THEE NYG SWAG THREAD

[JPizzack]

=\ what is it??

[bigblue4417]

[quote user="MattMeyerBud"]Bill Simmons:

Fact: Of the three teams involved, New Orleans made out the best.
Repeat: the best. By my calculations, it landed one of the better
offensive big men in basketball (Luis Scola), one of the better scoring
2-guards in basketball (Kevin Martin), a playoff-proven forward who can
play either spot (Lamar Odom), a scoring point guard with upside (Goran
Dragic), and a 2012 no. 1 pick (via the New York Knicks). Can you do
better for someone who was leaving in seven months anyway? I hate
trading superstars, but if you HAVE to trade a superstar? That's pretty
good.
[/quote]
Wow man!!! It's so pathetic. I want to see Pizz respond to this and even better I would like to see David Sterns response to this. How in Gods name can this be revoked. I really hope it still goes through somehow. CP3 is going to sue the league.

[bigblue4417]

[quote user="MattMeyerBud"][quote user="bigblue4417"]<div class="report">


David Stern released a statement about the
vetoed Chris Paul trade on Friday, which read in part, "the
Commissioner’s Office ... decided, free from the influence of other NBA
owners, that the team was better served with Chris in a Hornets
uniform."</p>
</div>
<div class="impact">
"All decisions are made on the basis of what is
in the best interests of the Hornets," Stern wrote. There will be no
petition to overturn the veto because the league office does in fact
have the authority to make the decision, even if it reeks of the league
pandering to a certain group of owners. Chris Paul is considering his
legal options and there is serious concern over how New Orleans can
trade him after this mess. It's possible that a new owner for the team
will be announced soon, but right now all bets are off.


This is suuuuuuuuuuuuuch BULL****. I am still in shock...
</div>[/quote]

lawsuit time

this is going to ge tugly. Go read the Simmons article - ****in GREAT
[/quote]
Copy and paste it in here. His URL is blocked at my work. I can't read any of his stuff and I always forget at home. Pisses me off.

Then again it will just make me more bitter and angry! FUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!! We had CP3 man.

[bigblue4417]

[quote user="MattMeyerBud"]LMFAO - from the same article

Was it the worst moment of David Stern's entire tenure? I never thought
anything would top an official fixing games, but man … how can anything
be worse than this? I<font size="6">magine this happened in your fantasy league</font>.
Imagine spending weeks shaping a deal, executing it, then having your
commissioner waltz in and say, "Nah, I'm vetoing that one." Would that
ever happen? And now this is happening in a PROFESSIONAL SPORTS LEAGUE?


http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/...-nba-christmas
[/quote]
LOL, that is hilarious man. I love Bill Simmons. I really do. So does Pizz. He writes some of the best stuff I have ever read. Especially when he gets bitter about Superbowl 42. I love it.

It's Grantland. Ever since he got his own **** I can't read it here. ****ers

[MattMeyerBud]

Note: This could end up being one of the craziest months in NBA
history. To celebrate the signings, trades, rumors, roster shuffling,
insanity and (almost definitely) ensuing hilarity/incompetence, I have
unleashed a special series called "The 12 Days of NBA Christmas." Every
weekday through December 19 (give or take a day), I will be writing
about this unexpected NBA Christmas.</p>


Day 1: The Road to Groundhog Day (and more dumb contracts than ever)

Day 2: The Donut Dilemma (the bubble in the center market)

Day 3: Is Arron Afflalo really worth $50 million?

Day 4: Where the hell is Chris Paul going?

Day 5: Inside Grantland Featuring Blake Griffin, Part II

Day 6: (12/9) The Day the NBA Lost Its Way</p>


Norm MacDonald's Comedy Central show may not have lasted long, but it
left behind my favorite two-word phrase of 2011: "Wait, what?" The bit
went like this: Norm would read a completely insane story with a totally
straight face, milk it for a beat, then do a double-take and scream,
"Wait, what???" It always slayed me.</p>


See, life is full of those "Wait, what???" moments … you know, like
yesterday, right after the Lakers pulled off a three-team trade for
Chris Paul, when everyone was still digesting that stunning news through
phone calls, e-mails and tweets. I had just tweeted a joke about coming
to grips with my favorite point guard — Paul, a true artist, maybe the
best pure point guard who ever lived — playing across the street from my
office, for the team I hate the most, ultimately deciding that I just
needed to get drunk. Not even a minute later, my cell phone rang. A
friend of mine was on the line. He's never steered me wrong. And now, he
was about to put me into a freaking stupor.</p>


"The trade's off! The NBA vetoed the trade!!!"</p>


Wait, what?</p>


"The NBA vetoed the trade! They said it wasn't in the best interests of the league."</p>


WAIT, WHAT?</p>


"You heard me. They said it wasn't in the best interests in the league. Chris has to play out the year in New Orleans."</p>


You know the rest. One of the strangest things about loving sports:
Those random moments when you're sitting in your house, your office,
your classroom, wherever … and suddenly you get blown away by a
legitimate bombshell. This was crazy. This was insane. This made no
sense. By blocking the trade, David Stern was willingly creating his own
Watergate and validating every critic who ever claimed, "That guy
stayed too long." Tim Donaghy was just one guy acting alone — we think —
and tampering with dozens of games before they caught him. Blocking the
Paul trade? This was different. This was Big Brother stuff. This was
one of the biggest conflicts of interest in sports history. This was a
league intentionally jeopardizing its own credibility. This was a
scandal popping out of thin air, self-created, almost like a man-made
lake or something.</p>


These are the facts: Twelve months ago, the NBA bought the New
Orleans Hornets for a little more than $300 million. Every other owner
(29 in all) split the price for the franchise, the same way you'd split a
meal 12 ways for your buddy's birthday or something. Stern and his
cronies claimed this wouldn't be a problem, that Hornets GM Dell Demps
would be able to swing moves just like any other general manager. When Mark Cuban flipped out in February
after a Carl Landry/Marcus Thornton swap caused New Orleans' payroll to
rise, nobody really cared. When the lockout dragged on for five months
and nobody ever seriously considered contracting the Hornets — a
franchise that lost money AND couldn't find an owner — nobody really
cared. When the Hornets stole the spotlight after the labor agreement by
immediately being involved in 50,000 different trade rumors, nobody
really cared. We all assumed things were "on the level."</p>


And why not? We had no reason to think differently … right? The
league made a point of saying that Demps had been empowered to make any
trade (without interference). Every team dealing with New Orleans
believed that Demps was in charge — without any question — and that they
weren't wasting their time spending their days batting around ideas
with him. On Wednesday morning, when I was working on my column about
Paul trades, I sniffed around on Stern's role in the trade talks and got
the same answer from different people: It's Dell Demps' call. I
ended up joking in that column that Stern might block a Clippers/Paul
trade to avoid having Donald Sterling own one of the league's signature
franchises. Everyone read that and got the joke.</p>


I mean, Stern wouldn't actually BLOCK a trade. That's preposterous. Right?</p>


Fast-forward to Thursday night: Those first few minutes after word
spread (not only that the trade was canceled, but that Paul would
probably remain in New Orleans for the entire season), as everyone came
to the same sobering conclusion. The old man finally lost his mind.
Sure, he was pushed there by a cluster of bitter owners, but the old
Stern never would have rolled over like that. Twenty years ago, 10 years
ago, maybe even five years ago, Stern would have brushed them off in
his endearingly condescending way, quelled the fire, called in a favor
or two, acted like the politician he always secretly was. Not this time.
The old man doesn't have the same sway. We just witnessed it during
that lockout. Few people understood how much time and effort he spent
pushing his holdout owners toward that final compromise. He barely got
there.</p>


If you want to know the truth, Stern started losing control of the
league during the middle of last decade, when a new generation of
wealthy billionaires started paying full boat for franchises. The days
of Abe Pollin and Bill Davidson were long gone — family guys who bought
in early, stuck with their investments and watched their league flourish
into something much bigger than they ever expected. Stern's favorite
owner was Larry Miller, a dynamic Salt Lake City businessman and
philanthropist who bought the J*** in 1985, then ran the franchise with
his family for the next 24 years. A year after diabetes claimed Miller
in May of 2009, Stern met the press before a playoff game and spoke
earnestly about his affection for Miller. Someone asked the commissioner
about Jerry Sloan's longevity. At the time, Sloan was still coaching
the J*** at 67 years old, six months older than Stern.</p>


"We're a dying breed," Stern admitted. "It's not happening anymore.
But it sure is reassuring to look there and expect to see him, and darn,
he's there. It's kind of neat."</p>


That's probably how Stern thought people saw him. Or, how he hoped
people saw him. And in some cases (like with me), it was true. Little
did he know that Sloan was losing control of his players — in 2011, an
ongoing clash with star Deron Williams caused Sloan to resign — just
like Stern was slowly losing control of his owners. The newer generation
of guys wasn't indebted to him. They found him to be increasingly
obstinate, stuck in his ways, more of a condescending bully than
anything. After paying full sticker price for their teams, they weren't
interested in answering to some aging know-it-all. Stern's control
slowly started to erode, whether he realized it or not.</p>


Leaders thrive when they feel creatively empowered, when they trust
the people around them, when their confidence is swelling. Leaders make
mistakes when they lose that same confidence, when they're fretting
about their power base, when they're reacting instead of acting. The
worst kind of leaders hang on too long, get seduced by their own voice,
start doing things from memory — because that's the way we've always done it!
— stop thinking outside the box, start playing checkers instead of
chess. Stern reached that point last night. I think he caved because of
the whining owners, but also out of exasperation: because yet another
superstar was trying to push his way to another big city, because he's
in charge, because THIS IS DAVID STERN'S LEAGUE. It's like the old Will
Ferrell/Dodge Stratus SNL sketch:</p>


You don't talk to me like that! I'm David Stern! I make the rules
here! You don't get to pick your team, I do! I'm the commissioner of the
NBA! I DRIVE A DODGE STRATUS!!!!!</p>


Fact: That trade was totally, undeniably, 100 percent defensible.</p>


Fact: Of the three teams involved, New Orleans made out the best.
Repeat: the best. By my calculations, it landed one of the better
offensive big men in basketball (Luis Scola), one of the better scoring
2-guards in basketball (Kevin Martin), a playoff-proven forward who can
play either spot (Lamar Odom), a scoring point guard with upside (Goran
Dragic), and a 2012 no. 1 pick (via the New York Knicks). Can you do
better for someone who was leaving in seven months anyway? I hate
trading superstars, but if you HAVE to trade a superstar? That's pretty
good.</p>


Meanwhile, the Rockets spent the past three years stashing enough
pieces to make that trade: Acquiring the second-best center in
basketball (Gasol) while leaving enough cap room to sign a marquee free
agent (and yes, they were closing in on Nene). And the Lakers paid the
steepest price: giving up their best low-post guy and all of their
frontcourt depth, giving Andrew Bynum an immense amount of
responsibility (you know, the same guy who stormed off the court
half-naked during the playoff sweep last spring) and reinventing their
team around Paul's aching knee and Kobe's aching knees. It would have
been a brilliant move had it worked and a legendary disaster had it
failed — especially if Kobe rebelled against sharing the ball with Paul —
only now we'll never know.</p>


Once word leaked of the deal, rival owners started rebelling almost
immediately. What was the point of that lockout, and all the talk of
competitive balance, if the Lakers were allowed to immediately acquire
Chris Paul? Dan Gilbert sent a scathing e-mail to a few of the other
owners that, of course, was leaked on the Internet last night.</p>


The best part of the letter: "This trade should go to a vote of the 29 owners of the Hornets."</p>


(Translation: "Let's cut Demps' balls off, throw the last few weeks
of negotiating out the window and go back on our word. Also, I'm
thinking of starting a support group for small-market owners who
overpaid for their teams, don't have the balls to sell and would rather
whine, ***** and bully about their lot in NBA life. I'm going to call it
O.A.: Overpayers Anonymous.")</p>


The second-best part of the letter: "I just don't see how we can
allow this trade to happen. I know the vast majority of owners feel the
same way that I do. When will we just change the name of 25 of the 30
teams to the Washington Generals?"</p>


(Translation: Boooooooo hooooooo.)</p>


There it was, in all its Comic Sans MS glory, that whopping conflict
of interest that had been staring at everyone for 12 solid months. How can a league own one of its own franchises? What happens if it has to, you know, make important trades and stuff?
The league always knew that, at some point, the Hornets might have to
trade Chris Paul. They claimed they had a plan in place. And they did.
Until O.A. started *****ing with even more fervor than usual. That's
when Stern's eroding power finally sank him. Instead of backing a
decision he had already made, Stern choked like Nick Anderson. The
unthinkable happened.</p>


He blocked the trade.</p>


Wait, what?</p>


Was it the worst moment of David Stern's entire tenure? I never
thought anything would top an official fixing games, but man … how can
anything be worse than this? Imagine this happened in your fantasy
league. Imagine spending weeks shaping a deal, executing it, then having
your commissioner waltz in and say, "Nah, I'm vetoing that one." Would
that ever happen? And now this is happening in a PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
LEAGUE?</p>


Just know that I'm a die-hard Celtics fan and die-hard Lakers hater …
and even I am appalled. I hope Chris Paul sues. I hope the Rockets sue.
I hope the Lakers sue. I hope Dell Demps resigns and makes a sex tape
with a stripper wearing a David Stern Halloween mask. Whatever happens,
the season has been irrevocably tainted — we just watched FIVE teams
have their seasons screwed up by this debacle. Houston's three-year plan
just went up in smoke; now the Rockets have to make up with their two
best players. (Good luck with that.) The Lakers need to determine if
their relationship with the notoriously sensitive Gasol and the even
more notoriously sensitive Odom is salvageable; and if it's not, what
then? The Hornets are just plain screwed. It's a basketball catastrophe
for them. As for the Celtics, Pinocchio Ainge's ill-fated pursuit of
Paul ruined the team's relationship with Rajon Rondo, only its best
young player. Even the Knicks got screwed — supposedly they closed the
deal with Tyson Chandler yesterday, never expecting Paul to become
available this summer (and now they can't chase him).</p>


The total tally: Five teams were screwed by one cowardly decision.</p>


Here's what saddens me: We should have remembered December 8, 2011,
as one of the best random basketball days in years. It was like climbing
on a Twitter/e-mail/phone call/texting roller coaster from the moment I
woke up. First, Boston was in the lead for Paul as Golden State and the
Clippers were falling out. Then, Boston fading as the Knicks were
gaining steam. Around lunchtime, I called a Knicks buddy who was
gleefully planning a future with Chandler, Carmelo and Paul, with poor
Amar'e headed to New Orleans, Orlando, Houston … who the hell knew? And
then, boom! That went up in smoke. The Lakers came roaring back, word of
a three-teamer spread … and my Knicks buddy went from euphoric to
despondent in less than three hours. My Laker fan buddies were crowing,
my Boston peeps were freaking out, my dad was practically having a heart
attack about the Kobe/Howard/Paul possibilities, Twitter was blowing up
… I mean, could that have been a more fun day to be a basketball fan?</p>


The best point guard of his generation was switching teams, in his
prime, to the Los Angeles Lakers … and only after the Celtics and
Knicks failed to get him. Read that sentence again. It's what Dan
Gilbert and the other Overpayers Anonymous owners will never understand.
In professional basketball, history trumps everything else. It's not
just about playing in Los Angeles. It's about playing for the ****ing Lakers.
It's about following the footsteps of Magic, Kareem, Wilt, West, Baylor
and Shaq. It's about Showtime, Nicholson, the yellow jerseys, the Laker
Girls, even that awful Randy Newman song. It's about that buzz before a
big Laker home game, when the place is packed with celebs and eye
candy, when you're the best guy on the team, when you might as well be
the king of the world. When these idiots complain about a "big
market/small market" disparity, it's almost like they never followed the
league before they bought their teams. Of course there's a disparity!
What kid doesn't grow up wanting to play for the Celtics, Lakers or
Knicks?</p>


Remember what pissed us off most about LeBron picking Miami over New
York? It wasn't just that he tried to stack the decks with a superteam;
it's that he walked away from New York, the city with the most
basketball fans, the city with the biggest spotlight, the city that
would have either made him immortal or broken him in two. He didn't want
it. He copped out. He could have picked loyalty (Cleveland) or
immortality (New York); instead, he chose help (Miami). That killed us.
We hated him for it. What was telling about Chris Paul's choice was that
he eschewed the Clippers (a safer basketball situation for him; he
would have been able to grow with Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan and Blake
Griffin) for the Lakers (a much more volatile basketball situation with
Kobe's miles and Bynum's knees) for the simple reason that he wanted to be a Laker.</p>


For the right players, it's not about cities as much as teams,
uniforms, histories, owners, fans, titles … and Chris Paul cares about
the right things. He's the best teammate in the league. As much as it
killed me that my least favorite team landed him, the "basketball fan"
side of me loved it. Chris Paul and Kobe Bryant … together? Playing
across the street from my office? How cool was that? I remember when KG
landed on the Celtics, one of my Lakers-fan buddies told me, "I hate KG
and I hate the Celtics, but this is going to be cool."</p>


That's how I felt about Chris Paul and the Lakers. If you love
basketball — if you truly love it — you appreciated what was happening.
And it had nothing to do with the Washington Generals. Believe me.</p>


Of course, that's not how December 8, 2011 will be remembered. Years
from now, I won't remember anything about that day except for David
Stern losing control of his own league. Once upon a time, it was
reassuring to look there and expect to see him, and darn, he was there.
It was kind of neat. Those days are long gone. The National Basketball
Association has lost its way. I feel like crying.</p>

[bigblue4417]

<div class="report">


Lamar Odom did not show up for the first day
of training camp with the Lakers, in the wake of his nearly being traded
to the Hornets.</p>
</div>
<div class="impact">
Odom sounded despondent when interviewed last
night, saying among other things, "You don’t want to go to no place
you’re not wanted. I’ll try to give them what they want as much as
possible." Pau Gasol showed up, to his credit.


Oh wow, it gets even better. I feel for Lamar, I love Lamar, he wanted to retire a Laker. This is another aspect of this "rejected" trade that no one is talking about. All players involved are going to be bitter. Rumors are Rumors but when it goes through it's personal and then it gets canceled. **** that! lol
</div>

[lttaylor56]

[quote user="MattMeyerBud"][quote user="dezzzR"][quote user="lttaylor56"][quote user="JPizzack"][quote user="MattMeyerBud"][quote user="bigblue4417"]
<div class="report">


The Nets are "closing in" on a contract with Nene.</p></div>
<div class="impact">The team reportedly increased the offer to Nene last night, and it sounds like it's possible a deal may get done soon. Considering how fast and furious rumors are flying, there's also a chance a deal doesn't get done at all. Clearly, New Jersey is clearly being aggressive in its approach to improve. </div>


[/quote]

just went home for lunch and watched sportscenter. They seem pretty hell bent that a deal may get done today for Howard.

Nene at PF?
[/quote]</p>


I like Nene....but, that may be because I think it's awesome when Brazilians go by only 1 name. lol</p>


Nene HILARIO! that name is funny....arguably HILARIOus.
-___-</p>[/quote]Speaking of Brazillians....I think this kid knows Pizz :P

Justin-I know you can't see this @ work, gotta check it out when you get home.

[/quote]lol 50 for pizzle.
[/quote]

this is a picutre of a young pre-corrupted dezzz..

Some would say it was the start of the obsession with women - which lead to the hookers - then one fatal slip of the scissors #1 happened for the long island killer. He then got a taste for it
[/quote]LOL-" A murder contest you know dezz'll win it, cauz in every mailbox there'd be a hoe's head with a knife in it!

[bigblue4417]

[quote user="MattMeyerBud"]lawsuit time
[/quote]
I doubt it goes anywhere. Chris Paul should not show up to any games until the let it go through. lol

[MattMeyerBud]

[quote user="bigblue4417"][quote user="MattMeyerBud"]lawsuit time
[/quote]
I doubt it goes anywhere. Chris Paul should not show up to any games until the let it go through. lol
[/quote]

I can still see this happening. This is going to be a nightmare, your going to have alot of pissed off teams and players

That Cavs guy seems to be the only one speaking up. I'd love to know what othe rowners and GMs hate this move. I mean Hornets and Rockets are two smaller market teams and they love the trade.

[MattMeyerBud]

[quote user="bigblue4417"][quote user="MattMeyerBud"]lawsuit time
[/quote]
I doubt it goes anywhere. Chris Paul should not show up to any games until the let it go through. lol
[/quote]

I see an Osi type season for paul...

he'll play, get injured and milk the **** out of it