I'm serious. I've never heard that Olajuwon forced the Rockets to trade Thorpe. Can you provide a source?
I was just trying to apply even logic. James is expected to win playoff series with scrub teammates - why isnt Embiid if they are similar talents? Well Its hard to win NBA games with a 1 vs 5 roster. Wasnt that the eye opener everyone needed? Neither Jordan or Lebron could win with the types of teammates Harden had. Thats the central theme to why we are where we are now. Fairly obvious, but even the GOATS needed help. bad, bad games. No doubt.
If you could convince most of the players that this was ultimately bad for business, you might be able to fix it. But I don't know how you could really prove that.
The rockets catered to Hardens every demand on and off the court and this created the diva we see today. It's not the first time this has happened nor will it be the last time. Remember LeBron was/is quite the controlling LeGm everywhere but with the Heat. He tried of course. He famously pressured to replace spo but riley and the heat wouldn't bend the knee to king james. Eventually LeBron left the heat and became LeGm once more in CLE and then LA. He was ever the diva and ever controlling. Firing and hiring coaches and players. But because he was the great king james on the court, it was ultimately worth it... He brought titles to those kingdoms. While james Harden like LeBron james had his hand in the firing and hiring of coaches and players... He hasn't had nearly the same results. The moral of the story, cater to every whim and demands of your superstar at your own peril. Imagine if Curry was a diva and wouldn't let the team fire his beloved mark jackson. Whom he publicly supported 100% yet was also clear that he was NOT The gm. With Jackson at the helm, I'm guessing Curry loses at least 1 mVp and ring.
The owners would have to enter very specific language into the CBA around hold outs and impose crippling fines. Fines that would significantly hurt star players. This doesn't mean players could report and start playing bad or create disruption on the team in other ways to force their way out. The fines would just be significantly less because the team does not have the leverage to levee huge fines. At least this BS James is pulling would be nixed because players wouldn't want to start losing like $500K by the league for missing the start of the season or whatever. Just a thought.
To get Westbrook you had to move CP3. Who actually thinks those 3 on the court at the same time would result in a title? And how else would you fill out the roster with 3 $30+ million dollar players who play the same position? Why should tillman go into the tax for a team realistic people know cant/wont win a championship?
And rightly so. Nobody wants to come to Houston. Our targets should always be below the top-10 players list because if you're a top-10 player you'd rather play somewhere else.
"While Olajuwon loved the idea of being reunited with his Phi Slamma Jamma fraternity brother, teammates Robert Horry and Mario Elie criticized the trade. With Drexler, 32, the Rockets (47-35) finished the regular season 17-18. This was progress?" https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1995-06-11-9506110274-story.html No one on Rockets EXCEPT Dream wanted the older and recently injured Clyde Drexler. The trade not only lost a popular and productive teammate in Thorpe but it unhinged an already unstable Vernon Maxwell who felt that Drexler was supplanting his starting position. But Dream and Glide had been plotting to play together again for years. As soon as Adelman was fired in Portland (after Duckworth traded), Drexler demanded a trade and Hakeem convinced Rockets to do it. https://www.houstonpress.com/news/c...e-houston-rockets-miracle-playoff-run-7373022 Some additional required reading on your "favorite" team. https://grantland.com/features/an-oral-history-hakeem-olajuwon-ralph-sampson-1980s-houston-rockets/ Not charging you ... this time.
To say that Olajuwon "forced" the Rockets to trade Thorpe is a stretch. There's a big difference between "convinced" and "forced". Thanks for providing a source though.
If Harden has as much power as you believe then MDA would still be the coach. Definitely not hard balled his final season. And Morey would still be GM. Some fans are being a tad naive regarding the power and hubris of ownership.
Hmm, just wanted to say that Daryl Morey has previously tried to get other stars of questionable fit... From that perspective and knowing he didn't trusted Paul in coming back better the next season, the move is more understandable. He's very good, a brilliant man, but not infallible.
They have entirely different definitions. "Force" implies a threat. You haven't proven that Olajuwon forced that trade.
Perhaps I'm naive but I'm going to trust the words, opinions of clutch, macmahon, iko and many others before I trust the words of Tilman fertita. The only source that contradict those views are from Tilman Fertita. If he tells me the sky is blue, I'm going to believe it's grey.
