

3. My feels? More like I knew the team was going to get their ass whooped every game without Kawhi. I rather be smart and not waste my time watching 2 hours of trash every night but hey I get you still being checked in that series since you are a hardcore Manu . I more disappointing no one injured Curry,Klay,Durant after that Zaza hatchet job. I'm old school so I would have loved to see retaliation. I was fine with him quitting. He made up for it a year later against the Warriors. Either way Spurs were not winning that series.

4. Duncan missed a bunch of key free throws in game 5 against the Pistons and would have been labeled a choker if Horry didn't hit that 3. Your logic is just stupid. LMA showed up big for game 6 but that doesn't count in your eyes because of what happened in Game 5 proving that you are just a hater.

5. I remember that article and actually read it when it came out back in '15. Aldridge is definitely flawed and was jealous of Lillard. He was immature and didn't know what he wanted. When he got to be the man from '17-'19 he was pretty good in leading the Spurs to the playoffs. Only a Lebron,Durant,Harden,Jokic,Giannis level talent could have lead that Spurs team to a top seed. LMA is not on that level but he gave it his all during that 2 year stretch. I can't be unhappy about the results.

[DeRozan m8]

I always pride myself in not being a hypocrite so I can't be upset at Lamarcus quitting this year. I would have quit to if I had to play for a senile 100 year old coach who has an ego the size of a mountain. Who constantly makes stupid game time decisions along with line ups that don't make sense. It's like working a job where your superiors are dumb and incompetent along with the work environment being toxic. Chances are you going to be looking for a new job on the side and once you get that job you will quit.

If you are being paid over 20m per year, you suck it the up.

THEN, when your contract is up, you do what you like.

Pop may have an ego, but LMAs was just as big.
He couldn't handle coming off the bench...which he wouldn't have had to, if he actually worked to earn the 20m he was being given.

Bad enough that he was wasting so much cap and not performing, even worse he quit on the team for being a failure.

With his track record of being a diva and quitter, and then the choice he made to run to the easiest, already over stacked team, for the easiest ring...I'm really not sure how anyone respects this guy.

[ElNono]

You brought up Kawhi in the first place. If you didn't want it to to about Kawhi you shouldn't have mentioned his name.

Of course I can mention his name in the context of bringing more hardware to this franchise than LMA. That's entirely factual, and as much as I hate nephew, it would be hard to argue we would have won in '14 if he wasn't there. He wasn't a bit player that year either.

Again, completely different than using nephew to excuse LMA.

3. My feels? More like I knew the team was going to get their ass whooped every game without Kawhi. I rather be smart and not waste my time watching 2 hours of trash every night but hey I get you still being checked in that series since you are a hardcore Manu . I more disappointing no one injured Curry,Klay,Durant after that Zaza hatchet job. I'm old school so I would have loved to see retaliation. I was fine with him quitting. He made up for it a year later against the Warriors. Either way Spurs were not winning that series.

They're still your feelings, and that's ok. Completely irrelevant when it comes to LMA quitting on this team, but you're certainly en led to your opinion.

4. Duncan missed a bunch of key free throws in game 5 against the Pistons and would have been labeled a choker if Horry didn't hit that 3. Your logic is just stupid. LMA showed up big for game 6 but that doesn't count in your eyes because of what happened in Game 5 proving that you are just a hater.

No he would not. He had two championships under his belt by that point, actually carrying his teams, something LMA never has done and will never do. There was absolutely no doubt who TD was at that point. Tim wasn't just demanding to be the leader, he fully embraced it. There's really no comparison between the two, tbh...

5. I remember that article and actually read it when it came out back in '15. Aldridge is definitely flawed and was jealous of Lillard. He was immature and didn't know what he wanted. When he got to be the man from '17-'19 he was pretty good in leading the Spurs to the playoffs. Only a Lebron,Durant,Harden,Jokic,Giannis level talent could have lead that Spurs team to a top seed. LMA is not on that level but he gave it his all during that 2 year stretch. I can't be unhappy about the results.

He's always been made. The Spurs sold 'culture and selflessness' and he was the complete an hesis of that. First season and he was already ing about his touches.

I'm not going to say he's the reason this team is in shambles, there's more reasons than a single player for that.

Going back to my first post ITT, as much as people hate Jax or Nephew (I would even say rightly so), those guys were integral in hanging another banner up there. Jax draining bombs in '03 and Nephew was all over '14. LMA was never even close to that.

[ElNono]

He didn't quit on us. He was being sent to the bench and read his rites. Pop and company were taking him out of the end of games and every half ass spur fan was ing he needed to either traded or benched for Jacob so they could push the tempo?

Quit taking twos, they say. Make more threes they say. Why doesn't he shoot more threes, they say? Why does LMA only have two shots that half they say? He's not asserting himself they say. Holy , so many of you are ing schizophrenic or psychotic or both.

Lmao.

LMA said ok, my style doesn't fit what either the coaches or fans want, let me get out to another opportunity, be a good teammate in the interim, give back gobs of cash so the Spurs can have some flexibility. Etc.

He handled this exactly as he should and good for him. Hope he rangs.

EABOD, capische?

We all knew this by the 2nd or 3rd season he was here, tbh... yet, not only he rode out his contract but the Spurs also handsomely rewarded him with a fully guaranteed contract extension when they really didn't need to, but he certainly didn't mind signing.

He never really gave the Spurs a discount either until he got desperate with coattailing for a ring. So let's stop pretending this guy did the franchise any favors.

The LMA era, for a storied franchise like the Spurs, was simply an abject failure. That said, it's also true it's not all his fault, tbh. Despite demanding to be the man, it was clear he was never going to be more than a decent second banana, and the FO should've addressed that much earlier.

[timtonymanu]

offsetformation slurp slurp. What a cuck.

daslicer I got no issue with though. His points have been valid in here.

[TD 21]

Yet, he was the big addition. He never embraced it. Here we go putting on Kawhi a responsibility that was largely shared.

I get the hate for S bag, but that shouldn't give this guy a pass. Agree about Duncan though, wheels fell off, but he did put a valiant effort.



You mean the team that never won anything before or or since he left? That team?

Look I don't like nephew anymore than you do, but pretending that he wasn't integral to two championship runs is just being silly, tbh.



I agree with you about being the wrong guy at the wrong time. I don't know what Pop was thinking building big when the whole league was going small, and I'm not pinning that on LMA.



There's another discussion to be had on why we kept him for as long as we did, that's not on him. Don't want to be told I'm deflecting...

? He wanted the responsibility that came with being a "big addition". That was essentially what his complaints were after his second season. Granted, it was for personal accolades and not altruistic reasons, but still. S bag was a superstar and the one who underperformed in the playoffs.

Nah, I mean the team that was a perennial 50+ win team, with an emerging young core, that had a better record when S bag sat/left than with him. Obviously, they wouldn't have sniffed a (tainted) championship without him and the Warriors injuries, but let's not pretend they were mediocre. You just see the lack of another prototypical superstar and think the puke who's only ever won anything with pristine cir stances "carried them".

Aldridge was as good as the Spurs could do in free agency and a no brainer signing. Outside of a few glamour markets, you don't get to pick your stars.

[ElNono]

? He wanted the responsibility that came with being a "big addition". That was essentially what his complaints were after his second season. Granted, it was for personal accolades and not altruistic reasons, but still. S bag was a superstar and the one who underperformed in the playoffs.

He wanted to be The Man, period. He whined about his touches and role right after his first season. He just wanted to be the big ticket without putting in the work. Came from vacations fat, then whined about not being selected an All Star. It's all the same theme.

Nah, I mean the team that was a perennial 50+ win team, with an emerging young core, that had a better record when S bag sat/left than with him. Obviously, they wouldn't have sniffed a (tainted) championship without him and the Warriors injuries, but let's not pretend they were mediocre. You just see the lack of another prototypical superstar and think the puke who's only ever won anything with pristine cir stances "carried them".

I want to point out I didn't call Toronto mediocre, I call them modest. And that's what they were, on a Eastern conference where Lebron was the only real challenge, they were perennially hoping DeRozan would take them over the hump year after year and he couldn't. Nephew didn't have any trouble getting them to the Finals at least. The thing with injuries is that they're part of the game. Happened to us, happened to teams we played against. But you gotta be there in the first place to reap the benefits, and that's something Toronto were never able to do before S bag or since he left.

Aldridge was as good as the Spurs could do in free agency and a no brainer signing. Outside of a few glamour markets, you don't get to pick your stars.

I never argued he was a bad signing, I simply stated you sort of knew what you were getting. Portland tried to build around Aldrige and what they got in return was him getting jealous and leaving. Completely made.

The muh touches/muh role saga should've been a warning sign, and there was no reason for the Spurs to hold on to him after nephew left. Again, not all of this is his fault, but some of it is.

[TD 21]

He wanted to be The Man, period. He whined about his touches and role right after his first season. He just wanted to be the big ticket without putting in the work. Came from vacations fat, then whined about not being selected an All Star. It's all the same theme.



I want to point out I didn't call Toronto mediocre, I call them modest. And that's what they were, on a Eastern conference where Lebron was the only real challenge, they were perennially hoping DeRozan would take them over the hump year after year and he couldn't. Nephew didn't have any trouble getting them to the Finals at least. The thing with injuries is that they're part of the game. Happened to us, happened to teams we played against. But you gotta be there in the first place to reap the benefits, and that's something Toronto were never able to do before S bag or since he left.



I never argued he was a bad signing, I simply stated you sort of knew what you were getting. Portland tried to build around Aldrige and what they got in return was him getting jealous and leaving. Completely made.

The muh touches/muh role saga should've been a warning sign, and there was no reason for the Spurs to hold on to him after nephew left. Again, not all of this is his fault, but some of it is.

First he "didn't embrace it", now he "wanted to be The Man, period". Which one is it?

S bag didn't get the same Raptors DeRozan did. Their young players took a significant step forward, the Spurs gave them an additional 3 and D wing and the flexibility to shift Ibaka to his modern position and they acquired Gasol. He also never had to go through James or a remotely healthy Warriors, yet barely eked it out.

[Ice009]

I don't know why people call that Raptors championship a tainted one when the Warriors did nothing but face injured teams throughout their run. Sure the Raptors probably don't beat a healthy Warriors team (95% of us would say no way including me), but when people call the Warriors one of the best teams of all time when they either played injured teams, or never faced teams that were injured during their run, I don't see why they get a pass and the Raptors don't.

Their first Championship, the Clippers choked after beating the Spurs, and the Spurs had injuries to Splitter and Parker (if those two were healthy, I truly believe the Spurs would have been playing them in the WCF), and Cleveland was missing it's second best player in the finals. If the Spurs were healthy, they may not have even won that first one IMO.

Also, like previously mentioned, a lot of teams that have won it all deal with teams that have injuries that could have changed the series and they get passes, so why don't the Raptors? I believe the Raptors would have won it again if Kawhi stayed and solidified themselves as a legit team.

[daslicer]

I don't know why people call that Raptors championship a tainted one when the Warriors did nothing but face injured teams throughout their run. Sure the Raptors probably don't beat a healthy Warriors team (95% of us would say no way including me), but when people call the Warriors one of the best teams of all time when they either played injured teams, or never faced teams that were injured during their run, I don't see why they get a pass and the Raptors don't.

Their first Championship, the Clippers choked after beating the Spurs, and the Spurs had injuries to Splitter and Parker (if those two were healthy, I truly believe the Spurs would have been playing them in the WCF), and Cleveland was missing it's second best player in the finals. If the Spurs were healthy, they may not have even won that first one IMO.

Also, like previously mentioned, a lot of teams that have won it all deal with teams that have injuries that could have changed the series and they get passes, so why don't the Raptors? I believe the Raptors would have won it again if Kawhi stayed and solidified themselves as a legit team.

Warriors had a lot of luck during all 3 of their le runs. They benefited greatly from injures in all 3 le runs. Cavs missing Kyrie and Love in '15, They took out Kawhi in '17, Chris Paul tears his hamstring right after the Rockets go up 3-2 on them.

I have always felt the Warriors players were mentally soft but injuries prevented them from being tested mentally. I still will never forget how down and depressed they were in game 1 of the 2017 WCF. Spurs go up by 20 and Warriors have this arrogance that they will comeback at cut the lead to 10-12 then the Spurs pushed it all the way up to 24-26 points. When the Spurs did that I could see Curry,Klay,Dray,Durant all broken on the bench mentally. They all had that look of hopelessness on their faces. Right after Kawhi got taken out by Zaza I saw Curry's face light up on the bench like a kid on Christmas morning. Always hated those ers and felt they were front runners.

This is evident now with both Curry and Draymond faking injuries to get out of playing games since they can't handle the ass whoopings they are getting.

[TD 21]

I don't know why people call that Raptors championship a tainted one when the Warriors did nothing but face injured teams throughout their run. Sure the Raptors probably don't beat a healthy Warriors team (95% of us would say no way including me), but when people call the Warriors one of the best teams of all time when they either played injured teams, or never faced teams that were injured during their run, I don't see why they get a pass and the Raptors don't.

Their first Championship, the Clippers choked after beating the Spurs, and the Spurs had injuries to Splitter and Parker (if those two were healthy, I truly believe the Spurs would have been playing them in the WCF), and Cleveland was missing it's second best player in the finals. If the Spurs were healthy, they may not have even won that first one IMO.

Also, like previously mentioned, a lot of teams that have won it all deal with teams that have injuries that could have changed the series and they get passes, so why don't the Raptors? I believe the Raptors would have won it again if Kawhi stayed and solidified themselves as a legit team.

S bag's unethical behavior destroyed his value to such an extent that the "trade" that was consummated only occurred because of that. If not for that, had the Raptors even wanted to get in the game, Siakam, among other things (mostly picks) would have had to be in it and considering they barely won with him, they obviously wouldn't have won without him.

Also, the Warriors weren't just injured, they were decimated. A few minutes of Durant, Thompson in and out until eventually permanently out, Iguodala and Looney played injured (not hurt), Cousins rushed back from a significant injury and was nowhere near ready to play.

[ElNono]

First he "didn't embrace it", now he "wanted to be The Man, period". Which one is it?

It's both. He wanted the world to know he was The Man, but he didn't want the responsibility that came with it. He never lead anything in this team. First one to quit when the going got tough.

S bag didn't get the same Raptors DeRozan did. Their young players took a significant step forward, the Spurs gave them an additional 3 and D wing and the flexibility to shift Ibaka to his modern position and they acquired Gasol. He also never had to go through James or a remotely healthy Warriors, yet barely eked it out.

He went through James at least once before (in '14), so it's not like he has to prove anything there. It's really simple, DeRozan doesn't ring with that team.

I don't care how much you want to downplay nephew's run and how much you hate him, he's got the hardware, which is what all the teams play for. He got lucky? Maybe. That's not his fault and part of the game.

[ElNono]

I don't know why people call that Raptors championship a tainted one when the Warriors did nothing but face injured teams throughout their run. Sure the Raptors probably don't beat a healthy Warriors team (95% of us would say no way including me), but when people call the Warriors one of the best teams of all time when they either played injured teams, or never faced teams that were injured during their run, I don't see why they get a pass and the Raptors don't.

Their first Championship, the Clippers choked after beating the Spurs, and the Spurs had injuries to Splitter and Parker (if those two were healthy, I truly believe the Spurs would have been playing them in the WCF), and Cleveland was missing it's second best player in the finals. If the Spurs were healthy, they may not have even won that first one IMO.

Also, like previously mentioned, a lot of teams that have won it all deal with teams that have injuries that could have changed the series and they get passes, so why don't the Raptors? I believe the Raptors would have won it again if Kawhi stayed and solidified themselves as a legit team.

You can say they got lucky, sure, but I don't know how you can hold it against them. It's generally not their fault the other team got hurt (Zaza notwithstanding).

Sure, a healthy Warriors team makes for a much different series, and probably end result, but, again, it wasn't Toronto's fault they got hurt.

[TD 21]

It's both. He wanted the world to know he was The Man, but he didn't want the responsibility that came with it. He never lead anything in this team. First one to quit when the going got tough.



He went through James at least once before (in '14), so it's not like he has to prove anything there. It's really simple, DeRozan doesn't ring with that team.

I don't care how much you want to downplay nephew's run and how much you hate him, he's got the hardware, which is what all the teams play for. He got lucky? Maybe. That's not his fault and part of the game.

Except he did. He literally requested star minutes/usage (again, not saying for altruistic reasons), then dragged a terrible team mired in turmoil into the playoffs in a deep conference. Anything less than his best in '17-19 and they don't tie the record playoff streak, which clearly mattered to them.

You couldn't sound more like a Stockholm syndrome casual. Souped up Bowen didn't "go through James", arguably the GOAT team performance in playoff history did.

It is really simple: He needed pristine cir stances to win in '19 and has never done anything notable without them. By unwittingly creating a scenario that otherwise wouldn't have existed, he destroyed the credibility of it.

[daslicer]

1. Of course I can mention his name in the context of bringing more hardware to this franchise than LMA. That's entirely factual, and as much as I hate nephew, it would be hard to argue we would have won in '14 if he wasn't there. He wasn't a bit player that year either.

Again, completely different than using nephew to excuse LMA.



2.They're still your feelings, and that's ok. Completely irrelevant when it comes to LMA quitting on this team, but you're certainly en led to your opinion.



3. No he would not. He had two championships under his belt by that point, actually carrying his teams, something LMA never has done and will never do. There was absolutely no doubt who TD was at that point. Tim wasn't just demanding to be the leader, he fully embraced it. There's really no comparison between the two, tbh...



4. He's always been made. The Spurs sold 'culture and selflessness' and he was the complete an hesis of that. First season and he was already ing about his touches.

I'm not going to say he's the reason this team is in shambles, there's more reasons than a single player for that.

Going back to my first post ITT, as much as people hate Jax or Nephew (I would even say rightly so), those guys were integral in hanging another banner up there. Jax draining bombs in '03 and Nephew was all over '14. LMA was never even close to that.

1. This exactly what you said in the original post I responded to "LMA brought his loser at ude with him, and failed to ride both Duncan and Nephew to a le" I pointed it out to you a million times he could not ride Kawhi because Kawhi choked in '16 and got taken out in '17. Don't punk out and deflect. Own your original statement. I'm not into the deflection game.

2. Accusing me of being in my feels is real funny coming from a guy who constantly has Manu's shoved in his mouth in here 24/7.

3. Ok so your new logic is that guys who won championships like Duncan,Lebron,Shaq,Kobe all get passes for having to be bailed by role players in crucial playoff games despite choking in those games because they had won les before but LMA doesn't get that pass despite showing up to win game 6 of the Rockets series since he hadn't won a le before. So I guess we will be able to retroactively give LMA a pass for game 5 of the Rockets series since he will win a le with the Nets this year going by your logic.

4. Truth is you don't want to admit it that 90 percent of NBA star players are made. Durant is the biggest made player in the league and is going to win a le this year. Like I said before Jokic and possibly Giannis are the only superstar players I can think of that are not made in the current NBA. Players care about their stats first before winning. Even your boy Jax a lowly role player was selfish about his stats hence him getting cut by the Spurs in '13.

I blame Pop for the current mess the Spurs are in. He should have traded LMA in the summer of '18 once he was forced to get rid of Kawhi but selfishly didn't want to coach a lottery team.

LMA never got to play with '03 Duncan like Jax did and didn't get the privilege of even playing with '14 Duncan like Kawhi did. Again stupid comparison by you. You hate Lamarcus it's ok to admit it.

[ElNono]

Except he did. He literally requested star minutes/usage (again, not saying for altruistic reasons), then dragged a terrible team mired in turmoil into the playoffs in a deep conference. Anything less than his best in '17-19 and they don't tie the record playoff streak, which clearly mattered to them.

regular season championships... is that what we're celebrating now? How did that season end, and where was LMA? Sorry, real season starts in May.

You couldn't sound more like a Stockholm syndrome casual. Souped up Bowen didn't "go through James", arguably the GOAT team performance in playoff history did.

He was the Finals MVP, period, you can't spin it. You hated that team all season, I remember it well. I called your ass out mid season when you were doing your debbie downer thing, and when they won it you were right back celebrating like nothing happened.

Don't get it wrong, I don't like nephew one inch more than you do, but I'm not going to deny he was dominant, and he certainly has the hardware to back it up.

It is really simple: He needed pristine cir stances to win in '19 and has never done anything notable without them. By unwittingly creating a scenario that otherwise wouldn't have existed, he destroyed the credibility of it.

You're trying to downplay a guy that was integral, if not outright the best player, in winning two NBA les with two different teams while trying to prop up a career loser lauding the virtues of regular season accomploishments... that's how ridiculous this is at this point.

I get it, you have profound hate for nephew and he cut you deep. I think he was the ultimate bag too, but at some point you have to admit he was good enough to the point where the Spurs were building the franchise around him.

[TD 21]

regular season championships... is that what we're celebrating now? How did that season end, and where was LMA? Sorry, real season starts in May.



He was the Finals MVP, period, you can't spin it. You hated that team all season, I remember it well. I called your ass out mid season when you were doing your debbie downer thing, and when they won it you were right back celebrating like nothing happened.

Don't get it wrong, I don't like nephew one inch more than you do, but I'm not going to deny he was dominant, and he certainly has the hardware to back it up.



You're trying to downplay a guy that was integral, if not outright the best player, in winning two NBA les with two different teams while trying to prop up a career loser lauding the virtues of regular season accomploishments... that's how ridiculous this is at this point.

I get it, you have profound hate for nephew and he cut you deep. I think he was the ultimate bag too, but at some point you have to admit he was good enough to the point where the Spurs were building the franchise around him.

What did you want him (or anyone) to do with the '17-'19 Spurs?

Spouting results without context. Typical Stockholm syndrome casual.

Thinking I hated the '14 Spurs (a truly absurd comment) and still ignoring that they caught a major break with Ibaka missing the first two games.

Bringing up irrelevant things (like what caliber of player S bag is) and thinking his souped up Bowen ass was a candidate for best player on the '14 Spurs.

[daslicer]

regular season championships... is that what we're celebrating now? How did that season end, and where was LMA? Sorry, real season starts in May.



He was the Finals MVP, period, you can't spin it. You hated that team all season, I remember it well. I called your ass out mid season when you were doing your debbie downer thing, and when they won it you were right back celebrating like nothing happened.

Don't get it wrong, I don't like nephew one inch more than you do, but I'm not going to deny he was dominant, and he certainly has the hardware to back it up.



You're trying to downplay a guy that was integral, if not outright the best player, in winning two NBA les with two different teams while trying to prop up a career loser lauding the virtues of regular season accomploishments... that's how ridiculous this is at this point.

I get it, you have profound hate for nephew and he cut you deep. I think he was the ultimate bag too, but at some point you have to admit he was good enough to the point where the Spurs were building the franchise around him.

Kawhi was definitely not outright the best player on the '14 squad. He was tied with Manu for third in scoring during the '14 playoff run.

[ElNono]

1. This exactly what you said in the original post I responded to "LMA brought his loser at ude with him, and failed to ride both Duncan and Nephew to a le" I pointed it out to you a million times he could not ride Kawhi because Kawhi choked in '16 and got taken out in '17. Don't punk out and deflect. Own your original statement. I'm not into the deflection game.

And I called bull on that, because he had Kawhi before the injuries and instead of getting out of the way, he started pouting about his touches and his role (fact). Then you went into spin mode on how he did get out of the way, despite I dared you to show me that he did. And you didn't, because you know you were doing revisionist history.

Everybody can read what we post here, tbh... when you changed your tune and said they both choked, now that's fair. I don't mind people ganging up on that bag nephew, but don't give this guy a pass in the process.

2. Accusing me of being in my feels is real funny coming from a guy who constantly has Manu's shoved in his mouth in here 24/7

You keep trying to crowbar Manu in this convo, you should know by now it doesn't work. I didn't say the whole 'feels' thing in a demeaning manner, I was simply pointing it out based on what you posted. Namely:

3. I don't care that he quit in that series.

3. Yeah I really didn't care about him quitting since I mentally checked out of that series as a fan once Kawhi got taken out by Zaza. I didn't even bother to watch any of the games after game 1.

3. My feels? More like I knew the team was going to get their ass whooped every game without Kawhi. I rather be smart and not waste my time watching 2 hours of trash every night but hey I get you still being checked in that series since you are a hardcore Manu . I more disappointing no one injured Curry,Klay,Durant after that Zaza hatchet job. I'm old school so I would have loved to see retaliation. I was fine with him quitting.

See? it's all about how you feel. Look, you can feel however you want, tbh, we're not talking about you (or Manu), we're talking about LMA. He wasn't getting paid to quit when the going got tough. That's not what leaders do. Not season after season after season.
Sure, probably the series ends the same way. But show a little fight. At least pretend that you care. Do it for your teammates.

3. Ok so your new logic is that guys who won championships like Duncan,Lebron,Shaq,Kobe all get passes for having to be bailed by role players in crucial playoff games despite choking in those games because they had won les before but LMA doesn't get that pass despite showing up to win game 6 of the Rockets series since he hadn't won a le before. So I guess we will be able to retroactively give LMA a pass for game 5 of the Rockets series since he will win a le with the Nets this year going by your logic.

No, it's not a new logic. Players that have the hardware, and in this case, multiple hardware leading their teams throughout the whole playoffs and finals have always happened to get the benefit of the doubt for a poor game, a poor decision, or even a poor series here or there. Like it or not this game is about winning that LOBT, and the winners do get to write history. Kerr didn't get "The Last Dance", Jordan did. Does Jordan gets that show if he loses the 6 finals? No he doesn't. You don't get participation trophies in this thing.

LMA know this too well also, that's why he quit on this team (again) a few weeks ago hoping somebody will give him a ring. He just will never be in the upper echelon of true winners in this league though, because despite demanding to be the absolute leader, he always cared more about himself than the team winning.

4. Truth is you don't want to admit it that 90 percent of NBA star players are made. Durant is the biggest made player in the league and is going to win a le this year. Like I said before Jokic and possibly Giannis are the only superstar players I can think of that are not made in the current NBA. Players care about their stats first before winning. Even your boy Jax a lowly role player was selfish about his stats hence him getting cut by the Spurs in '13.

I already agreed that this league if full of made. But I also think there's an extra special category of flat out losers like Carmelo or LMA in this league, where not only they're made, their pettiness get in the way of winning.

KD is absolutely made, but he didn't get in the way of the Dubs ringing. He didn't quit when everybody were saying on his second season he was playing iso too much.

I blame Pop for the current mess the Spurs are in. He should have traded LMA in the summer of '18 once he was forced to get rid of Kawhi but selfishly didn't want to coach a lottery team.

LMA never got to play with '03 Duncan like Jax did and didn't get the privilege of even playing with '14 Duncan like Kawhi did. Again stupid comparison by you. You hate Lamarcus it's ok to admit it.

Agree about Pop, but both Jax and Nephew, as much hate as you possibly can have for them, are a big part of the reason we have two more banners at the AT&T.

Never hid my disgust for LMA either, tbh, and while it completely blows to be 100% correct about him, it does suck the Spurs didn't move him while they could still fetch something for him.