Volume 1, Number 3.1
January, 1998
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The Most Hated Man in America
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by Dave Lind |
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I wonder how it must feel to be the most hated man in America right
now. I wonder what it's like to wake up every day to a morning paper
filled with anti-me articles and end every day with a newscast led off
with the latest anti-me report. I wonder what it's like, in other
words, to be Latrell Sprewell.
I also wonder if he yet realizes that he's bumbled into the best career
move of his professional career.
Think about it. Latrell Sprewell was in, for him, an unbearable
situation in Golden State. He was locked into a long-term deal with a
franchise which clearly has no notion whatsoever of how to build a
competitive NBA team (a point demonstrated, ironically enough, by their
decision to sign Sprewell to a long term contract). He was stuck with a
coach who hated him, and whom he hated in return. He was far and away
the best player on the team and therefore expected to shoulder the bulk
of the scoring burden, yet was vilified by the fans and the media for
taking too many shots. He was actively being offered to all takers but
due to salary cap restraints and his own diminished trade stock (due to
his own actions), the Warriors were unable, and unlikely, to find a
taker. Things had gotten so bad for Sprewell that he even offered to
walk away from the remainder of his four-year, $32 million salary if the
Warriors would simply release him and let him sign on with another team.
So where does Sprewell find himself now? Assuming the punishments
handed down by the Warriors and NBA Commissioner David Stern withstand
legal challenges, Sprewell will have lost the aforementioned $32 million
contract and will not be allowed to sign on with another team until
after the 1997-98 season, and will not be allowed to play until December
4, 1998.
In other words, worst case scenario, Latrell Sprewell will return to
the court a very rich man in the uniform of his choosing not later than
December 4, 1998. He will have gotten exactly what he wanted from the
Warriors: Out.
In fact, if the Sprewell's legal Dream Team headed by Johnnie Cochrane
gets their way, Sprewell will be back in the uniform of his choice this
season, though he may have to settle for the league minimum to do so.
Do you hear me? After choking and threatening to kill his boss,
Latrell Sprewell will, not later than one year from now, be back in the
NBA, making millions of dollars, possibly even more than the Warriors
were paying, and playing for any team he wants. How does that sound for
a punishment? Take a year off, then get a pay raise and play alongside
Michael Jordan or David Robinson or Shaquille O'Neal.
What's that, from way in the back there? You ask if any team would be
willing to take a chance on Sprewell after an incident like this? Let
us pause for a moment while the laughter from all those GM's out there
dies down a bit.
There. Now, to answer your question, let me put it this way: If OJ
Simpson could dunk a basketball, NBA teams would be lining up to throw
wads of money at him. In fact, (and this shows you how management-types
think) the consensus feeling is that this incident actually will make
Sprewell a safer bet. That there is no way Sprewell lets this happen
again. Of course, you and I know that this is the same line real estate
agents use to sell people homes in Tornado Alley, but the point is, when
the time comes, Sprewell will get all the money he needs and then some.
Ditto for the endorsement contract Sprewell had yanked out from under
him. Once he's on the floor again and kids are lining up for his
autograph, the shoe companies will again come calling.
So, does this mean Sprewell is getting off easy? Possibly. If you ask
me, the answer is yes, but understand that this is not a situation that
can be summed up simply with an "If I did that..." comparison. As much
as I hate to side with Sprewell's guns for hire, they do have a point
when they say that if Joe Lunchbucket doesn't like the way his boss
treats him, he can quit. Sprewell did not have such a luxury. Granted,
he did have other options by which to file a grievance and did not use
them. But understand, Sprewell does not live in a world where one gets
angry and files a grievance. In professional sports, when one gets
angry, one's fists fly. Not an excuse, not a justification, just a
fact.
Of course, this is not to suggest that Sprewell's punishment is too
severe. On the contrary, I think it is entirely appropriate, indeed
necessary in a league which is increasingly run by the stars, to protect
the authority figure, the coach. And when Arn Tellum, Sprewell's
agent, labels the NBA a "monopoly" and calls their punishment an attempt
to deprive his client of his "constitutional right to work", I nearly
double over in laughter.
MEMO TO ARN:
- Of course the NBA is a monopoly, how do you think they're able to come up with the money to pay your client such obscene amounts?
- No one has said your client can't work, just that he can't work in the NBA. If lawyer attacks a judge, he can't practice law any more. If a cop attacks his supervisor, he can't be a cop anymore. If a postal worker attacks...etc, etc. Get the picture?
- I've read the constitution, nothing in there about a "right to work".
So is this a horrifying miscarriage of justice? Is the Bad Guy getting
off scott-free?
No. And I say this only because, unlike you, I have correctly
identified the "Bad Guy". Sprewell did a bad thing, but that does not
make him the "Bad Guy" per se. Sprewell was a loaded gun and should not
have been left out to do the damage he did. Punish him accordingly for
his actions, but do not ignore the responsibility which is to be shared
by the true "Bad Guy".
Carlesimo, you say? Nice try, but no. You do not have to like
Carlesimo's coaching philosophy but you have to admit it works, as his
record will attest, most of the time. The guy has to motivate
multimillionaire crybabies who think the sun sets in their own
underpants. You got a better idea, you give me a call.
Understand that PJ was placed in an impossible situation. He inherited
a troubled program from a "hugs and kisses" coach (Rick Adelman) who
subscribed to the "Dr. Spock" school of player motivation. He was
brought specifically to "crack the whip" and get the Warriors shaped
up. By getting up in Sprewell's face, Carlesimo was doing exactly what
he had been hired to do. And when you realize this, you realize who is
really to blame for the entire ongoing fiasco that did not begin when
Sprewell attacked Carlesimo, it culminated.
Warriors management tossed a match (Carlesimo) into a gas tank
(Sprewell) and ran for cover when it mysteriously exploded. They
convinced Sprewell to sign a long-term deal to play for Adelmen, then
fired Adelman and brought in Carlesimo. They bypassed several
opportunities to trade the star, citing a need to receive "value for
value". Finally, when the defecation finally hit the rotary oscillator,
they "fired" Sprewell and got nothing in return.
So again I ask, did the Bad Guy get off scot free? No, Sprewell will
serve his punishment and come back richer and happier than ever.
Carlesimo will try his level best to turn a losing franchise around and
possibly even succeed, but even if he fails it will be understood that
it was the organization, not he, who failed. And the Warriors, minus
their main attraction, will remain the sorry, pathetic franchise that it
is. Unable to lure quality free agents or sell season tickets. In
other words, the Warriors still have to be the Warriors.
I think that's punishment enough.