Who is draggin this? If the management didn't piss him off with the pathetic initial offer, didn't drag until the last week to make the 3 year offer LONG after the other teams have laid better offers on the table, do you think this thing will drag on for so long? The fact it drags on shows, instead of Hakeem sabotaging Rockets, Hakeem's desire to stay in Houston. In my opinion, despite his questionable desire to get more than 5 million a year, Hakeem has done his best to try to stay in Houston. At first, his boss told him, indirectly, that he is ****, by offering him a huge pay cut and a guaranteed kick on the ass after 1 year to send him out of the house. Then other teams came here and said, "Hey, old man, we think you are still pretty good!" with better offers. Then Hakeem waited for Rockets to react. Instead of making a better offer on the spot, Rockets drag the whole affair and made an average offer in the end. Having been slapped on the face with the pathetic initial offer, Hakeem (or his agent) decides that is it! If you look at the whole thing from the beginning. Have Hakeem said anything to the media? Hakeem knew that he is not very good at dealing with the media and management, so he let his agent do it. His agent happens to have a bad reputation among Rockets fans. I don't think we have ever heard true words from Hakeem's mouth in this whole affair. On the contrary, it is the Rockets management that has been making the headline all days. Their action doesn't coincide with their words. In the media, they build this illusion that they wanted Hakeem badly, while makeing some realistic but laughable (compared to other team's) offer to drive Hakeem nuts. In the end, the goal is achieved. Rockets save the money, Hakeem is out of the way and all blame falls on him. How wonderful the capitalist world is! That is why every boss likes American economy. The rich has the power to influence what the public think through the media, even the communists can't do that so well. The most laughable claim from many people is that 31 millions in the last 2 years for Hakeem was "Thank You Money". Come on! I beg any one who says that must not have been a medium or big business owner or CEO, senior manager or whoever spending his life in the higher levels of corporate hierarchy. THERE IS NO THANK YOU MONEY IN THE FREE ECONOMY! The money was to make Hakeem happy at that time of the old contract. As a simple rule of thumb, no working adult will accept a decreasing salary. Therefore, Hakeem's salary would naturally reach its peak in the last years, which was not too much anyway at the time of making the contract, because nobody predicted how fast Hakeem deteriorated. The money was not much at all, by MJ standard. So Mr. Hakeem didn't do well in the last 2 or 3 years. And you guys think that the boss should come up to him and said, hey man, can I get some of those 31 million back? That is really a good joke. Imagine your boss does that to you in today's sluggish economy. Hakeem probably doesn't deserve the big contract, but he surely doesn't deserve those stupid criticism about his character either. He is not a good role model in team loyalty or charity or many things you think a good rich man should do, but he is no more evil than any one in the Rockets' organization! ------------------
Was it necessary to drag out a quote of mine and start a new thread with it? Couldn't you have just posted a response in the original thread? ------------------ What if I say to you that the universe is a three-legged horse, eh? What then? - Russell Hoban
So you would of payed Hakeem 10 mill for 1 year and just let the rockets lose Mo Taylor, Shandon and Moochie. Because I know they wouldnt. It was about risking the future of the team. Not like they didnt want to pay him more but because it would hurt the FUTURE of the Rockets. Hakeem is not the FUTURE. I rest my case..... ------------------ "The girls danced, started fondling me, I got aroused, they performed oral sex," Ewing said. "I hung around a little bit and talked to them, then I left."
Alright, more DREAM threads! ------------------ "Oh No..." -Bill Walton in 97 just before Stockton's buzzer beater
This has become an overstatement, the idea that the Rockets lowballed Olajuwon and shamed him into leaving. This has been coming for a long while now. It isn't something that happened a month ago or even 6 months ago. This has been brewing since last year and both parties are responsible. ------------------ Who's your buddy? Who's your pal? I am, aren't I?
That was beautiful KD, beautiful. ------------------ Protrolls.com! The next person to post on my message board will win a prize! The ZRBucks!
I apologize for making a new thread. My initial intention was to right a short response. As it gets longer, I decided to make it a new thread. I intended to move the "Thank you money" part to the front and rewrite the response to your post, but did not have time this morning. RM, my post is certainly not against you, but a biased summary of my take on the whole drama that started since June. I must admit that I am being a little selfish by opening a new thread, but every one wants to get more response or attention when he posts a long message. ------------------
I won't pay Hakeem 10 million either. I am not arguing about how much he should get paid or whether Rockets should keep him. IN fact, I think I have not joined any thread on whether Rockets should try to keep Hakeem. I am just saying, in short, Hakeem is not morally at fault here, since the management has not been anywhere more noble than he has been in this whole business. Hakeem is probably a bad businessman who haven't learned the American way of dealing with media and business, at least not as good as MJ. I am sad that he is gone, probably not as sad as those living in Texas. I don't blame the Rockets for not wanting him bad enough, or he asking too much money. I just can't understand why many people can't look at a business transaction from a business' point of view, and instead put all the blame on Hakeem's morals. ------------------
Ultimately this whole thing makes me think that we appreciated Hakeem a lot more than he appreciates us. That's all. Nothing more. The man has more money than he can ever spend. He had an opportunity to be one of the few players in the history of the game to retire in the same city he began his pro career...I can't think of anyone else who started their college career and finished their pro career in the same city. After taxes and exchange rate, the difference with Toronto is negligible. I just think ultimately he appreciates the Rockets organization and the city of Houston less than they appreciate him. The man is a treasure in this town...I really hate to see it end this way. ------------------
Nothing is being dragged on. CD just met with Fegan for the first time a few days ago, for crying out loud. Obviously no one is in a hurry, outside of visitors to the BBS. It's August 1st -- training camp is two months away. "We can't do anything until he makes up his mind" is just totally untrue. The Rockets own Hakeem's rights, and they have the freedom to renounce those rights. And the Rockets reportedly contacted Marc Jackson for the first time yesterday! Nothing was stopping the Rockets from looking for potential replacements for Hakeem before now. ------------------ "Is that good for us?" --Rudy T, after Starks missed that 3 in the '94 Finals
Are you talking about the same city that voted down an arena vote to keep him around? The same city that was last in the league in attendance in what could have been their final chance to see him play? Yeah, bigtime appreciation going on there. ------------------ "Is that good for us?" --Rudy T, after Starks missed that 3 in the '94 Finals
Coming from a HUGE Rockets fan that lives in Austin, that means a lot! ------------------ Who's your buddy? Who's your pal? I am, aren't I?
Les Alexander has more than he can spend too. In fact he has more than Olajuwon does. Why is it always Hakeem the bad guy when it comes to the money issue? I agree, Hakeem should have been more reasonable than saying 10 mil a year to start with. The Rockets should have been more reasonable than they were with their initial offer. The Rockets should have also upped their offer to 5 mil a year, and maybe they still will, if they get the opportunity. Either way there is blame on both sides, and while it looks like the Rockets and Hakeem may be parting ways, nothing is definite yet. ------------------
Oh yeah, negotiations would have gone REAL well if Dream and his agents knew the Rockets were searching for his replacement in the middle of the negotiations. ------------------ What if I say to you that the universe is a three-legged horse, eh? What then? - Russell Hoban
That is the point some posters are making. Because of the Hakeem situation throughout the offseason the Rockets did not and could not contact other FAs on the market until they exhausted all options with Hakeem. Hakeem was the first option and they wanted him to feel that way. But Hakeem's unavailability and outrageous demands prevented a quick resolution. I don't think he really cared to stay and if he demanded outright for a S&T, he'll lose a lot more fans. ------------------
