Can KD pass Bird or Bron or..BOTH?

mig0s · Oct 31, 2018

lol is this even a debate? After joining the Lakers, he will barely pass Scalabrine

plutoblue11 · Nov 1, 2018

Found this random article from 1989, it made me, chuckle.

https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-12-03-8903150254-story.html

PRO BASKETBALL
Sam SmithCHICAGO TRIBUNE

Unhappy Celtics: Larry Bird is healthy again, and to those who saw him hit a buzzer shot to defeat the Bulls here earlier this season, it also appears he`s back to the form that made him what some say is the best forward ever to play the game.

But problems remain for the Celtics. And some say they are seeing a different Bird, one more concerned with scoring than ever.

And so it appeared last week during a game against Atlanta when Bird and Dennis Johnson reportedly got into a heated argument leaving the court at halftime, after which Johnson refused to pass the ball to Bird and Bird wouldn`t shoot when he got it.

In that game, Bird attempted only seven shots while rookie guard Charles Smith tried 12. And in an earlier loss to Detroit, Bird attempted only four first-half shots, and was not happy about it.

Brian Shaw has indicated he`ll return to the Celtics next season, Boston is offering to pay Shaw`s Italian team to allow him to return now.

- Rise and fall: It`s not often a player goes from All-Star to all gone, but that may happen with Knicks point guard Mark Jackson, who is being booed regularly in New York, where the local lynch mob wants Rod Strickland starting.
''I`ve said all along there is a possibility we could do something with the point guard situation,'' related Knicks General Manager Al Bianchi. ''But now everything is on hold.''

Yet, one general manager confirmed the Knicks approached his team about itsinterest in Jackson, who was National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year in 1988. But he reported to camp out of shape and has played poorly, with former De Paul star Strickland, for the first time, replacing him late in close games.

''I`ve been a little surprised because Mark played so great in the clutch last year,'' said Strickland.

But with the Knicks running less, Jackson`s poor defense has been exploited more often, and he has never been a good shooter. And though Strickland also doesn`t shoot well, he`s quicker and penetrates and passes as well as Jackson.

- Guarded condition: Another guard who might soon be available is Sacramento`s Danny Ainge, who is shooting 37 percent and not accepting the blame.

''The offense is all fouled up,'' said Ainge, ''and I`m not getting good shots.''

Which came as a surprise to coach Jerry Reynolds: ''I`d buy that, except it`s the same offense we ran at the end of last season when he came and was shooting well. I wonder what offense he`d like us to put in.''

But Ainge hasn`t lost his impish sense of humor. Noting that No. 1 draft choice Pervis Ellison has played little this season and has alreay been fined twice, for missing a plane and a practice, Ainge dubbed Ellison ''Out-of-Service Pervis.''

- Signs were there: John MacLeod should have known something was up in Dallas. For the first time in club history, the coaches were put in the temporary section-with the team lineups and visiting team information-in the programs sold at each game.

- Old tricks: Timberwolves coach Bill Musselman is at it again. After Minnesota lost to Charlotte, he went into the locker room and saw Adrian Branch laughing after being told a joke. Musselman threw an eraser at Branch and hit him in the head with it.

- Big presence: Orlando GM Pat Williams on the overweight Benoit Benjamin: ''He gives new meaning to the term expansion player.''

- Money man? In the Bulls game against Atlanta last Tuesday, Jon Koncak, the Hawks` forward who received a $2.5 million offer sheet last summer (he makes $2.7 million) despite averaging five points a game, had three one-and-one free-throw opportunities and missed the first one each time.

After each miss, Michael Jordan ambled by and said: ''That`s not worth $2.5 million.''
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plutoblue11 · Nov 1, 2018

Jordan couldn't make more than $3.85 million in '95-'96 because he was in the last year of an eight year, $25M contract he signed in 1988. If his pay had increased along with the salary cap, he would have been making $9 or $10 million and the jump wouldn't look quite as big, but it still would have been enormous. The NBA salary cap took a big jump in '95-'96 due to a new TV deal with NBC, so everyone in the NBA had a higher cap to work with. Jordan had apparently suggested $18M a year for two years during the '96 playoffs, and the Bulls were rumored to be willing to offer Jordan as much as $20M as payback for being underpaid over the previous few years (even though he had missed some to go play baseball).

The Knicks decided to make a run at Jordan, and had plenty of cap room, but still had no way to offer Jordan more than the Bulls, who had Jordan's Bird Rights. The Knicks instead offered Jordan $12M a year, plus $15M a year to be the spokesman for ITT-Sheraton, who was at the time a part owner of the Knicks. This deal, which would circumvent the salary cap, was not legal according to league rules, but the NBA was going to allow it because, well, Stern did whatever Stern wanted to do, and Jordan's status as a global icon was unique. The Bulls protested and Stern told them to go piss up a rope.

Jordan's agent, David Falk, called Jerry Reinsdorf and told him that Jordan was signing with the Knicks the following day unless the Bulls topped the $25M that was on the table. The Bulls countered with $30M and Jordan signed the next day.

For what it's worth, Falk denies that the Knicks were ever close to signing Jordan.
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