jbooma
March-6th-2005, 10:34 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?id=2005105
Dear Sacto: You blew it
By Tom Friend
ESPN The Magazine
TO: The state capitol of California
FROM: Washington Wizard fans (all six of us)
We saved you once, but you're on your own now, Sacramento.
We took Mitch Richmond off your hands seven years ago, gave you our best player, Chris Webber, and made you a big-league town.
With us, Webber shot ridiculous 3s. With you, he triple-doubled.
The Webber era had its ups and downs. The post-Webber era may just have lots of downs.
With us, he got caught with dope. With you, he got caught with supermodels.
You have no idea how badly you fleeced us. Our owner (still in charge) and our GM (long gone) thought there would be life after Webber, thought Richmond still had legs left, thought Juwan Howard needed the low post all to himself. What a laugh.
We all knew it was a mistake the day it happened, that ugly day, May 14, 1998. You can't replace someone who's 6-foot-10 with eyes in the back of his head. You ever seen that guy pass?
If you're ever going to trade that guy -- and I don't care if he's got a bum knee and a contract like an anvil -- you get something back. Something young. Something with a long-term upside. Not Mitch Richmond. And not Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner.
You had your chance, Sacramento. You were an eyelash from a championship just three years ago -- if only you would've stuck a hand in Robert Horry's face -- so why are you giving up so soon? Some people say your window was already shut, but not me. When the Lakers chose Kobe over Shaq, that put the West up for grabs. Phoenix may have a gaudy record, but in the playoffs, they'd better learn to play halfcourt offense. Seattle shoots too many jumpers. Dallas, too. Over a 7-game series, both those teams are going to need an inside presence.
But you guys already had that inside-outside threat, and instead all you have now is outside. It could've been you and San Antonio in the Western Finals, but your GM, Geoff Petrie, decided to smooch up to free-agent-to-be Peja Stojakovic, and now you're suddenly on your way back to the Wayman Tisdale era. Now you're window is shut.
Peja's your cornerstone? Face it: Basically, you're Dallas now. Yes, when you're shooting well, you can be a bear. And, yes, you just stole a game in Philly, and, yes, you even stole a game against my Wizards. But that's only because Mike Bibby was throwing in bombs and we coughed up a 7-point lead in the last five minutes.
Trust us, now you're going to learn the hard way. Bibby, Peja, Mobley and Brad Miller ain't winning a championship, folks. It was Webber who drew the double-teams, Webber who took the pressure off Peja, Webber who began the Kings' culture of sharing the ball, Webber who got you respect with the refs. It could take seven years to get back in the mix. Trust me, we just lived it.
When we traded Webber, we became Clippers East. First we were abysmal, then we got desperate and then we just kept digging ourselves deeper. Richmond, Howard and Rod Strickland never clicked together, and because we had no offensive post presence, we blindly traded a young mountain named Ben Wallace to Orlando for Ike Austin. Brilliant.
Even MJ couldn't save us. He spent a season as team president, and, just our luck, Yao Ming couldn't free himself to enter the draft that year. With the No. 1 pick, we settled for Kwame Brown when Pau Gasol was sitting there. But MJ didn't know Pau Gasol from Kung Pao Chicken.
Then MJ decided to play himself, on loan from Chicago, but we knew it was only a two-year band-aid. An old Michael was better than an old Mitch Richmond, but we never played a single game in May. C-Webb, though, he was always in the playoffs. Every year. Flicking behind the back passes to White Chocolate and then to Peja and later to Bibby. No, C-Webb never won it all, but at least you got to ring your cowbells.
I couldn't stand to watch you play. Whenever I did, I caught myself saying, "What if?'' We could've had a front-line combo of Webber, Ben Wallace and Howard, and we'd have come out of the East one of those years. We'd have played the Lakers in the Finals. Instead, we had to hitch our wagon to Courtney Alexander, Popeye Jones, Christian Laettner. Instead, we learned that, in the NBA, one trade can make you and one trade can empty your building.
So, sorry, Sacramento, it's payback now.
It took us until 2005, but I'd argue that the Wizards have a better upside than you. It took us seven years, but Gilbert Arenas picked us on a whim, and Mark Cuban donated Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes grew up, and now we're the team with chemistry, now we're the team that can score 100 in our sleep. It took forever, but we're finally over the Webber trade.
And now you've set us free. Now Webber's your cross to bear. You gave him to Allen Iverson for three warm bodies, and you think it looks good because the Sixers and Webber are struggling, but it's going to be your albatross. True, Webber's too soft for the Eastern Conference and, true, he's now playing for a team that doesn't move the ball, but that doesn't get you off the hook. He was a perfect Western Conference player, who fed off of your passing game. He was the first big-man superstar you ever had, the first person to get Ahmad Rashad in your building, and now your management is pompous enough to think they can sacrifice a run at the title and build around a jump shooter. Funny, that's what we thought, too.
Like we said, it's a 7-year wait.
See you in 2012.
Signed,
All six of us
Dear Sacto: You blew it
By Tom Friend
ESPN The Magazine
TO: The state capitol of California
FROM: Washington Wizard fans (all six of us)
We saved you once, but you're on your own now, Sacramento.
We took Mitch Richmond off your hands seven years ago, gave you our best player, Chris Webber, and made you a big-league town.
With us, Webber shot ridiculous 3s. With you, he triple-doubled.
The Webber era had its ups and downs. The post-Webber era may just have lots of downs.
With us, he got caught with dope. With you, he got caught with supermodels.
You have no idea how badly you fleeced us. Our owner (still in charge) and our GM (long gone) thought there would be life after Webber, thought Richmond still had legs left, thought Juwan Howard needed the low post all to himself. What a laugh.
We all knew it was a mistake the day it happened, that ugly day, May 14, 1998. You can't replace someone who's 6-foot-10 with eyes in the back of his head. You ever seen that guy pass?
If you're ever going to trade that guy -- and I don't care if he's got a bum knee and a contract like an anvil -- you get something back. Something young. Something with a long-term upside. Not Mitch Richmond. And not Kenny Thomas, Corliss Williamson and Brian Skinner.
You had your chance, Sacramento. You were an eyelash from a championship just three years ago -- if only you would've stuck a hand in Robert Horry's face -- so why are you giving up so soon? Some people say your window was already shut, but not me. When the Lakers chose Kobe over Shaq, that put the West up for grabs. Phoenix may have a gaudy record, but in the playoffs, they'd better learn to play halfcourt offense. Seattle shoots too many jumpers. Dallas, too. Over a 7-game series, both those teams are going to need an inside presence.
But you guys already had that inside-outside threat, and instead all you have now is outside. It could've been you and San Antonio in the Western Finals, but your GM, Geoff Petrie, decided to smooch up to free-agent-to-be Peja Stojakovic, and now you're suddenly on your way back to the Wayman Tisdale era. Now you're window is shut.
Peja's your cornerstone? Face it: Basically, you're Dallas now. Yes, when you're shooting well, you can be a bear. And, yes, you just stole a game in Philly, and, yes, you even stole a game against my Wizards. But that's only because Mike Bibby was throwing in bombs and we coughed up a 7-point lead in the last five minutes.
Trust us, now you're going to learn the hard way. Bibby, Peja, Mobley and Brad Miller ain't winning a championship, folks. It was Webber who drew the double-teams, Webber who took the pressure off Peja, Webber who began the Kings' culture of sharing the ball, Webber who got you respect with the refs. It could take seven years to get back in the mix. Trust me, we just lived it.
When we traded Webber, we became Clippers East. First we were abysmal, then we got desperate and then we just kept digging ourselves deeper. Richmond, Howard and Rod Strickland never clicked together, and because we had no offensive post presence, we blindly traded a young mountain named Ben Wallace to Orlando for Ike Austin. Brilliant.
Even MJ couldn't save us. He spent a season as team president, and, just our luck, Yao Ming couldn't free himself to enter the draft that year. With the No. 1 pick, we settled for Kwame Brown when Pau Gasol was sitting there. But MJ didn't know Pau Gasol from Kung Pao Chicken.
Then MJ decided to play himself, on loan from Chicago, but we knew it was only a two-year band-aid. An old Michael was better than an old Mitch Richmond, but we never played a single game in May. C-Webb, though, he was always in the playoffs. Every year. Flicking behind the back passes to White Chocolate and then to Peja and later to Bibby. No, C-Webb never won it all, but at least you got to ring your cowbells.
I couldn't stand to watch you play. Whenever I did, I caught myself saying, "What if?'' We could've had a front-line combo of Webber, Ben Wallace and Howard, and we'd have come out of the East one of those years. We'd have played the Lakers in the Finals. Instead, we had to hitch our wagon to Courtney Alexander, Popeye Jones, Christian Laettner. Instead, we learned that, in the NBA, one trade can make you and one trade can empty your building.
So, sorry, Sacramento, it's payback now.
It took us until 2005, but I'd argue that the Wizards have a better upside than you. It took us seven years, but Gilbert Arenas picked us on a whim, and Mark Cuban donated Antawn Jamison and Larry Hughes grew up, and now we're the team with chemistry, now we're the team that can score 100 in our sleep. It took forever, but we're finally over the Webber trade.
And now you've set us free. Now Webber's your cross to bear. You gave him to Allen Iverson for three warm bodies, and you think it looks good because the Sixers and Webber are struggling, but it's going to be your albatross. True, Webber's too soft for the Eastern Conference and, true, he's now playing for a team that doesn't move the ball, but that doesn't get you off the hook. He was a perfect Western Conference player, who fed off of your passing game. He was the first big-man superstar you ever had, the first person to get Ahmad Rashad in your building, and now your management is pompous enough to think they can sacrifice a run at the title and build around a jump shooter. Funny, that's what we thought, too.
Like we said, it's a 7-year wait.
See you in 2012.
Signed,
All six of us