The maloney contract wasnt a huge amount on a yearly basis - but it was for 6 or 7 years... def one of the worst contracts we've ever given...
Nick's FTs changed the series and momentum. I'd give 2nd place vote to JR Smith, he killed the Cavs. It changed Lebron's jersey and Cavs will be playing for 8th place in 2018-19.
"Nick's Bricks" (he could almost trademark that phrase and sell a lot of actual bricks) allowed us to sweep the Magic in the 95 Finals. We were the underdogs in that series just as we'd been the underdogs in every series in the 1995 playoffs, coming into it as we did as the 6 seed. Though the Magic were highly favored and though IIRC they led throughout most of Game One, because of Nick Anderson's missed FT's Rockets were able to come back and win Game One. The loss was so demoralizing to a young Magic team they couldn't win a single game after that. We swept them after three very tough series before the Finals and I attribute almost all of that to the aptly nicknamed "Nick the Brick." He got his nickname from choking in that one single game against the Rockets in the Finals. John Starks against Rockets is another fine choice, of course. Here's my saddest one as a Rockets fan. It's one that no one really remembers which is to the good because it's so contrary to his play through his entire career and here I'm talking about Drexler's last game. It's not by any means the worst choke job by a NBA player or anywhere near it. But watching Clyde Drexler's final game, when he shot 1/13 overall, 0/4 from three, and a just crazy 4/10 from the stripe, was very hard as a Drexler fan. If it hadn't been the game that eliminated us that year or if it hadn't been Drexler's final game as a player it wouldn't have stood out so much to me but it was so uncharacteristic and such a disappointing finish to such an amazing career. The choke job that most pisses me off is, of course, Snotty Quitten dribbling the ball off his own foot for a critical turnover leading to elimination, then laughing about it in the moment, and later blaming Barkley for the whole affair after Barkley had taken such a paycut to bring Pippen here. Pippen's choke job as a Rocket is the one that I take most personally. Everything about that choke job and his tenure as a Rocket still makes me angry, all these years later.
I don't know what Morey was thinking. But I know after that 0-13 performance, I'm not shedding a tear for Ariza's departure.
