Yeah, my impression was that he was a cap throw-in and we planned all along to release him. Either way, I'm not sad he didn't report. I'm also not too upset about him ditching the Mavs. It sounds like he didn't get any buy-out money out of it. And, it's not like his departure scuttled Dallas' playoff hopes. His career is almost over and this season might be his last chance to be part of something significant. There's something pretty depressing about the idea of spending that time with an also-ran. It's like being told you have 3 months to live and wanting to check off some stuff from your bucket list, but getting criticized because you don't want to stick with your employer to train your replacement. I do wish, though, that he wouldn't always bring his family into it -- if you don't want to play, just say it.
A professional liability at this stage of his career. Our chances of beating OKC in a series, should that befall us, just improved :grin:
NBA union set to take turn for worse The cowardice displayed by Billy Hunter’s hangmen tell you everything you need to know about where the NBA Players Association is headed after Hunter’s lynching. Derek Fisher’s proclamation promising a union move toward transparency, integrity and professionalism in the absence of its nepotism-loving, mom-and-pop executive director is laughable. Vic Mackey, the dirty cop in the TV show The Shield, did not clean up the streets of South Central Los Angeles. Mackey simply organized the chaos and did his best to keep the violence contained and profits flowing in the right direction. You can’t fight crime with crime. That’s the point of Batman. Fisher, the president of the NBPA, is no Batman. He is the leader of the posse set to hang Hunter this Saturday afternoon in Houston for the crime of running the NBPA for the past decade as his personal family fiefdom. Backed by a carefully crafted, $4 million report written by the Paul-Weiss law firm, supported by a handful of powerful agents, encouraged by source-dependent, agenda-driven, objectivity-defying NBA journalists and inspired by self-righteous revenge, Fisher has silenced Hunter’s supporters and orchestrated an “unbiased” meeting where players will likely vote Hunter out of office without Hunter being given an opportunity to defend himself. Saturday afternoon, at the annual NBPA All-Star Weekend meeting, the Paul-Weiss law firm would be available to answer the players’ questions about Hunter, Fisher wrote in an email obtained by Liz Mullen of the Sports Business Daily. The prosecutor will answer questions in defense of the defendant. “I give (Derek) a round of applause for being able to pull off this stunt and pull the wool over everyone’s eyes,” former NBA veteran Maurice Evans told me late Thursday night. “If he wants the union that bad — let him and Ron Klempner and Jamie Wior — they can have it.” Evans, 34, was an executive vice president at the NBPA. He was perhaps the player and union rep closest to Hunter during the 2011 lockout and its aftermath. Evans is Hunter’s staunchest defender. After nine NBA seasons — he played last year with the Wizards — the career-long role player couldn’t find a job this season, which meant his role in the union ended. “Without a doubt, I know me not being in the league has something to do with my support of Billy Hunter,” Evans said. “I’m fully comfortable not playing in the NBA ever again.” Evans lives in Houston. On Saturday, while Fisher conducts his likely ouster of Hunter, Evans plans to be at a church in Houston speaking to young basketball players about the perils of NBA life and trying to inspire them to avoid the mistakes many NBA stars make with their money and in their personal lives. Evans said he received a letter from the union on Wednesday warning him that he is not allowed to attend Saturday’s union meeting because he’s no longer in the league. “They excommunicated your boy,” Evans said. “They took my tickets, took my little status as executive vice president.” Fisher is also not in the league. But, thanks to a brief stint with the Dallas Mavericks in December, Fisher is allowed to maintain his position as union president. Yep, the 38-year-old Fisher signed with the Mavs in late November, played nine games and then decided he needed to spend more time with his family. It was all rather convenient. Too convenient, according to Evans. “They were able to circumvent (the system) by putting him on a team for a day and a half so he could be reinstated as president,” Evans claimed. “I don’t know who (are) the powers that be to put that in place, but D. Fish was only on the Mavericks this year so they could pull this stunt off, so they could get Billy Hunter out of office.” http://msn.foxsports.com/nba/story/...upgrade-leading-nba-players-union-coup-021513
Apparently after Fish jilted the Jazz he gave back the money? http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nba-b...RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANuYmEEcHQDc2VjdGlvbnM-;_ylv=3
I'm pretty sure Maurice Evans not being in the NBA has a lot to do with him being a terrible NBA player that's now old as well as terrible.
I can understand he have to leave the Mavs for family reasons but for him to return and sign with OKC is something else. He wasn't away very long after leaving the Mavs and now he's returning again. I just think Fisher is all BS. He doesn't like where the Mavs were going and just decided to find a reason to get out of it and when OKC sends him an offer, he accepts immediately.
Fisher just needs to stop pretending to want to be on an NBA team when the season starts. He just needs to sit at home, stay in shape, and by February of each season (however many he has left) figure out which one has a good chance of winning and a need, and go there.
Was leaving the Mavs for "family reasons" just a cover for their not wanting him back because he wasn't playing well? Was it to save him the embarrassment of being released?
The union needs a new, salaried executive director now that Hunter is out. That should all be settled before next season. Assuming his bid is successful, Fisher shouldn't need to play anymore after this season.
Derek Fisher: Leaving good for me...lol of course it was http://espn.go.com/dallas/nba/story/_/id/9018616/derek-fisher-defends-decision-ask-dallas-mavericks-release Of Course it was good for him to leave. Instated as a player to take over position as NBPA President by signing with the Mavs. And then use family as an excuse to leave so that he could ride the bench to another potential ring by signing with the Thunder. This guy always manages to find new reasons for me to not like him more and more. Him and KG.
If he really wanted to spend time with his family, why not stick with dallas and have a longer offseason to spend time with them instead of having to play in the playoffs?
how does he keep getting away w completely flaking on teams then up and deciding out of the blue he wants to sign w a contender? dude is a joke.
even Lakers fans hate D Fish right now. last year it was because of his offensive liability but now they are seeing the same thing that the rest of the league thinks about him...
