First it was LeBron James signing as a free agent to the Miami Heat; then it was Carmelo Anthony asked to be traded from the Denver Nuggets to the New York Knicks (which took place February 2011) and recently Chris Paul, who did not want to play for the New Orleans Hornets anymore, was sent to Los Angeles to play for the Clippers on December 12, 2011. What is going on around the National Basketball Association? Now you have a number of basketball players who want to pick and choose where they want to play, specifically in a big market (New York, Los Angeles, Miami, etc.), rather than stay with the team they are currently playing for. Yes, players have the right to play where they want to….but only once their contract has expired. You don’t bail out on your team and say publicly “I want to play in… because you will alienate the fans, management and everyone who like you.
Where did it this concept begin?
The idea of a team having the “Big 3″ on its roster began with the Boston Celtics in 2007. However there was a reason why Celtics General Manager Danny Ainge made those moves: 1) To help Paul Pierce. Pierce, the team captain, had to carry the team on his back the last few years especially in the 2006-2007 where the Celtics went 24-58, 5th place in the Atlantic Division. It wasn’t like that before. In the 2001-2002 season, Boston, with Pierce and former teammate Antoine Walker, made it to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 1988 ( a team with the original Big 3 of Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale) but lost to the New Jersey Nets. After reaching the playoffs a few more times, the Celtics reached its low point in the 2006-07 season with the death of NBA legend and the Coach/General Manager/President?Vice President of the Boston Celtics, Red Auerbach. It seemed like nothing went right that season, where at one point during the season, they lost 18 games in a row and missed out on the No.1 pick of the 2007 NBA Draft. During the offseason, Ainge decided to gamble the future of the Celtics and traded away his young talent (Al Jefferson was one of the players)to both Minnesota and Seattle (now Oklahoma City) for Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, respectively. The trade was very effective because Boston ended the season with the best record in the league (66-16) and won the NBA Title by defeating the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games. This brought the Celtics back to prominence where today (despite their slow start at 5-8 and rumors circulating that Ainge is willing to trade Pierce, Garnett and Allen–and at one point Rajon Rondo) Boston is one of the elite teams in the league. 2) To help boost attendance at the Fleet Center (now TD Gardens.)
The Blueprint
With the Celtics achieving success with the Big 3, other NBA teams decided to use them as the blueprint on how to win a championship. These teams figured that if they acquire their own Big 3-via trade and free agency, they can win a NBA title, too. What teams didn’t realize is that Boston made the moves so that Minnesota can get rid of the expiring contract of Kevin Garnett ( the Timberwolves wanted to keep Garnett, but his contact was a huge albatross for the team. Seattle did the same thing when it came to Ray Allen, they wanted to keep him but they wanted to free up some money and the contact was too expensive.)Since 2008, the teams that won the NBA Championship (Los Angeles Lakers in 2009 & 2010 and the Dallas Mavericks in 2011) acquired their players through the draft and free agency (their contracts were not that expensive to begin with.) In order to win the NBA title, you must draft the right players to fit your system and sign role players who can made a key contribution to the team. It is not about having the” best team that money can buy” with signing players to huge contracts. A team that is using the philosophy of drafting well and signing quality talent is the Chicago Bulls. It’s no surprise that at the time of this writing, the Bulls have a 13-3 record, the best mark in this shorten season so far.
Superman wants to play on a super team
During the recent NBA Lockout, Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard bad mouthed the city and expressed his demand to be traded from the team.The teams he’s interested in playing for include: New Jersey Nets , the Lakers, Chicago, and now recently the Los Angeles Clippers (whose fortune has turned around from a horrible team to a playoff contender.) Hearing Howard rip the city of Orlando and want to leave the team reminded me of what Shaquille O’Neal did in 1996. O’Neal, despite playing on a NBA Title contending team, started bashing the city, had run-in with head coach Brian Hill; and alleged problems with teammates. All of this took place a year after the Magic made it to the NBA Finals before getting swept in 4 straight by the defending champion Houston Rockets. The Lakers did win 3 titles in a row (in 2000, 2001 and 2002) but it took a while to reach that point, and Shaq’s time in L.A. did not end on a happy note, specifically his feud with teammate Kobe Bryant. Their soap opera was played out in the national media (in the newspapers, television, radio talk shows, online.)
No way this concept would have taken place years ago
Growing up as a basketball fan in the 1980s, I remember when the Celtics and Lakers were winning championship almost every year of the decade (there were two other teams who took home the NBA title – Philadelphia in 1983 and Detroit in 1989.) There were a number of really good teams in the NBA that just couldn’t beat Boston or Los Angeles in their respective conference. One example that I want about to talk about is the Philadelphia 76ers. In 1976, the 76ers were able to get ABA (and soon be NBA) legend Julius Erving aka “Dr. J.” From 1977 to 1982, the 76ers made to the NBA playoff every year, but lost twice in the postseason to the Washington Bullets (now Wizards) in 1978 and 1979 and the NBA Finals in 1977 (Portland) 1980 and 1982 (Los Angeles.) Did Dr. J say to the media, “I want out of Philadelphia?” No! In the fall of 1982, the 76ers pull off a trade where they acquired 2-time MVP and future member of the Basketball Hall-of-Fame Moses Malone from the Houston Rockets. Philly went on go 65-17 in the 1982-83, steamrolled through the NBA Playoffs, going 15-1 and gained revenge by sweeping the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in 4 games.
Another example is the Detroit Pistons. Led by Isiah Thomas, the Pistons made it to the playoffs from 1984-87, but failed to win a championship because Boston was in the way. In 1988, Detroit was finally able to beat Boston to make it to the NBA Finals, but they lost out to the Los Angeles Lakers in 6 games. Did Isiah say to the media ” I want to join my friend (they were friends back then, no…not so much) Magic Johnson and play for the Lakers so that I can win a championship?” No! He stuck it out with the Pistons, who traded All-Star scorer Adrian Dantley to Dallas for Mark Aguirre (another of Isiah’s friends) in February 1989. Detroit went on have a 63-19 record and brought home a NBA title to the city after getting revenge on Lakers by sweeping them in 4 straight games.
Last example is the Chicago Bulls. Led by Michael Jordan, the Bulls made the playoffs four times between 1986-1990. However, for three consecutive years, they were beat up (literally) and defeated by the Detroit Pistons (aka the Bad Boys.) In 1991, the Bulls with the core players they drafted and a strong bench were able to defeat the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals (remember the final moments of the game where a majority of the Pistons players walked past the Bulls bench without shaking hands. That was something else!) Chicago, after losing the first game of the NBA Finals vs Los Angeles, won their first championship by reeling off 4 straight victories. Chicago went on to two consecutive titles but MJ retired in the fall of 1993. Jordan came back in the spring of 1995, but the Bulls lost to the young and upstart Orlando Magic. In 1996, Chicago went on to win three straight NBA Championships.
There are some cases where players with a long distinguished career was traded to a NBA playoff contender as a last-ditch effort to win a championship and the team actually won the title that season (ex. Bob McAdoo with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1982 and 1985; Clyde Drexler with the Houston Rockets in 1995) However, that strategy has backfired recently as well (Ex. Charles Barkley with Houston 1997-2000; Karl Malone with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.)
Final Word
If you are the leader or captain of your team, do not run to the media and demand to be traded. It’s not a good look for you, your teammates, the media and must important of all your fans. You will alienate everyone in your path, to the point where no wants to be around you. Use the San Antonio Spurs as the blueprint. The Spurs, with their own big three ( Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili) could have easily left San Antonio years ago to play in a bigger market. But they didn’t and have won 4 NBA Championships since 1999. This proves that a player can make money and win a championship in a small market without cashing the big dollars and living that “Bright Lights Big City” type of lifestyle. Hopefully, Dwight Howard would listen to that advice!
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