He didn't choose money over winning - he'd have gotten the same money here. He chose spending 4 years of his prime years of his life in Miami over Houston. Or maybe he chose not playing with James Harden over playing with James Harden.
Absolutely. Players choose destinations for all sorts of reasons - it's 4-5 years of their lives, and winning is only one component of that. It's no different than any other job - some people choose money, some people choose personal satisfaction, some choose location, some choose the people they want to work with/for, some choose personal growth, etc. No one should be surprised. Harden chose money over winning when he wanted out of OKC over a few million dollars. There's nothing wrong with any of those decisions. .
Nope, nothing wrong with it. I acknowledge that it's a personal preference, but to brag about winning yet make the decision based on anything other than winning is...well, dishonest at least.
Oh I agree with that - I just assume all players are dishonest. They say what fans want to hear. You'll rarely ever hear a player just say "I want money" or "I just wanted to live in LA". But when it comes down to it, winning is rarely the only - or even primary - objective for any of these guys. It's certainly an odd and maybe warped way to look at it, but if we're talking about players making choices, then at the end of the day, that's what it came down to from Harden's perspective. He could been on arguably the league's best team and a dynasty if he was willing to take a few million less. He picked the money. Again, nothing wrong with that.
Jimmy Butler went to Miami for all the reasons that the Bulls traded him to begin with. Butler wanted to be a #1 option. Butler wants a team built around him. Jimmy Butler likes celebrity and attention. When Butler was in Chicago, he let it be known that he really would rather not play close to where he grew up. It had nothing to do with James Harden or Chris Paul beyond the fact that he didn't want to be a second or third option for anyone. At the end of the day, this is why the Rockets really need to tone down their comments. I know that ownership wants to make a big splash. However, this isn't the way to do it........ from the "We will have the pick of free agents" (which they knew was false because of the cap and luxury tax), to the comments about adding a star this summer. Morey needs to be less candid when it comes to specifics and keep his players names out of the paper.... and that requires an owner that doesn't run his mouth or let his son's run their's.
Rockets SHOULD have known what Butler's WANTS were as detailed by Nook below. And with that in mind, should have known Houston was not going to work. Pretty arrogant on Houston's part, tbh.
One reason that's been ignored re: Butler's decision is his desire to set the tone in the locker room. This is slightly different from "being the #1 option". Butler's biggest gripe at every stop seems to have been that his coaches and teammates were too soft. He's like a drill sergeant who wants to be let off the leash. Hoiberg kept him in check in Chicago, Wiggins and KAT could ignore him in Minny, and ditto that in Philly. Of the teams chasing him in FA, only Miami could tell him: there is no star here bigger than you. You can go full Kobe on these kids in practice. I don't think it's about winning or touches with him. It's the chance to run his own squad for the first time in his career.
