Come on !! Who can fault Steve for speaking his mind? It is a business, and he has every right to say what he thinks, especially when asked. Steve is a knee jerk person, and when the dust settles he will calm down. And his agents are NEVER going to do anything other than kiss his butt...that is their job...they are "yes" men.....who do nothing but pump Steve up.. I don't fault Steve for speaking his mind.....free country guys...free country. DD
and i'll criticize him for it when sounds like a child, da da....free country, man...free country. by the way...can we stop the pseudo-constitutional/first amendment expertise everytime someone makes an idiotic statement? free speech doesn't mean you don't get basted when you say to the world you think white people are superior..it just keeps the government from locking you up for it. big difference. you're right...free country...francis isn't going to jail for it.
DD, isn't it the posse that's supposed to kiss up, be yes men, and freeload? The agents are supposed to advise him on public image, negotiate deals....and then kiss his butt, be yes men, and, of course, free load!
DaDa, If one of your clients was paying you a million dollars to develop a game, and you told them, "I don't want to work with you", how do you think that would go over with them, and would you expect that they would just blow it off, give you the money anyway and explain it all with "Free speech"?
And if they said it then, they probably believed it then. What everyone else seems to understand, and what Steve has now accepted, but obviously didn't at first, is that things can change. I'm planning on staying at my job, and I will tell my employer that. If I got offered a job paying $2 million a year to play video games tomorrow, I might not be working here any more. Does that make me a liar when I tell my boss I am planning on staying here when we talk today? Him getting traded sucks, but sometimes in life you've just gotta suck it up and be a professional. As many have discussed, it would be fine to simply show emotion and say "I am upset and disappointed." (see: Cuttino Mobley) The problem comes when you start using the media to obstruct the deal or make stupid demands you have no right to make (i.e. "I will only go there if they get Shaq.") Like Codell said, I'm glad he's changed his tune, but if it's too little, too late, then that is upsetting to me.
If I make a knee-jerk reaction and call my boss an a-hole in front of the whole world, but then decide to say I'm sorry 2 days later, I'll be saying I'm sorry through a telephone as I'm looking for another job. Sure, I'm free to call him whatever I want, just as he's free to fire my ass.
Do you get traded from company to company at the whim of your boss in your industry? Just pointing out the fallacy of comparing your job (unless you're a professional athlete) to that of a professional athlete. BTW, when did Francis call anyone an *******?
I've never had a problem with Francis, I always like Francis, and I don't understand why people think that it's a bad trade for Orlando. It's good to hear that Francis might stay in Orlando because a line-up of Francis, Mobley, Cato, Howard/Gooden and whatever SF they got along with Nelson and whoever else they get is a playoff team and potentially a 2nd round or conference finals team. I think Orlando would have been better off taking Okafor, but that team with Francis and Mobley in the backcourt can be a force in the East.
ever heard of people getting transferred? It happened to my dad multiple times when I was growing up. Actually, it happened to me a year ago, which is why I now live in new york while my girlfriend lives in Houston. If you want to be overly literal, change it to me going into work and telling everyone I don't want to work there, because everyone there sucks and the company sucks. Happy? I'd still get fired.
Not the same thing gentleman. Steve has a guaranteed contract, and he has a right to speak his mind about it. Just because some of us here would have handled it differently (ie more class) does not mean that Steve is of the same requirement. People are just mad because it may be screwing up the Orlando deal, or the perception is that it is screwing it up. Steve just spoke his mind, when asked....so what !! Sure he has a contract, and will have to honor it, no one is saying that he won't...just that he is dissappointed....no big deal. Max, You are correct, you guys can blast him for speaking his mind if you want, no harm, no foul. But, Steve can also say that he is dissappointed, I mean what harm is there in that? He wants to stay in Houston.....heck, I don't want him here, but I respect that he wants to stay. Steve is just speaking his mind, which is what all of us are doing as well. No big deal. DD PS. It is funny that I am agreeing with RM95 (and defending Steve), it so rarely happens
As for the Francis outburst, I'm a huge Francis fan, and I like Steve, but you can't tell me that Francis outburst wasn't that bad and people are overreacting with Francis. The people saying Francis is a bad player this and that, they're wrong, but Francis WAS acting kind of whiny. But then, you can blame Rockets management for not telling him and having him find out at the last second. Francis complaints almost killed the deal, and Francis has a history of complaining the way he did here so it's obvious people are going to jump on Steve, so it shouldn't shock anybody.
OMG !!! 2 in one day......Need to go buy lottery tickets !! DD PS. How is major taking the Lidge promotion, he was a big Dotel supporter....?
Are you kidding me? Come on, you don't think getting transferred and having to work in the Omaha office is just as good as being able to work in the Miami office, do you? Anyway, he still works for the NBA.
Contract workers and temp workers do it all the time. I agree that the analogy, to professional athletes, is not really accurate though. However, the fact is, the Rockets own Steve Francis' rights and contract as an asset. They pay him well to be that asset, whether its as a player or a tradeable commodity. Steve's words are lessening his worth to us as an asset. With freedom of speech comes responsibility and reprocussions if you don't take that responsibility seriously.
Well, I'm not necessarily convinced that Lidge should be the closer yet, even though you have to do that trade. I'll let Major log into my account and give you his answer....just kidding Clutch!!! He loved Dotel, but likes the trade:
i'm going to say this again....and i really, really mean it this time. i do not care if he is disappointed and he expresses that. that's exactly what mobley did. you could hear that in dotel's voice last night. i have zero concerns with that. my problem is when you spend the day on the phone with shaq...and then you tell the media that YOU'RE NOT GOING TO ORLANDO UNLESS SHAQ IS GONNA BE THERE TOO while you're under contract. that's my problem with what he did. he asserts a right he does not have and nearly botches a deal because of it.
right to do what??? unless he's willing to walk away from his contract entirely, he can not choose who he will or will not play for. he signed the deal, and it's made him very wealthy. with that comes the responsibility to play freaking hoops with the rockets or with a team he's traded to. that's in the collective bargaining agreement. now if he wants to walk away from the millions of dollars and not play at all, fine. he certainly has that right. i'm assuming he won't choose to exercise that right.
