Why has Barkley not sued the Rockets over that $3 million? Why have the Rockets not sued for libel?

Forgot? No, they never knew how to play which is what some of us were arguing about since we've had McHale as a coach.

It just all fell apart because guys stopped hitting shots and then you had the whole Lawson experiment blowing up right in the team's face.

Of course they earned their record, but how many nights do we see the Rockets get down by 20 and come back in games? Nearly every night. That's not the sign of a team that gives up or doesn't play hard.

There seems to be this idea that this team quit...yet they win out to make the playoffs and extended the Warrior series at least one game. So when is it that this team quit?

Many teams would have quit game 4. The Warriors made like 8 threes in one quarter and made everything they threw up. I just don't think this team is made up of quitters and losers as the narrative makes them out to be.

Things just haven't fallen their way this year for one reason or another. I truly believe that they do think they can come back and win it, but believing and doing are two different things.

You know that famous Tyson line "Everyone has a plan until they get hit." well that happens in basketball too. Rockets come out, ready to defend against the Warriors and before they know it they are down 15 and fighting an uphill battle. Yes, it saps some of the will out of the team. That's natural. I think the team tried to fight back but the Warriors continued to remain hot. Hell, this is something the Warriors are known to do.

They beat the Spurs by 20 something points, was that also because the Spurs stopped trying or didn't care? What they did, they did to plenty of teams. Now that they do it to a 8th seeded team this 8th seeded team is now made up of gutless heartless no sack having losers? Maybe they just execute and play better than us.

 

The inconsistency, either from game to game... or within games itself... is part of the problem. When they're clicking on all cylinders, they do well. When the ease up, take their foot of the gas, become lackadaisical/lazy/dumb... they give up leads or they fall behind.

They beat the Spurs one week... they lose to the Suns the next.

These are all hallmarks of an inconsistent/.500 team that lacks cohesiveness, discipline, consistent determination, mental focus, and ultimately they give up.

And this has nothing to do with the Warriors series... I actually expected them to play harder, with more effort/determination than at any point this season... simply because if they didn't, they'd probably lose by 50 (instead of 30). Even at their best, they likely don't beat this team. But if they didn't waffle through the regular season with inconsistent effort within or between games, they probably wouldn't have had to play the Warriors in the first round as is (Even these Rockets, with talent and coaching issues, could have a punchers chance against the Clippers/OKC).

 

Rockets were suppose to be in Cancer yesterday according to Barkley...

 

Barkley just apologized to Morey, Brown, Les and the organization.

 

Well, the Chuckster just apologized to Morey, Brown, Les Alexander and the entire Rockets organization.

Said he was wrong for getting personal.

Seemed sincere.

Now what?

 

Les finally paid him off!!

 

Vegas Clutchfans should be on the lookout for Charles at the BlackJack Table tonight

 

Haha, very true.

Next we'll hear about a Bellagio pit boss owing him $3M.

 

[rquoter]Charles Barkley tells story that explains his distaste for the Rockets

NBA legend Charles Barkley was the first guest on Bill Simmons' new show Any Given Wednesday, which premiered this week on HBO. Simmons and Barkley also taped a bonus segment that wasn't aired but is available on HBO Go.

In that 12-minute clip, Barkley retold a story about how he thinks the Rockets cheated him out of money during his playing career, and explains why he is so hard on the Rockets so often during his appearances on TNT.

Barkley has told this story before, although the numbers seems to change with each telling.

The gist is that when the Rockets wanted to sign Scottie Pippen for the 1998-99 season, they asked Barkley to take a pay cut to make room for Pippen. Barkley agreed and played that season for $1 million. Barkley says he only did so because he was promised a big contract for the 1999-00 season. He also says he never got the payday the Rockets promised him.

Here's the version he told Simmons this week after being asked how many years during his career he was out of shape:

"The only year that I was fat was my last year in Houston, because they had promised me $12 million," Barkley said. "When I showed up, the contract was only for $8 million. And I said, 'What happened to my other $4 million?' They said, 'Well we just decided to keep it.'

"I was so pissed. What had happened was I took a paycut so we could sign Scottie Pippen ... So they said, 'We need you to take a paycut so we can sign Scottie.' I said, 'OK, I would love to play with Scottie.' They said, 'We'll give you $12 million next year.' So when I showed up the next year, they bring me a contract. I said, 'This looks like an 8.' They said, 'Yeah, we're going to give you $8 million.' I said, 'What about the other $4 million?' They're like, 'Well, we just changed our mind.' So I wasn't motivated."

For the record, Barkley was paid $9 million for that last season with the Rockets, which is still well below the $12 million he says the Rockets promised him.

Around that time, the Minnesota Timberwolves got in major trouble with the NBA for reaching an under-the-table deal with Joe Smith where he played in Minnesota for below market value with the understanding that he would sign a much larger contract later. The NBA punished Minnesota by fining the franchise $3.5 million and stripping it of three first-round draft picks.

Barkley said the Rockets were breaking the same rules when they reached an under-the-table deal with him.

"(Because of what happened in Minnesota), they didn't want to put anything on paper," Barkley told Simmons. "So, I trusted the Rockets, which was a mistake."[/rquoter]

 

^ he should be mad at himself.
What did he think was going to happen if he had a career ending injury? He was still going to get paid $12 million?

To be clear, I think something like what he says likely did happen, and the Rockets probably did not give him 100% of the money he thought he was promised.

But I'm also pretty sure that, given the way the details of the story have changed various times, that he doesn't really know what he was/wasn't promised. His agent probably told him something that was different from what the Rockets told his agent which was different from what Les talked with the organization about.

It was more, we need you to take a paycut and will get you back next year... and he doesn't feel he made it up.

Oh well, still not a reason to be completely unprofessional about it...

 

I don't know, that story seems quite plausible. He did take a pay cut, no?

 

No sympathy for Barkley. He circumvented the rules to get an unfair advantage. Screw him. I'm glad he feels short changed. No honor among thieves, I suppose.

And screw Les and the Rockets too. Bunch of cheaters. They're lucky the league didn't bust their asses because it was obvious even at the time that it was a wink-wink deal. They got their just desserts right away though by signing Quitten. Quitten was like an avenging angel come to punish the Rockets for cheating. What dark times those were for being a Rockets fan.

 

sounds like something Le$ would do. Barkley was a dumbass and he should be pissed at himself.

 

It seems like he's always going to hate us for that. We're always going to get trashed on tnt

 

The story Chuck is telling is that Les Alexander is a b****. Which is true.

 

Both sides were taking risks and are both at fault, imo. It's a wash

 

It's funny because Barkley ended up being completely correct about Le$. He only cares about money.