i've never seen an NBA contract...i wonder if there's any obligation the Hornets owe to him, though, even if he walks. even if he never reports. anything related to his pension...anything else.
The alleged bust up between JVG and Boki as mentioned in Clutch's article is becoming more believable everyday. Why would JJ make such a fuss unless he felt he was traded in a deal solely to get rid of Boki. As CD said in an interview the main letdown in D going by stats was primarily because of poor D at the PG then PF positions. Defensively and offensively T-Mac, Yao and JJ has been our best.
Retire then JJ. I hate my job everyday I come in here but do I really have the financial flexibility to not show up until all my demands are met? No. So, here I am. He doesn't like it and has 17 million in the bank? Retire then, JJ. And then 2 years later, you'll regret it and want to make a comeback (see MJ, Rodman, countless and nameless other bball players) Problems are relative and yes, the situation he finds himself in sucks when you put it in the context that he is playing basketball for a living. Each job has sacrifices. This is the part of it. And for your sacrifice, you get to play a game you love, get paid millions upon millions of dollars, stay in shape for a living, get 4 months off every year to spend your money and with your family. Suck it up or retire, JJ. Either way, you are lucky to have that choice. Stuart
shortly after last year's playoffs, i was one of the very few here on this board defending JJ's play and effort in the fakers series amidst of sea of posters spewing venom and dissatisfied with his play. this season, i must admit, JJ's shooting has gone downhill and more importantly, his decision-making, man-to-man D, forced shots, and untimely turnovers have been a big problem for us. it had gotten to the point where i preferred he not even play in some games or just come off the bench. daoshi's assessment of wesley's skills earlier in this thread are spot on and i think we are definitely going to benefit from this trade. i feel bad for JJ but as harsh as it sounds, i think he only has himself to blame. the missed wide open shots and lack of quickness on D i could live with. but his careless turnovers and sometimes selfish play i could not. and i think both of these stem from his inflated ego. throughout his career, instead of recognizing his limitations he always tried to do more than he was actually capable of. this is what allowed him to think he should be jacking up shots with a minute to go or trying to create a play on his own when it wasn't there. instead of deferring to webber or peja or francis or tmac or kidd or whoever, he always had this mentality in his game that he could be the man, too. i thought at this stage of his career in houston he would've gotten over this. but this season showed me otherwise. especially now where apparently he feels he is too good for the hornets. i do not think he would've been traded if he had just played more within his limitations and agreed to maybe come off the bench (although there was a preseason quote from him saying that he felt he deserved starter's minutes). but i could see it having become a problem from his standpoint and a lockerroom distraction if JVG had decided to make him the 6th man later in the season. he gets my thanks for all his effort in any case - i don't fault his heart. but at the same time i'm happy w/ wesley.
I am gonna defend him on his decision, Put yourself in his shoes for just a minute.... He is an older player and can you blame him for not wanting to play for a 2-25 team?..The NBA is supposed to help players and from what i have seen in the past 5 years it has done nothing but alienate them into just playing for the money and not the love of the game.... What do you think the "Glove" would do if he was traded to the Hawks?... JJ wants to play for a contender and he knows father time is ticking and he wants to try to win a ring. Hornets are far from winning a ring........................................ Rockets might be too but they are not that far away...... Just my rant
I cannot see the kind of enjoyment that would be there for JJ to play for the Hornets. You think he loves Houston so much that he doesnt want to play for the Hornets. Like one poster siad, it's not only all about money, certainly not for JJ. Dont make him sound like Ricky Williams.
Well, if he was so bad, then why we played him 40+ minutes out there. It's not likely Wesely is going to play all JJ's minutes. If we could play Tmac more, play sura, play barry now. Why the heck we played JJ for 40+ minutes then. Looks to me, we were trying to get rid of JJ, but we were trying to get a catch&shoot guy. Wesley was on the block, hornets wanted Boki and JJ, then we were like urrr, what the heck, JJ is probably expendable since we've got Barry and Wesley. JJ was not a problem of the system, he contributed to the system.
piatkowski, griffin, wilks, now jackson. signed and traded a year later. we certainly dont seem like we know what we're doing. after this trade i cant help but think of the horry for elliott near debacle, among others. would we really be losing that much if cd were canned? i mean, look at what weisbrod put together for christ's sakes. as for jim, i'm sure he wishes this was simply a matter of cash and playing where he wanted...
This is thread is getting out of hand..... BOTTOM LINE: The Rockets did nothing wrong in trading JJ. There was obviously a reason that management/JVG felt this move needed to be made. They are in charge, not us. That decision isn't "shady" or any of the other proposterious things some of you are calling it. The Rockets aren't a classless organization for doing this by any means, and free agents certainly aren't going to be scared off because we made a damn roster move. It's a simple freaking trade just like the ones that happen all the time! As for JJ's actions: It's a free country, JJ do whatever the hell you want. Of course I can sympathize with the guy on being a career journeyman that wants to play for a contender towards the end of his career. At 34, is he really THAT old in the 1st place for everyone to basically call this his farewell tour? In that sense I totally agree, plus who wants to leave a good situation and play for the worst team in the league? However, he did sign a contract and the right thing to do is honor it. He has the freedom to retire and hang it up at any point. By not honoring his contract, its going to appear to be a bit classless and unethical. But, it certainly isn't the end of the world. There is no rule that says if you are under contract you HAVE to fulfill the contract or else. It's not the popular thing to do but this isn't going to tarnish his image. 10 years from now when somebody mentions the name Jim Jackson, people aren't going to be crying foul and calling him names because he considered his options and decided he wants to call it quits for whatever reason. I wish he was still a Rocket and it stinks he isn't. Right now, he is a Hornet and there is nothing we can do. Maybe by retiring he will be doing the team a favor if his motivation to play as hard for a terrible team as he did for us, is gone? Maybe this little incident will prompt a trade to a contender and they will get something good in return? A lot of teams could use a productive, hard working guard/forward with the experience and dirt cheap contract he has. We shall see what happens, either way best of the luck to a guy who gave us his all and loved being a Rocket.
Not trying to make him sound like anything, just that he has options. Great options that aren't available to 99.9% of the public. I understand being frustrated, but I think its ridiculous how athletes behave sometimes basically stomping their feet and holding their breath like little children. I am actually sick of hearing about JJ, I liked him as a player and he seemed like a class-act, but he is hurting no one except himself and perhaps his future employer. Stuart
It's not about right or wrong, black or white. The rockets organization and JJ both have made decisions within their own rights. The argument here is whether you agree with it or not. I dont agree with the Rockets', and somehow understand JJ's decision, feel sorry for him.
I am not so sure about Wesley not playing big minutes for us. Last nite for instance, without even a practice under his belt, he still played nearly the entire 4th quarter for us. I would not be surprised if he plays big minutes just out of necessity for his perimeter D (which is likely the same reason behind JJ having had to play so many minutes for us as well). Also, I do think JJ's inability to drain the open shots he was getting was indeed one of the problems in our offense this year. If Wesley is able to can more of those perimeter shots it will surely open things up more for Yao inside and TMac driving the lane. I'm not saying that we traded JJ because he was the ruin to our offense or anything. Just that Wesley should at the least be a better fit for our 2 stars.
That is right on, i feel kind of bad for JJ but not bad in a way i feel about people in Bangladesh or stuff like that, the guy has it so freaking good to be complaining. I still see this trade as a joke and wish we still had Jimmy and Boki in Houston.
