Around the NBA II

[Wammy Giveaway]

Does anybody know if our owner, Steve Ballmer, is still working with that group led by Chris Hansen that's trying to build a new arena in Seattle?

And if you know, do you know the implications of it and how it can affect us?

once he bought the clippers, steve cut all ties with that project. at least that is how it has been reported here in Northwest, thus causing some grumbling from the fans of the sonics to still are hoping to be the next LA Rams.

To add, the change of ownership included a sort of no-relocation clause, preventing the Clippers from being moved out of Los Angeles. Whether the vow is broken by moving to The Forum or another arena within the L.A. area remains to be seen.

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SherwoodStrauss/status/688377488871976960[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/688345026838016000[/tweet]

[Quake Griffin]

Does anybody know if our owner, Steve Ballmer, is still working with that group led by Chris Hansen that's trying to build a new arena in Seattle?

And if you know, do you know the implications of it and how it can affect us?

once he bought the clippers, steve cut all ties with that project. at least that is how it has been reported here in Northwest, thus causing some grumbling from the fans of the sonics to still are hoping to be the next LA Rams.

To add, the change of ownership included a sort of no-relocation clause, preventing the Clippers from being moved out of Los Angeles. Whether the vow is broken by moving to The Forum or another arena within the L.A. area remains to be seen.

There's a no re-location clause???

link?

[Wammy Giveaway]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ramonashelburne/status/472541637638225920[/tweet]

Report: Language In Purchase Agreement States Steve Ballmer Will Not Move Clippers

You can thank me for keeping the Clippers in L.A.:

Mason & Ireland: May 29, 2014 (Hour 1)

Fast forward to 22:58.

[nickhx2]

wow i think dave blatt just got fired

[Ranma]

wow i think dave blatt just got fired

Yep. As it is usually the case with LeBron-led teams, there was a player uprising over the owner's choice of coach. Erik Spoelstra survived it in Miami to win 2 championships and league-wide respect. David Blatt couldn't handle the turmoil. Tyronn Lue was being groomed to be the eventual head coach the moment he was hired as the most expensive assistant coach in the NBA. The players got their way with LBJ pulling owner Dan Gilbert's strings. This is why I generally side with coaches, outside of Doc, over players.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/690639049048993792[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/CandaceDBuckner/status/690639340607668224[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/690639470870179840[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/690640304890867712[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/690644372040318976[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/690644821460045825[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/690641896650113024[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WindhorstESPN/status/690642304923664384[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/690642890171617280[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/coachthorpe/status/690642821636866048[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/McCannSportsLaw/status/690643504490381312[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/DanFeldmanNBA/status/690644958265475072[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/jadande/status/690646205357928448[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/daldridgetnt/status/690646880385134593[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ/status/690645525541064704[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/JasonLloydABJ/status/690646541191757824[/tweet]

[nickhx2]

i wish there were actual specifics on it. like what he said to guys that was so bad in the locker room. honestly i think it just boiled down to lebron not respecting him and his basketball knowledge (even though he crapped all over doc last night).

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/PeterVecsey1/status/690646761703088129[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/690670595273523205[/tweet]

[og15]

What exactly does either me or Kevin Love mean? Blatt didn't like Love?

[Wammy Giveaway]

In the playoffs, while the Warriors defeat teams to get coaches fired, Clippers lose to teams to get opposing coaches fired. Have a look:

2013: Clippers lose to Grizzlies: Conference finals appearance (Lionel Hollins fired)
2014: Clippers lose to Thunder: Conference finals appearance (Scott Brooks fired)
2015: Clippers lose to Rockets: Conference finals appearance (Kevin McHale fired)

Based on this article by Matt Moore:

[tweet]https://twitter.com/HPbasketball/status/690673284275302400[/tweet]

1st Round: Warriors defeat Pelicans 4-0 -- Monty Williams fired on May 12
2nd Round: Warriors defeat Grizzlies 4-2 -- Dave Joerger remains
Conference: Warriors defeat Rockets 4-1 -- Kevin McHale fired on Nov. 18
NBA Finals: Warriors defeat Cavaliers 4-2 -- David Blatt fired on Jan. 22

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status/690686368184332288[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/690686016781299712[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/townbrad/status/690686915759046658[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/rafael_uehara/status/690699641629839360[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/NBAcom/status/690721828881432577[/tweet]

[Ranma]

Based on the Haynes article, it sounds like Blatt played the favorites card without the composure to adjust to the new roster. I remember his odd coaching calls last season.

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ChrisBHaynes/status/690726368913571840[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/284386298943393792[/tweet]
[tweet]https://twitter.com/steventurous/status/690715365685530624[/tweet]

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/690747972246753281[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/FlyByKnite/status/690749746693038085[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/FlyByKnite/status/690751005621780485[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690749773813387264[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690750606865117185[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690751314515496960[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690752446650408960[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690752809747087360[/tweet]

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Rachel__Nichols/status/691014418721705984[/tweet]

[TucsonClip]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/690747972246753281[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/FlyByKnite/status/690749746693038085[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/FlyByKnite/status/690751005621780485[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690749773813387264[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690750606865117185[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690751314515496960[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690752446650408960[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/BillSimmons/status/690752809747087360[/tweet]

Lot of bad takes in those tweets IMO.

There a reason why Lue was the highest paid assistant in NBA history and that had nothing to do with LeBron. Lue should have been hired over Blatt and honestly I thought Calipari was going back to the NBA with LeBron before they hired Blatt.

Regarding Gilbert and the roster... Never been a fan of Gilbert, so I agree about his wasteful ability to be the head of an NBA franchise. However, the roster is fine even in an era of small ball. Varejao was a luxury extension that they didnt need, Thompson is one of the best offensive rebounders in the leauge, Love seemed like a good fit and worth the money but Blatt and LeBron didnt use him properly. I never thought giving up 2 1sts for Mosgov was a good idea, but he was fine last year and is on the last year of a great contract.

Furthermore, the Cavs can easily go small with Love or Thompson at C and LeBron at PF, so I fail to see the problem with the Cavs paying $50 mil to those four bigs...

[og15]

Lowe's comments from the podcast you posted on how Blatt can rub people the wrong way is interesting.

He mentioned a couple of situations:

1) Lowe has an interview with Blatt in his office during the finals and he asks something like "Boy, did you ever think that a year or two years ago you would be in Oracle Arena, the loudest arena in the world and all these players get hurt, Kyrie is hurt and you're in the finals, and it's crazy, etc." Then Blatt responds: "Well you know Zach, I've been in championship games all around the world, if you think this is pressure, try coaching Maccabi Tel Aviv". Really though? It's the kind of question that most other coaches would give a funny answer or something and he just starts bragging about himself.

2) David Blatt's first win, the team gives him the game ball and he says "this is not my first win, I've had 700 wins", I mean come on. Your players are happy, they are doing something for morale and to build commradere and you basically are just dismissing their gesture as essentially useless. It's something that you just rejoice about in the moment with the players not because it is actually a big deal, but just for the sake of being together and building relationships.

3) Then the game where President Obama attended and they just ask him about playing the game with Obama there and he says "well I've played in front of a lot of President's".

These are just the more public ones though, but remember they are with him and interacting with him all day in many different situations. So when I hear all this, I can definitely see that Blatt had an arrogance and pride of his own which would definitely irritate people and be a little annoying. Then now couple that with Lebron and his "I have a huge basketball IQ", which I'm not saying isn't true, but who says that? You combine them, and those are personalities, even if they don't clash in a volatile way might not really be very compatiable.

So I put all this together, and I side with the suggestion that the real issue was probably just that a lot of players and others in the organization didn't like Blatt, not as a coach, not that they didn't think he knew his stuff, but just as a human being to be around. It was just not a compatible situation. When people don't like you, it already causes issues because even if you are right, people don't want to listen to you because they think you are annoying. Blatt is obviously not dumb, but it just seems like his personality did not fit with the team at all.

[Wammy Giveaway]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/695350712809627649[/tweet]

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Deadspin/status/695361138767204355[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/manuginobili/status/695434997889523714[/tweet]

[Ranma]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/SeanCunningham/status/695809600306675712[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/WojVerticalNBA/status/695870531413921792[/tweet][tweet]https://twitter.com/LucasJHann/status/695870076143194112[/tweet]

[BlzMwt]

i wonder what would be going on if mike malone was still the coach... obviously cousins would be buying in. If Cousins is trusting the coach, I'm sure the rest of the team would be following suit. A lot of talent there, maybe not the best fit altogether, but they should be doing better.

Obviously a lot of different things could have occurred instead if Malone was still the coach though