I dont see how they lose money. If they win a championship together thats just tons on exposure for both of them. Not to mention an entire new brand of marketing with them together. All new jerseys for dwight. I think adidas will be fine with them on the same team...itll be the counter to the Miami Nike's haha
Check this link out http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-12-26/sports/30558134_1_shoe-industry-howard-and-rose-market
They won't "force" him, it's more that they'll put a carrot in front of NY or LA. Adidas doesn't necessarily 'want' to pay him more money. His agent is the one most likely to lean on him to go to the place that will land him the most money and steer him away from spots that won't.
At the end of the day Orlando simply does not have enough talents to compete with the best teams in the league. Dwight is all world talent but outside of him they have a bunch of mediocre or one-dimensional players who can not make the starting lineups on elite teams. Who's their second best player this year? Ryan Anderson? That's just sad.
I know he's a big deal for Adidas but I just never really thought ppl bought shoes for centers and pfs. I remember ppl crazy about iversons, tmacs, lebrons, Kobe's. I never heard someone saying," I gotta have a pair of those Duncan's /shaqs/kemps". Sadly I remember buying Shawn kemp shoes in middle school and they were pretty uncomfortable so I returned them and got shaqs. Hahha never again. Adidas needs to get another guard to sell shoes. Since the fall of tmac it's all on rose. I can't honestly believe Dwight brings many buyers. Thus I'm sure Adidas won't stop a Dwight to Chicago. I could really picture some cool billboards with both of em.
I havent watched any or Orlando's games, so I really dont know what is going on. But if Dwight's teammates are giving up on playing hard because they see a bleak future for themselves with their star leaving, it seems they are shooting themselves in the foot. Hard playing teammates and an ensuing better record is exactly the kind of thing that may keep Dwight around. Why hasten/cement his departure by playing like crap? If they are losing because basically they have a bad team outside of Dwight, then a rebuild mode is inevitable. While I get annoyed at players demanding trades, in the end, it would make little difference. Especially after the the Lebron/Cleveland situation, Orlando isnt going to let Dwight walk for nothing. If he doesnt sign an extension, they have to trade him whether he is making the demand or not. No longer are teams going to wait and hope that they can persuade stars to stick around. No sane organization should anyway. Dwight has given Orlando quite some time to lure the right players to put around him. Perhaps no one is at fault given that even with a star, there is no guarantee the right star players will be available or have the desire to be on your team. Just ask Morey.
I agree with Shaud and Pieman. With LeBron, he honored his contract. Hi Mana all of what you said is irrelevant, it doesn't matter, it's just a game. I'm pretty sure you wouldn't want to be restricted in your own employment. Honestly, I think showing a commitment to a franchise is a crock of s#it, yet the franchise can cut you or trade you (will do so if the right bargain comes along), if you get injured or decline in performance. It's not player's fault for signing big contracts, as people often like to throw their criticism at the players. Not necessarily the agents or even the team itself, yet will support the means of team by saying it's a business and it must maximize its profits as any capitalist venture. I agree that a team has to work towards its best interests, not of one particular player, but the team itself. Which is why a GM, like Jerry Krause worked in the interest of the Bulls, not necessarily Michael Jordan who often thought the team was intentionally trying to lose, yet Krause is the one that kept bringing in quality players and rookies onto the Bulls. This has been my biggest argument about modern sports fans and sport critics, they take this game way too seriously, the sport in itself does, too. Some old timers and even people who weren't alive reminisce about the good old days where players actually stayed loyal to their teams, played hard on every down, and stayed out of trouble. Yet, these particular fans do not realize free agent movement was more restricted the further you go back, as the salaries were much lower with less teams. Moreover, these people seem to think most of the players were saints, when reality, the NBA, NFL, and MLB all had a serious drug problem with cocaine, during the 70s and 80s. The NFL and MLB struggled with how it should treat performance enhancing substances, even in 1985, there was a trial involving MLB players using cocaine and amphetamines. In fact, some of speculated that the amphetamines as a performance enhancing product. If Lebron James wanted to leave Cleveland, then broadcast it to the world along with ESPN and NBA with "The Decision" show. Why should anybody care that much about a player leaving a city? Even if a player on our, such as Hakeem Olajuwon or Yao Ming wanted to leave, I could not blame them. Maybe, they do not have the same rosy-colored glasses on as some fans do and want to live believe life is like "Candy Land." For the most part, I do not think Lebron would've left, if he thought the Cavs were really trying to build a solid contender. They did not, which is why they were one of the worst teams in the NBA. A really good franchise can bear the loss of a star player (examples: Denver Nuggets, San Antonio Spurs, Green Bay Packers, Pittsburgh Steelers, Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trailblazers, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves). Cleveland was a mess minus Lebron. Either 2004 or this year, it became a bad thing to want to play with another superstar. Don't ask me why? Yet, it is weird to me how fans are not always (yet sometimes) equally upset about a franchise that trades or releases a beloved player, even if they do not live in that city or are a fan of that team. They do not seem to understand that the NBA/NFL/MLB is a business first and foremost. While, their favorite (and least favorite) players have their own luxurious lives to live, as they are not obligated to satisfy fans with off the court decisions. I'll never understand the Lebron (even the Kobe a little) hate unless he has personally kept your team from winning, it's very myopic and irrational, sort of like hating Tiger Woods. In Lebron's case, he has . . . never killed anyone, molested a child, smacked a team in face, choked out a coach, been accused of rape, found cheating on his girlfriend/wife multiple times, being absolutely nasty to fans, dishonored his contract, refused to play for his team during the season, asked to be traded, operating a dog fighting operation, or consistently thrown his teammates or coaching staff under the bus. For some odd reason, he's the most hated player in the NBA. I could never process that. Yet, there are players who have done those things, yet people seem to pick and choose who they like and dislike, while I can dislike those players for their actions. You still have to respect their work quality. With Lebron, he's an exceptional talent and though somewhat arrogant, he seems like a nice guy in person or to work with as a basketball player (as much as Dwight Howard is ... comes off as super fake, like celebrities).
Yeah, if teams don't properly build around them. Durant and Rose, for example, haven't gone anywhere.
Exactly, why would a player, like Larry Bird or Magic Johnson have left Boston or LA. Hell, most players don't even get a chance to be loyal to their franchise. Isn't that ironic about how fans are criticizing players for their team loyalty.
The same loyal, die-hard fans that will boo you to death and call for your head once you mess up? Look no further than us and T-Mac. Or they should show loyalty to organizations like we did with Ariza, Landry or even Hakeem??? It's a business. Don't knock players for doing the same thing we and mgmt do...look out for our own best interests.
They probably have too much pride to bow and scrape before Dwight in a vain hope of currying favor. He already told the world he thinks they suck. I'm sure they look forward to him being gone already. For someone on Howard's team, I see two possible approaches: (1) Comply with coach just enough to keep whatever stature you hope to have and keep (be it rotation, starter, whatever) and then be a stat w**** in whatever lattitude is left to look as good as possible for the next contract negotiation. (2) Or, if too depressed to maximize what's good in a crappy situation, mentally check out and just get through the season with a minimum of work and make sure you don't get injured. Actually busting your ass to try to do something with this season isn't rational. Howard's still leaving and the season is still a waste.
By who? No one, outside of clutch fans is talking about that, even while Dumars said something similar. In fact, it's only a minority on this site, yet much more was said about it than necessary. Alot of people were talking about Lebron, D-Wade, Amare, and Bosh, a summer ago. While, Dwight, Deron, and Chris Paul have been the discussion, this season. Casual fans to housewives, and people who do not even watch the NBA.
I might be going off on a tangent here, but you would compare that level of being hurt ... I don't know a soldier's family seeing their love ones come back home in body bag, a young child being molested by someone they trusted, losing your home and town to extreme weather patterns such as floods or hurricanes, being unable to pay for expensive medicine that your life could seriously depend on, or something as simple as not being able to find place to stay and being somewhat stuck to sleeping in a shelter, a car, or street corner and having kids to feed. If it's not that kind of hurt, then it's not that serious. Like, I said before all of the superstars could team up on four or five teams, and it wouldn't make a difference to me. Chris Paul is not at fault for that, like every other sports star, politician, TV/movie star, supermodel, or pseudo celebrity. People choose to turn these people into idols, maybe a gods in extreme cases. I've seen cases and hear cases where young girls are heart broken, because their favorite celebrity completely ignored them, while I've seen kids be kind of miffed if a star doesn't quite get over to meet them. It can sometimes get quite nasty for adults, as they are the ones helping make someone more famous than Jesus Christ (I'm not Christian). Regardless of celebrities' or stars' personalities, fans do not have a personal relationship with that person, while should make their kids understand. It's only entertainment, and the stars are no different from elephants or lions you see in the circus. It's ok to admire them, but let's not take this thing any further. Though, in reality, people do take things further, while they probably would let their favorite celebrities get away with murder and elect them for mayor or president, anyway. None of these famous people owe any kind of commitment to their fans, people, or even the companies that they work for (unless they are under contract). They do not even owe you a rusty penny with bird s#it on it. Though, people are still buying all of this merchandising and watching their shows and movies, while going to their games. Sorry to say, but to most . . . you are just a number. Even worse, sometimes, the amount of money you spend is the only number that counts. If fans do not like that, then they do not have to spend any money on games or merchandising, simply stay home and watch it on TV or the internet for free, or build your faith up in someone you do not know or have seen personally. It's escapism, like the circus or carnival, nothing more or less. I really hate what has become with sports and entertainment culture. When it gets to the point where Kyle Williams and Billy Cundiff are getting death threats in the hundreds, then it's not fun anymore. You get the sense that people are taken this game way too seriously, especially when you hear about the depression of fans. I'm not sure about the possible control of what Lebron had over the team, but it is irrelevant, because a competent organization would've never given him that much control, especially if there was a chance he could leave anyway. Someone should quote me on this "I do not feel bad for the loyal die hard fans." That's their own faults for being so wrapped into something that it affects their personal lives and moods. It's not that hard to a spectator or a worshiper, but to actually be great at a particular sport or talent-driven field, like music or art is very difficult. It's a process which must expand from childhood into adulthood to develop an exceptional talent. It really does not take that much to be a fan, honestly. Fans are a dime a dozen, whether they are fair-weather or 30 years strong. Generally, fans are like a groupies or those hot women in the club (hangout obsess over), they come and go, but make it fun for the moment. Even a few weeks ago, there was a thread complaining about how bad Rockets fans were for not going to game. I cannot blame them for not wanting to watch a run of the mill team with no exciting players on the rosters. That's a management and ownership problem, not mines. If Houston cannot bring in or draft dependable players or players with all-star potential, then honestly I cannot blame fair-weather fans for not wanting to spend their money. They are not obligated to support the Rockets, especially when they do not like the team's roster or outlook. I do not mind watch bad teams play on TV, but spending $45+ to watch them play ... not tonight. This is why I do not blame some NBA players, like other celebrities for messing with alot of fans, because they are quite literally bitter and insane for no real reason. It's escapism, sweetie. If you do not like the NBA, you can gladly stop watching it. Like many others, you are more obsessed with the stars than you are even the team. I bet you didn't even watch the Magic, Hornets, or Nuggets, if they weren't in a prime time game. It doesn't matter ... Oddly, I do not think you would written this post, if one of those players came to Houston. If Chris Bosh came here, last summer he would've been so beloved by this board. Though, some posters dislike him for not choosing Houston. Realistically, why should anyone (who is not a team player, official, fan, or GM) care where Bosh ends up? I think people keep forgetting it's only a show, folks.
