I say we give Deke a nice ceremony before the game 3. This will show everyone who doesn't already know what a class act this man was, and just a flat out amazing human being. Also, this will remind the Rockets players what they are truly playing for..not only for themselves, but for a man that gave it his all no mater how many minutes he was asked to play, and was always cheering you on. Guys..win this one for the big man.
This feels like a Return of the Jedi moment. Yao looks over the fire and he sees Deke joining Ralph Sampson and Barkley.
We truly will miss DEKE in this series... Man its going to be long tough grind it out series without Deke... Thanks for everything DEKE, we will miss you!
This hurts I loved Deke, he was by far my favorite Rocket and I was looking forward to seeing one more finger wag on Friday. I will miss him greatly, he was great man and great captain. He joined the team midseason when the Rockets were still trying to find their identity, and did an excellent job. This saddens much more than the defeat.
im just glad to know that he will still be there with the teamates. He is the spiritual leader of this team like CLyde Drexler said, and his mere presence is huge, just huge.
Today is really a bad day. Deke's injury make me very sad, at the same night, we get beated by Blazers so hard. Adelman's clueless and Yao's useless make those Deke's murders hyped-up again and again. Oden's ugly face get me feel so sick when he is laughing loudly.This is really a bad day.
We love you Deke, it is a so big loss you can't play for us in the coming series...BTW,Blazers have 4 6'11"+ player. It will be hard time.
I don't blame this on Oden. Deke's body couldn't take it anymore. A young Deke would have no problem boxing that guy out.
Oden is pretty goonish but I don't blame the injury on him. I wish all the best for Deke. He is a warrior and a legend and a class act. I think losing him will be pretty costly, especially if we advance to the next round. He made a big impact in limited minutes every time he played and for all of Yao's strengths, he's not in the same league as Deke when it comes to protecting the rim, shotblocking and rebounding. Unless Yao plays 48 mpg, we will now have to play significant minutes every game without a center.
Mutumbo is the definition of a team player. You want this man on your team, NO you need this man on your team. His heart is on his sleeve, his team can do no wrong in his eyes when obviously the ref saw the right call. Deke you truly are one of the best defensive centers of all time and I will never forget your contributions to this team and the NBA. It was an honor to be alive during your years in this league and watch you wag that finger after every rejection and listen to you bark at every call. This man went out like a war hero. He didn't walk off the court and leave basketball behind, it took a damn stretcher to make this man leave basketball. We all watched a legend play his last game today.
Everyone freaking out about the loss needs to realize that this was a much bigger deal. I'm really sad to hear that Deke said his career is done. That guy has been so great for this team and this city.
I think it was inevitable that his career would end this way-- otherwise he would have played another 20 years. Gonna miss you Deke.
