Why Stephen A. Smith Believes Brad Stevens Should Be On Hot Seat

Ktron wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Bob great analysis, agree pretty much with all your points. Having said that, if we can get our health back to normal next year we will be loaded at the wing with 2 J’s, Frenchy and growths from AN/Romeo and we know GH has no loyalty and can’t last until playoffs or give his team anything in the playoffs. Losing GH I hate to say was a blessing. Our strength is still at the wings and we still have the 2 most dynamic young superstar wings in the league. I would continue to build around them, we can survive an off year.

We are in a good place when it comes to our Wings-for now. See growth in AN not sure about “No O Romeo.
As for GH and loyalty. Loyalty to whom? That’s a two way street. Just ask I.T., Avery and Crowder just to name a few. Miss me with the loyalty. It’s non-existent.

I see your point and that does happen both ways, my point is GH because of his immediate injury history with us, never gave us close to what we paid him for. We had his college coach, they have a positive history, Brad even went out of his way to play his best college player the following year after the injury when he still wasn’t right and hurting us on the floor. The franchise gave him as much support as possible dealing thru his horrific injury, with his supposedly tight relationship with his college coach and giving us nothing in the 20 playoffs after a terrific regular season finally in 19-20; if he had any love for his coach or the storied franchise or his teammates he wouldn’t just bolt at the first chance. He would want to play/be great for the franchise that stood by him thru thick and thin. We don’t know Gordon Hayward personally, this year proves to me he is fragile goods and its a shame he is not a playoff performer, because that’s 2 years in a row he plays in zero playoff games. He does come across as out for himself, out for the money, well glad he and his agent suckered Jordan and glad we are finally done with him at his doing and don’t have to have a high priced player on the roster who gives us nothing at playoff time. I think the Celtics were very supportive and caring for him while he was here and we never got near what we paid for, he is a jinxed player sadly and this will go down as another Jordan miss.

There has also been a ton of players very loyal to their franchise, KG comes to mind, in hindsight now he wishes he left sooner, but he was loyal to a fault with Timberwolves. Paul Pierce is another, there were times he was offered in trades and he let management know he wasn’t going and would do everything in his power to make that situation as uncomfortable as possible. Damon Lillard, Giannis, Joe Harris, Udonis Haslem once certain players find a home they do in fact want to represent that franchise and community.

cowens/oldschool wrote:There has also been a ton of players very loyal to their franchise, KG comes to mind, in hindsight now he wishes he left sooner, but he was loyal to a fault with Timberwolves. Paul Pierce is another, there were times he was offered in trades and he let management know he wasn’t going and would do everything in his power to make that situation as uncomfortable as possible. Damon Lillard, Giannis, Joe Harris, Udonis Haslem once certain players find a home they do in fact want to represent that franchise and community.

I understand how you feel about Gordon bolting after playing the part of little Lame Lamont for 3 years and giving us very little. I didn’t like it either but I also understand that it’s very difficult to gage a player or team’s true loyalty to one another when there are contracts, CBA’s and boat loads of money involved.
Guaranteed $ further clouds the issue. The NFL is a perfect example of what happens to players with non guaranteed $ (which is 90% of the NFL players)
We have to ask ourselves, would The C’s have stuck it out with Hayward if his $ was not guaranteed and they could cut or waive him and put someone in his place? I’m willing to bet they would’ve put his ass on the 3pm to Yuma so fast his head would’ve been swimming.
I’m sure they liked the guy but in the best interest of the team, fans and shareholders (if any) the right move would’ve been to drop him like a bad habit if they were legally and fiscally able. Loyalty is a sticky wicked.
You’re absolutely right, KG was and to a certain extend still loyal to Minnesota but they had/have absolutely zero loyalty toward him. (One way street)
I’m not sure about the Pierce scenario. I never heard him say he wouldn’t go somewhere if they sent him and I’m not sure if he had that type of leverage in his deal. I do know that he did want out after the 2007 season when the team ended up with a lower pick in the draft then anticipated. He said himself that if they hadn’t made those deals for Ray and KG he was going to request a trade. I’m not saying that Paul was not loyal but maybe that loyalty was more to himself because he wanted to be here and not so much for Wyc and Danny Ray. Can’t blame him if that was the case.
Lilliard is a player who respects the grind. He doesn’t believe in hopping around to win titles. I guess you can say he’s loyal to his beliefs and happens to love his franchise and city but I still don’t view that as being solely loyal to the team. Joe Harris was with the Cavs and got moved to the Nets, he just signed a new deal with the Nets. If he had received a substantially better offer from elsewhere I believe he’d be somewhere south of Jersey right now. I admire Giannis. I’m happy that he decided to stay in Milwaukee. Not sure how loyalty enters into his decision. Could well be. If so, Let’s see how Long it lasts if they continue to come up short or he gets hurt and underperforms. We’ll then really see how loyal he is to the team and the team to him.
Haslem? Hell, you got me there. He may have some compromising pictures of Micky and Pat. Who knows. If that team is 100% loyal to him then he would be the first player in their history to be afforded that.
Again, I understand your point, I just don’t think that given the circumstances (CBA, contracts etc) its non existent.

Ktron I think it was around 05 Danny was talking to some teams and offering Pierce as a chip to get the draft pick that could lead to Chris Paul. Paul was already that good in college and Pierce’s game wasn’t so refined, he was considered a gunner and high volume shooter. Anyway I remember reading a few news cycles that Pierce didn’t want to leave Celtics and threatened to make the situation very ugly.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Ktron I think it was around 05 Danny was talking to some teams and offering Pierce as a chip to get the draft pick that could lead to Chris Paul. Paul was already that good in college and Pierce’s game wasn’t so refined, he was considered a gunner and high volume shooter. Anyway I remember reading a few news cycles that Pierce didn’t want to leave Celtics and threatened to make the situation very ugly.

I remember them wanting Chris Paul. I didn’t recall the Pierce piece of it. Loved the way it turned out though. :>)