Fire Tilman. https://theathletic.com/3124556/202...n-getting-what-the-beard-wants-nicks-and-all/ For reasons that no one could fully understand at the time, all of the people who were most important to Harden in Houston were heading for the exits. Coach Mike D’Antoni had left in dramatic form the month before, leaking a statement about his choice while the team was flying back from the Orlando bubble, where they’d fallen flat against the Lakers in the first round of the playoffs. Then came Morey, who cited family reasons at the time but landed in Philadelphia as the president of basketball operations just weeks later. Harden would force his way to Brooklyn two months after that, when sources say Fertitta let him choose between the Sixers and the Nets and Harden unwittingly unleashed NBA chaos by opting for the latter. Ben Simmons, of course, believed at the time that he was about to be traded from the Sixers to the Rockets and was even shopping for homes in the Houston area in anticipation of his move. His anger over the deal falling through had everything to do with his choice to sit out most of this season. But back to the Rockets’ exodus. Tad Brown, the Rockets longtime CEO and close friend of Harden, resigned after the season and landed with …the Sixers (and the NHL’s New Jersey Devils) as the CEO of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment. The league-wide dot-connecting commenced from there. But in that moment, when Fertitta and I got sideways on the call, D’Antoni was the focus of the discussion. We’d written about this sensitive situation at length in The Athletic, explaining how D’Antoni’s frustration with Fertitta had everything to do with his decision to leave, and so I asked a question about the impact D’Antoni’s choice might have had on Morey’s decision to follow him out the door. “That didn’t affect my decision at all,” Morey said plainly. Iko starts a new question for Morey, but Fertitta interrupts. “You know, first, first off, I don’t know what happened,” he said, exasperated. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I think you’re the only person who wrote an article and made something of something that wasn’t.”
Tallman Frittatta's ego keeps getting in the way. As an NBA owner, the most important thing is to shut up, listen to those who are qualified to do their jobs, and spend money to get us a chip. Gotta spend money to make money, after all. He's no Steve Ballmer, but thankfully neither is he Vivek Ranadive, the biggest clown in professional basketball right now. He also seems to be far more respectful of Rockets vets than someone like Jim Dolan, so that's another plus (ew) for him. The negatives are...everything else that we keep harping on, and we harp more than a newly-winged angel.
I do find it interesting that, when people discuss Simmons, they only bring up how the season ended when talking about his decision to sit out. No one ever brings up the fact that the Sixers basically told him they were trading him mid-season, then didn't.
I guess this is the way his generation handles things. Robert Horry handled it a little differently when Sean Elliot failed his physical.
Oh he’s not Vivek? Based on what? Vivek passed on Luka without giving Luka a proper evaluation. We did the EXACT SAME THING with Mobley. He forced out Chris Paul in a move that single handedly decimated the franchise. He pushed out the best GM in the league. All of these mistakes are compounding (ex: morey would’ve taken Mobley). Give it time, sir. We might have far worse that Vivek. We might have Cal McNair with his son Patrick playing the role of Jack Easterby.
I think the Sabonis deal wasn't a bad move at all for them. Should have been a win win in the end for both parties.
God, I hope not. I still have a modicum of hope left. Vivek is the single most clueless owner I've ever seen (with his Nik Rocks schtick and his ideas of playing 4-on-5 basketball) when a non-basketball playing owner thinks that he knows more than his staff, bad stuff happens. Honestly Tilman has shown some of those bad traits already. I can only hope he doesn't go full Ranadive. Never go full Ranadive.
The only players Fertitta really cares about are Luxury Tax Savings and Cash Considerations. All others are chattel for his amusement.
I actually do like the Kings and feel sorry for their fans, so I certainly hope it works out for them. I think Ranadive irks me also for how he carries himself and his general smugness. It makes him easy to dislike. ..sort of like one Tailman Fartittys
Wow, I'm personally shocked by this. I could've never connected the dots of D'Antoni, Morey, Brown and Harden all leaving for sudden secretive reasons and all ending up in the northeast to Tilman completing the transformation from a 65 win team to a 17 win team in record time. I assumed everyone would've been happy to have their legacies attached to that! Thank God we have this feckless owner's family muralized at the Toyota Center, amirite? The reason I buy sports tickets is to celebrate some irrelevant teenagers with a rich dad.
Hell, no. This franchise isn't worse than the Kings. The kings haven't made the playoffs in years and passed up a generational talent in Luka, even though the Kings had big connections to him the whole time(yes, I get the irony with Mobley and Green but Mobley isn't Luka) I will give you the Mcnairs though; F them
