"The rockets decided they didn't want him" was it Carol Dawson? No. Jeff Van Gundy? maybe but CD is the GM and one of Rudy's best friends. Could it be the owner? He went to the Texans and Aggies games but NO Rockets games? Going to say it's the owner. @kjayp https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-jul-10-sp-rudy10-story.html Tomjanovich was being paid $6 million a year when he took an indefinite leave of absence during the 2002-03 season to undergo treatment for bladder cancer. He felt he was ready to resume coaching last fall, but owner Les Alexander replaced him with Jeff Van Gundy. Instead, the man known as “Rudy T” returned as a personnel consultant, acting mainly as a scout and reporting to his longtime friend, General Manager Carroll Dawson. “I’m always going to be a Rocket,” he said when Van Gundy was named. But “he was crushed when the Rockets decided they didn’t want him,” Feinstein said. “Betrayal might be too strong of a word, but he thought that after 32 years in the organization, he deserved more rope.” Doctors say Tomjanovich has fully recovered from cancer; he has given up drinking and smoking, and has shifted to a diet rich in fruit juices. Friends call him a “young 55,” and wondered when his competitive nature would lead him back to the sidelines. In the last year, Tomjanovich enjoyed pursuits away from basketball. He spent a weekend riding in an inner tube down the Guadalupe River in Texas. He frequently attended pro and college football games featuring the Houston Texans or Texas A&M;, though he did not go to a single Rocket game. He planted a pair of climbing roses at his home, naming one Yao and the other Ming after the Rockets’ 7-foot-5 center from China.
No where did it say that the Rockets didn't want him to be a scout for them. It sounds like he was crushed for not being able to return as coach. We all get you hate Les, but making stuff up isn't cool.
He returned as personnel consultant. "Instead, the man known as “Rudy T” returned as a personnel consultant, acting mainly as a scout and reporting to his longtime friend, General Manager Carroll Dawson." then But “he was crushed when the Rockets decided they didn’t want him,” Feinstein said. “Betrayal might be too strong of a word, but he thought that after 32 years in the organization, he deserved more rope.” "didn't want him" probably means as any role for the Rockets. If your employer doesn't want you, that doesn't mean they just want you to switch roles it means goodbye
Right, they didn't want him back as coach. You said he wanted to be a scout for the organization and we wouldn't let him, I'm looking for that. I'm well aware they wanted to move on from him as coach.
I'm assuming that the betrayal is not that he wanted Van Gundy to step down as some substitute coach . he wanted to be part in some manner with the team.
Imo, I believe you have misinterpreted the article I posted... I think the Rox were willing to keep Rudy in the fold as a scout or whatever - but denied him a return to the coaching reigns... therefor he went to the Lakers to assume the HC position - and probably a much higher paycheck than a scouting position pays... at least thats my read based on the information at hand... so imo they 'didnt want him' as a HC... but were prob still willing to keep him employed within the org...
It's not clear and not the way most would read that. It sounds like they didn't want him as a coach and he was crushed by that. He did go off to take a coaching role with the Lakers. The guy was a coach, a scout or consultant would have been a demotion. Nearly anyone would go take a coaching role with the Lakers versus being a "personnel consultant" with very little power or influence.
Well the quote you have specifically says he wanted to come back as coach and felt betrayed when they hired Van Gundy to be the coach when Rudy wanted to come back as the head coach that fall.
but why was he working under Carroll Dawson that year? was he thinking Van Gundy was the substitute coach when he was gone? If there was a sub, there would be his own dudes like Larry Smith if the Rockets were set on permanently replacing Rudy, they should have told him before he started under Dawson that year.
I am a Rockets fan, there is no such thing as a "Les Alexander fan", and I'm wishing you would seek treatment and no longer post. You know who's a fake fan? Someone who floods the board with "pro-Hakeem" posts while spewing bile at anyone he sees as a threat, literally embodying everything in a person that Hakeem would reject. That's you, tinman, and you lower the quality of this board with every selfish, hateful post you make.
Yeah I think they MAY have misled him about whether he could be the head coach again. But your quote does NOT say the Rockets wouldn't let him be a scout. My reading is that he was under the impression when he stepped down in May that year and took another job within the organization he expected to be able to come back as the head coach. I think he felt betrayed that they moved on from him when he probably just wanted time off. There were negotiations between he and the organization before he agreed to step down because of the 2 years left on his contract.
I changed the title. Well, it's not like the Rockets management/ownership didn't have any issues with long time Rockets leaving with a bitter taste Rudy DIDN'T GO to a Rockets game at all and went to see the Aggies and Texans who both sucked in that era That says it right there. @Jontro
Yes there are Les Alexander Fans Fans who thought Les was such an amazing owner but are completely clueless to all the controversies such as threatening to move to Kentucky if the Houston didn't build him the Toyota Center. Another clue is that the Les Alexander Fan doesn't find it disturbing he took the trophies with him to Florida. Yeah I hate Les Alexander Fans And lots of people hate Tilman and want his employees to go broke, and that's their right too because they feel strongly that he's done a bad job So if it makes you feel better I hope the Les Alexander Fans suffer 10% less than I orginally want them to @Air Yordan
"Betrayal might be too strong of a word." Correct. I love Rudy. I'm sure Rudy was crushed by that move. Who wouldn't be? I'm no fan of Les. Don't need to cut him any slack. But Van Gundy was very good for the organization too. That wasn't a "bad" decision for a head coach. I can't read all the fonts and boldface or tinman posts in general, but I'd like to know if Rudy's leave of absence was paid by the org.
It's amazing that you think you're having an actual conversation, but that's how sociopath's think. What would make me feel better is seeing your account deleted. You have become a disgrace to the forum. Anyone who actively wishes death on upon other people have no place in public conversation.
You have to examine and compare the wealth of both owners at the time and the the direction of their respective franchises. The Lakers, successful or not, generate much more revenue every season while the Rockets have to work much harder....... Are you going hold on to an ailing coach given the vulnerability of the franchise or you going to make business decisions to survive or break new ground?
I never said anything about death That’s you I want Les Alexander fans to go do what Les does Sellout And move to Florida They weren’t real Houston fans to begin with
