Celebrate Dream or be ashamed of yourselves.

You know, Achebe, it's amazing to me how you think someone (ANYONE) can be immunized to criticism even when you love him a lot. I also feel that Hakeem is one of the best players (in the top 10) to have ever played the game. He has delivered two more championships than Houston had ever had. However, what he did to Rudy was wrong, plain and simple. He doesn't owe me anything, but he damn well owes Rudy some respect! I think Rudy should give Dream more PT, but this crap about airing his frustrations to a couple of sports reporters from Miami is over the line.

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HOUSTON Rockets forever!!

 

Precisely, Achebe. People have been calling him washed-up for a long time now. So what if he doesn't fit in here? He would fill the void on the Heat roster and give Brian Grant some much-needed relief. Best of all, he would earn some applause again.

Why should we insist on keeping him around if his eyes, heart, and mind are turned elsewhere?

Hopefully Hakeem will give Miami that little extra lift so that the East won't be completely suck-oid in the playoffs. As for us, we very well may have something else up our sleeves with Vancouver. So let's get on with it. Make it an amicable divorce.

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So what? Dream is your little indentured servant?

No, he's just under a $16,000,000 / year contract to play basketball for the Houston Rockets. That gives the Rockets the right to use him as they see fit. When a player signs a long-term contract, he's exchanging his freedom to choose where he plays for financial security. If he didn't want to take the risk of what might happen 5 or 6 years down the road, he shouldn't have signed a long-term contract like that.



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Is it any coincidence that the Cato is the only Rocket with a temperature scale named after him?

I didnt think so!!!!

 

Allow me to throw out the popular cliche "Post of the Year". In the immortal words of Gypsy -- "The thing is, this is a man's life". Thanks Achebe.

 

I don't know about anyone else, but the problem I have with Hakeem is not the fact that he is attempting to improve his situation, you really can't fault him for that, but that he is going about it in such a dishonest, underhanded manner.

The fact that he, for the longest time, said that he "wouldn't mind a trade or waive" as long as it "benefitted the team" was all horsesh!t. He was only interested in himself from the get go.

And as far as him breaking the whole confidentiality thing to those Heat reporters, hell, if it were a lesser player, everyone would be screaming for a suspension for a game, or at least a fine.

But since he is the Dream, and he has brought us two championships, he is incapable of doing wrong, or hurting his team?

If Hakeem was truly interested in helping the team like he claims, he would have kept his mouth shut. And if he truly wanted to leave the Rockets, whats to stop him from renouncing the rest of his contract? It's all about money and pride with Hakeem. He may say one thing, but it is becoming more and more obvious that he never really means it.

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"Of course, everything looks bad if you remember it!"
Homer Simpson

 

No. The money that Hakeem is making is a reward for winning 2 championships. I highly doubt that Les Alexander gives a flying you know what whether Hakeem was underpaid(which he was not) under previous ownership. It simply has nothing to do with Les.

Achebe, the reason I am mad(I don't want to speak for anyone else) is because repeatedly over the past few years Hakeem has publicly stated that he would not retire before his contract was up because a man from his culture and religion should live up to his obligations and honor his word(ie. contract). He stated many times that he would at least play out his contract as a Rocket. Hakeem always said he would do what was best for the team even if it meant a more limited role. Obviously this is not the case IF Hakeem truly wants the team to trade him, thus forfeiting the cap space from his salary this summer, or release him without fulfilling his contract obligations.

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"Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives,
but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is." -- Barbara Bush

 

I'm not going to celebrate a man who is trying to force a trade. He's under contract, you want to talk about honor, how about honoring THAT! I don't mind Dream wanting to go so much as people are trying to re-paint this as a falling hero trying to get one more chance. If Barkley had did this people would be tearing him apart as being greedy. I mean people ripped Charles last year for publically telling Francis and the young player to act more mature and stop brining cell phone etc., but it's ok for Dream, who is undercontract, to beg to be traded? What makes this any different then Scottie Pippen!? As for Houston "owing" Dream, don't you think Dream "owes" Houston for getting him the players that helped him to win a championship? Dream and Houston were PARTNERS, one couldn't win a title without the other. As for the fact that he didn't insult Rudy, he complimented Riley what if one day after a San Antonio game Rudy said "Now that is a REAL center right there in David Robinson, my goal is to get Robinson on this team THIS YEAR!" what would you guys say?

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Dream a deadly Dream. . .



[This message has been edited by RocksMillenium (edited February 01, 2001).]

 

Let me add my two cents to this.

If the Rockets did not trade Hakeem two years ago, it was *never* out of loyalty, neither was it out of the love for Hakeem. It was pretty much because of the backlash they would face in this city. Moreover, the Rockets organization needed Hakeem to get their Arena. No Hakeem, No Arena, despite how much ever effort from SOR.

Speaking about the Arena, just last summer Les and his businessmen held this city to its breath by repeatedly threatening to take his team away from this city. They did it through the media, same way how Hakeem is doing it today. The only difference in the two situations is that Hakeem truly has a better alternative away from Houston, while Les did not. If Los Angeles did not have an NBA team last summer, I bet Les would not even think twice about this city and just say goodbye.

For those who say that Hakeem should shut up and just play out his contract, I would love to see you do the same with a job that you hate. How many people around here have moved from job to job, because some company either underpaid you or tasked you with a job that did not utilize your skills? Where was you loyalty?

Loyalty, in my mind, works both ways. Sadly, the Rockets and Hakeem are moving in two different directions, and neither feels any loyalty to the other. If the Rockets are not trading Hakeem, its because he's untradable, and not because of any "loyalty". If tomorrow the Lakers offer Kobe/Shaq for Hakeem, we'll see what loyalty the Rockets show, and what loyalty this city shows.

I could ramble more...but this should suffice for now.

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well said Pimp. Those sentiments are perfectly consistent with everything you've ever said about any athlete.

Hakeem's stated principles were consistent with yours. You have every right to call the man on that without "being ashamed of yourself".

 

Here's some more wisdom from the pimp, partner:

It's amazing how resorting to racial slurs is suddenly accepted around here. Steve Francis better have a good game tonight or he can pack his bags and get his black ass out of here. I'm glad we didn't draft Najera, I knew his Mexican ass would be sucking in Dallas. Hey, this is pretty fun!

 

Let me try....

My white a$$ is getting ready to go to lunch! Peace out!

Hmm, maybe it works better when talking about someone else's a$$.

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There is a very fine line between "hobby" and "mental illness."

 

People change. People grow apart. In this corporate relationship, Rudy has changed a basketball system. Stuff happens, sure... but that's a descriptive analysis {things change} rather than a normative statement {things ought/ought not to change}. There is no ought in this situation. There's merely a relationship between two groups... the Rockets and Dream.

The Rockets have gone run & gun. Dream just turned 38. Those two things aren't exactly kosher.

Achebe, would you have been saying this same thing a few yrs back if the Rockets had chosen to trade Hakeem to Toronto? "Corportate relationship" right? Why couldnt the Rockets have taken a page out of Corporate America and gotten the best possible value for Dream? You want to know why? LOYALTY. Dont even try to use the corporate sh** happens argument when you wouldve called for blood had the Rockets traded him a few yrs back. You Hakeem lovers talk about hypocrisy, then what is this?

Doesn't Dream's current contract include alot of back pay from the 'bad owner' years?

How does this statement support your argument in any way and how is it even related to what you are trying to prove? All this does is show that the Rockets organization under Les Alexander has been even more LOYAL to Dream. Why did Les have to re-pay Hakeem for bad treatment under past managements? WHY? Answer is, he did not but showed loyalty to him by re-paying him for all the crappy treatment he received from the past owners.

This situation completely feels like being stabbed in the back and you, ZRB and Freak obviously arent seeing it b/c you guys are jaded with your little Dream loyalties. It feels like Dream is sticking a knife in the back of the Rockets organization. Hakeem has completly marred his reputation with myself and numerous other Rockets fans; all he will have left are the crazy extreme loyalists like yourself, ZRB and Freak.


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[This message has been edited by MManal (edited February 01, 2001).]

 

Freak, you're reaching buddy.

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"Clinton lied. A man might forget where he parks or where he lives,
but he never forgets oral sex, no matter how bad it is." -- Barbara Bush

 

If the Rockets did not trade Hakeem two years ago, it was *never* out of loyalty, neither was it out of the love for Hakeem. It was pretty much because of the backlash they would face in this city. Moreover, the Rockets organization needed Hakeem to get their Arena. No Hakeem, No Arena, despite how much ever effort from SOR.

If the Hakeem non-trade was only an arena related issue then explain to me why the first arena proposal failed? According to what Oeilpere had stated back then, Hakeem essentially blocked the deal by demanding a contract extension which Toronto laughed at. Thus, had they still gone through with it, then Hakeem would have completely blasted the organization which could have completely destroyed the organization's image; he was playing hard ball. Also, based on what I read at the time, Rudy was extremely loyal to Dream and could not go through with letting him be moved on.

Speaking about the Arena, just last summer Les and his businessmen held this city to its breath by repeatedly threatening to take his team away from this city.

Repeatedly huh? I suppose taking a tour of Louisville is repeatedly threatening. Les Alexander was actually very good about not holding the gun to the public and for the most part kept it just to issues of the campaign. There was no where near the amount of hard ball Drayton McLane was playing to get Enron Field.

I would love to see you do the same with a job that you hate. How many people around here have moved from job to job, because some company either underpaid you or tasked you with a job that did not utilize your skills? Where was you loyalty?

Corporate Amercia argument again, boy do I love these. There usually is no loyalty in Corporate America. However, the Rockets showed A LOT of loyalty to the Dream, first by overpaying him for bad past managements, THEN by not trading him to Toronto. He should show just a little loyalty towards them now and not expect them to pay his 16 mil salary to play for another team. You think this "I dont like my job" thing is only allowable by the employee? Why cant the employer just say, "you arent useful to us anymore and we can get something better and younger that fits our philosophy." The Rockets showed loyalty by not taking advantage of their end of it so Hakeem should do the same.

Btw, in answer to your question, if I was under a legal binding contract to my company, team, etc I would never try to wiggle out of it. There is a certain sense of decency and ethics that needs to be practiced. I would wait till the contract is over then walk. Thus, if I were in Hakeem's shoes, I would play the contract out then go sign with the Heat next yr. If the Rockets traded me then great, but I would not be creating a public uproar about it.

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MManal,




Mango

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Spring Cleaning!!!