I thought the calls against the Lakers were pretty bad in the 2004 Finals vs the Pistons. Foul calls are a subjective thing though...fans tend to have selective memory on bad calls too. For example, during this stretch you refer to, while watching the games live, I thought the Lakers were getting screwed on a lot of calls.
It was never a secret that Howard got SVG fired. And none of the arguments of Howard to Houston are valid if he doesn't sign here. You should be careful beating your chest about Howard coming here. People did the same last year when they said we had the best trade package to offer Orlando for him. If Howard leaves L.A. he just may decide to come here, but Atlanta may be just as good of an option. And the Lakers still have a month to fire D'antoni...
I only beat my chest about Howard coming here to all the Laker trolls who have invaded Clutch Fans recently. Actually I wont be upset if he doesn't come here because I love our team as it is anyways. But hell yeah I'm going to beat my chest about him coming here because its exciting for us a scares the **** out of Laker homers. The more good arguments we make, the more the media reports on it, the more Dwight thinks about it... it all good. All those rocket's fans who are feeling a little "once bitten twice shy" about Dwight... Its ok... its ok to dream about the possibilities. Worse comes to worse, we have the same team going into next year ... and thats not that bad. I'm confident we'll get Dwight or another star like Josh Smith. I'm also confident that if Dwight walks, the Lakers are screwed for many years to come. BWAAAAHAHAHA (evil laugh)
he's utilising everybody as leverage if he's not, his agent isn't doing his job. Although tbh, I'm starting to think a lot of it is PJ's game of thrones with Dwight as the leverage
PJ keeps saying; "Dwight isn't being utilized correctly" or "There's no reason for Dwight to return" Its saying, I'm the only one that can make Dwight happy in LA. If you wanna keep him... you know who to call... But I think PJ is just rubbing it in. He doesn't want to coach, he want's a front office job. He's already proven himself as a coach, and he only coaches teams that are favorites. Lakers cannot win with this group, especially in light of Kobe's injury. Phil ain't gonna jump on a sinking ship! He's 68.
Half of the stuff coming out aren't even about Dwight, they're about about Mike D'antoni and Phil Jackson, Dwight is just the bishop on the table being moved around to facilitate their articles. We must get rid of D'antoni! why? Dwight Howard!
what sort of leverage? he's getting a max deal wherever he goes. it's not like LA hasn't already put that $118 million contract in his face already. He has elected not to sign it.
If he wants to go to Brooklyn, they woud have to do a sign and trade, and so he could use the Rockets as leverage to sign n trade him to Brooklyn rather than letting him walk to the Rockets. I don't necessarily think that's happening. But it's possible.
Thought had crossed my mind too. But I looked into Brooklyn's salary situation and looks like they got $89 million on the books for 2013/14 putting them way above the luxury tax. If i am right, that means they cannot "receive" a sign and trade player in any deal.
I'd actually feel sorry for Dwight if Phil does come back. When it fails, and it will fail, Dwight would cop all the blame.
It was a smokescreen from Olajuwon because he knew 11 days later he would be making a pitch to Dwight at the ALL-STAR game to come to Houston. He might be doing more recruiting for Houston when Dwight comes for training this Summer.
Aleron, this bump smelled a little funny, but if this video doesn't get your blood boiling about NBA officiating, you either did not watch it or you are a Lakers fan and don't care that bad calls got you to the playoffs. I do not recall our last game of the year being poorly officiated, but it would've been if a playoff spot were on the line.
^This. I'm starting to believe that Phil Jackson saw an opportunity to grab an executive position with the Lakers, and knew the only way he could strong-arm his way in there is to play up to Dwight's admiration of him. So, he goes on the radio and starts talking about how if HE were coach, he'd build around Dwight, thus undermining MDA while still maintaining his "hands-off" status at the moment. However, now that Dwight has gotten wind of the fact that Phil might be willing to come back (if and only if Dwight re-signs), he's going to be all-in with the Lakers. Phil will then be able to swoop in, and be the savior that he so wants to be viewed as. Jim Buss then loses his control on the organization, and Phil becomes the Godfather a la Pat Riley in Miami.
