If you remember, back in like 1991, 1992 he was demanding very unfair trades. The other teams were offering chump change, and Dream was demanding a deal still, at one point I believe he even set a deadline. That was all on his own... I like Dream as much as the next Rocket's fan, but he can be very unreasonable at times. ------------------ The title will come to ClutchCity once again.
Ever think that maybe Dream hired an evil agent so people like you can blame the agent and not Dream? Dream's not a total idiot, he's been in the league long enough to know what he wants, if he wanted to resign with the Rockets then he could just call up CD and say "I want to be a Rocket for life". You make it sound like poor Hakeem doesn't know what he wants so he lets the evil agent think for him. Dream's not some little 18 year old that has no clue how the NBA works, he can easily call up Rudy or CD if that's what he wanted to do. Also I still don't understand why all of this Dream talk is happening? Did I miss some earth shattering news? ------------------ This post contains no smilies, you must judge my seriousness on your own...
I dont think dream makes much of that revenue anymore. Its hard to generate fans when your injured.d ------------------ I do not believe in god. And it is nice to know that I am going to hell with Hitler, and McVeigh. Although I do not know why.
"What do the go%^$#amn Germans have to do with it?" Name the movie. ------------------ My doctor says I am bipolar. I am going to get a second opinion. I have never had intimate desires for polar bears.
To you maybe. To him I doubt it. ------------------ "I'll tell you this, the older I get, the less I trust people. It's true. It's damn true." -- gr8-1 going through some growing pains.
The "this is a business argument" only flies if one accepts that there are no other considerations involved. For example, does Hakeem care about winning? He professes that he does... and to do so, one might advise him to speed the process up a little bit so that other key players can be signed. I really don't think that the posturing matters too much; the Rockets aren't going to accept a deal over 7.5... they might not even be willing to go that high. How does any of this drive his contract value up? I can only see it hurting the team at large. ------------------ Clutchcity.net... source for all your Rockets, Astros, political, music, humor, and Gordita news.
If I'm not mistaken, Dream indicated that last season was to be his last season. After changing his mind, when the team had made plans based on this statement, I think the Rockets continue to owe Dream one thing: respect. Beyond that, they've got a team to built, not another injury-plauged season from a legend to suffer through. ------------------
Treeman, Let me educate you a little. I am Nigerian....I've been hitting Clutchcity for 4-5 years now and I just enjoy reading the comments of the posters like 'ALMU','ACHEBE' and so on, but this I had to reply to and I don't care if the thread is closed after this. This is not in response to anything Hakeem may have done or your possible frustrations about it...so if your comments were written out of frustration I understand. "But seriously, I agree. Hakeem has been paid more than any Nigerian could hope for already - and not just with cash. How many people can say that an entire city loves them?" You couldn't be more wrong my friend. Next time you make such a comment...make sure you know WTF you're talking about before you type such. I do not want to single you out either...I'll just let everyone know that yes Nigeria is a third world country...but by no means is it poor....very far from that....in fact it is the richest country in all of Africa....one that has suffered under poor leadership for the last 15-20 years under dictatorships. Its now under democratic rule, hopefully things work out well. Now to the "been paid more than any Nigerian could hope for " comment....Wrong! I'll could name at least 60 Nigerians worth $250 million....6 that I know personally. Yeah Hakeems rich and makes more than a lot of people could hope for....but do not single out his country ......there are more Nigerian millionares ratio-wise than American, y'all just don't know that simply because you dont know enough. I personally think he should play for free....he does get a lot of love from Houstonians, but what he's paid...granted its a lot of money ...really isn't that big of a deal. I'll name a few: MKO Abiola : Majority shareholder CHASE MANHATTAN BANK (13%) $10b Harry Akande H.A.D. Holdings Chicago $6b WAHAB FOLAWIYO (RICE and COCOA MAGNATE) $2b KING FESTUS IBIDAPO ADESANOYE (my uncle) share holder Mercedes Benz, Strabag and Julius Berger (German construction companies) and Microsoft $3b DELE FERNANDEZ : Real Estate Mogul and Major contributor to Ronald Reagans 1980 presidential campaign. Owns most of the real estate around Central Park NY $3b FOLASADE ADU : SADE to you (probably has more devoted fans than Hakeem)....world famous singer $150million SEALHENRY SAMUEL : SEAL to you ....world famous singer $40million KANU : World Famous soccer star,plays for Arsenal in the Premiership in England ...made 20 million pounds ($35m) last year...probably has more fans especially Nigerians than Hakeem....you do watch soccer don't you 'treeman' ALEX IBRU: Newspaper publisher ne of them is called the Guardian....distributed all over Africa and parts of Europe http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/ Also owns 10% of The Sheraton chain of 5 star hotels $6b MICHAEL IBRU : his brother $4b THE OONI OF IFE, OBA SIJUADE Gold and Diamond dealer $1b I could go on and on my friend.....but this isn't the time or place for it...I was just stunned and upset at your comment....you obviously do not know enough. I don't blame you though, all you see on the discovery channel are things like 'The Sahara' and animals etc, or the mention of corrupt dictators....not the fact that Nigerians have the highest graduation rates of all minorities etc....and if you're wondering why you haven't heard about most of them, its because companies like Fortune Magazine etc do not bother to do enough homework and research on African business men......they're more concerned with the GATES,BUFFETS,ALLENS and QUANDT'S(BMW) of the world Having said all this let me say: "GO ROCKETS" ------------------ Ignorance is very expensive [This message has been edited by Wale (edited July 11, 2001).] [This message has been edited by Wale (edited July 11, 2001).]
Wale: Thx for your enlightening post... The funny thing, is I would wager there are more Nigerian billionaires than there are billionaires in Houston! I guess some posters don't realize that even though Dream is a player in the NBA, he's not even close to being a PLAYER when it comes to cash reserves! ------------------
Wow maybe Hakeem feels he is underpaid as far as wealthy Nigerian business men The big issue with Hakeem is a warriors pride * He doesn't want to be treated as an over the hill former superstar who can't get it done. * He believes he can still be one of the top NBA players if healthy * I think this is why he is out alot with injuries. He will not play through them because his performance suffers and he looks bad * When he is totally healthy he will play and make a significant contribution for some team- when he has any problem that limits his effectiveness look for him to sit * He wants to make a top tier salary because he refuses to see himself as a also ran * He announced his retirement and changed his mind when he felt better physically and saw that he could still perform at a good level * Don't expect hakeem to take a diminished salary or role with the Rockets- If he is resigned and stays pretty healthy he will help us alot, if he gets injured (even the slightest) expect him to be out until he feels he can score and RB again * Bottom line his pride is driving him to keep playing as long as he can be considered a very good player- * The question is can he still do it like he did in the 13 game stretch last year after his injury. * If he cannot play and put up numbers expect him to retire rather than embarrass himself * He doesnot want to be relegated to a 15 min 10 pt. 4 rb role player- IE over the hill fill in (See patrick ewing) ------------------
That was informative. However, the fact remains that Houston (ROckets and city) have supported Hakeem throughout his career. He has gained the respect and love from the fans and management team. He has also been compensated financially for his contributions. His actions these past few years have steadily chipped away at the legend he built. And for me, him being "not available" during FA negotiations is the last straw (also him wanting $10 million per year). I say make him a reasonable offer $5-7 million for a year. If he takes it great, if not then good luck getting your $10 million. ------------------
<marquee> <h1>We owe him...NOTHING!</h1> </marquee> Bye, Bye, Bye, Bye, Bye. ------------------ Rarely is the question asked: Guns kill squirrels than REDRUM to fools across the nation?
This is what flat out kills me. How on earth have you supported Hakeem? He has entertained you and you get pleasure from watching him play basketball. When you bought tickets to his games, were you going so you can watch a basketball game or did you pay to support Hakeem? If the latter is true, then let's all chip in for a Hakeem fund or something. If anything Hakeem has supported your need for good basketball and a good basketball team. I hate to tell you this, but as great a talent as Hakeem was, he would've been supported by any number of basketball cities. Hakeem is possibly the greatest athlete this city has known. He is a Houston icon. The city did not make him that icon, the city had the privilege of being in the presence of that icon. The city owes more to Hakeem than Hakeem will ever owe to the city in terms of basketball. If there's anyone person in this town that Hakeem should be indebted to, it's whoever went to Nigeria and found him. Outside of that he owes no one anything. We, as sports fans tend to associate ourselves with individual athletes as some sort of extension of our city or our pride. To a certain extent this is true. However, to expect such an individual to owe us anything is insane. Ultimately it is a business decision just like any other job/contract negotiation. Ideally you (and I) would hope that Hakeem would show some conviction to the city he played in for so long, but I won't be mad if he doesn't -- I'll be disappointed, but not mad. Go get yours, Hakeem. ------------------ "I'll tell you this, the older I get, the less I trust people. It's true. It's damn true." -- gr8-1 going through some growing pains.
That was a very enlightening post Wale. That comment irked me as well, but you responded better than I ever could have. I know you've been lurking for a while, but welcome to the board nonetheless. As far as the Hakeem situation goes, I hope something is done soon so this won't be an issue anymore. ------------------ matirmama, alabdhabhuumikatva- if you can translate this, you will forever have my respect.
I cheered for him, voted for him, and defended him. When he endorses something (charity or product) I listen...or try to since his English is still poor. He had my respect because he was an unique NBA player and he was Houston's. He was a superstar but didn't act like one, he was still approachable. We did not support him financially (indirectly we did) but we have supported Hakeem. But these last few years have really changed my opinion on him. The Rockets did everything to have him retire as a Rocket. But last season, he decided that he wanted at least one more year near $10 million per year with no hometown discount. He basically is making the decision that he doesn't care if he is a Rocket or not. That hurts. ------------------
Amen (if it's true). ------------------ "I'll tell you this, the older I get, the less I trust people. It's true. It's damn true." -- gr8-1 going through some growing pains.
i support Bum. btw, "chinaman isnt the proper nomenclature for..." who knows which movie thats from? a beer goes out to the 1st correct answer. btw, thanks Wale. i think a lot of us posters and lurkers appreciate your input. welcome to the board. forgot to mention: KNOWING IS HALF THE BATTLE! ------------------ purvis was never short. [This message has been edited by PurvisShort (edited July 12, 2001).] [This message has been edited by PurvisShort (edited July 12, 2001).]
Walter, this guy didn't build the railroads here, HE PEED ON MY RUG! ------------------ This post contains no smilies, you must judge my seriousness on your own...
alright P.R.Mobster, next clutchcity event, i owe you one...i guess $10 compaq center beers included. ------------------ purvis was never short.
