http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1834778 Associated Press SALT LAKE CITY -- The Utah Jazz have confirmed they have made an offer for Detroit Pistons free agent Mehmet Okur. "We have a verbal commitment on a multiyear contract," Jazz spokesman Kim Turner said Monday night. Turner said he could not provide any details because the Jazz cannot sign Okur before July 14. Okur is a restricted free agent and the Pistons have 15 days to match the Jazz offer. The offer was first reported by the Detroit Free Press, which said the Pistons still were waiting to hear the official news from Okur's agent, Marc Fleisher. Pistons president Joe Dumars said last week that it was unlikely the Pistons could afford to sign Okur as well as Rasheed Wallace, who's an unrestricted free agent. ESPN's David Aldridge reported last Friday that the Pistons had offered Okur a six-year, $40 million contract to stay in Detroit. Okur was expected to hear out offers from the Jazz as well as the Phoenix Suns before the deadline. Okur is the first Turk to win an NBA championship. President Bush cited Okur in his speech during the recent NATO summit in Istanbul as an example of a Turk who has contributed to American life. The 6-11 forward-center averaged 9.6 points in 22.3 minutes per game in the regular season and 3.7 points in 11.4 minutes in the postseason.
I don't understand why the Jazz always go hard after the White players. Look at their team roster: PG: Arroyo(white/latino), Lopez(white), Williams(Black) SG: Giricek(white), Snyder(black), Bell(black) SF: AK(white), Harpring(white), PF: Humphries(white), Collins(black) C: Okur(white), Borchartd(white) 8 whites, 4 blacks, and that's insane compared to the rest of the NBA's standard.
And next season, their starting 5 could very well be an all white team. Is that a record in the history of the modern NBA (post Civil Rights Act era)?
Simply stated, Salt Lake City is not a place that many black people would want to live, especially young, wealthy, and famous black people. The Jazz tried to court some black players last year with their cap space. Who'd they end up getting?
Well that sucks. I kind of liked Okur. Now I have to hope he bombs and leaves Utah with a bloated contract. He is now the enemy.
Where is Sam Fisher? This is his favorite team. I would actually be interested in his views on Okur and the Jazz, and how hard it is for the Jazz to recruit players to Utah. Sam???? DD
Terry signed an offer with them as did Maggette. It is not their fault their respective teams matched.
Whatever jazz fan. Stop poking holes in the Jazz-management-is-racist-just-look-at-their-scrappy-pasty-players theory. Just let it be.
Turkish are not Asians. They are caucasians, last time I checked. Wait, are we living on the same planet?
5 years, 50 million Get 10 million a year, carry the olympic torch, and marry your model fiance in the course of a week. Life is good for Mehmet.
Being caucasian has nothing to do with it. Turkey is on the continent of Asia, so Turks are Asians, as are Indians, Jordanians, Sri Lankans, etc.
