The great wide world of sports has continued to flourish, so I guess the first part of this article didn’t ruffle enough feathers. That’s why there’s ALWAYS two sides to a story. In this segment, I cannot hide or cover up my displeasure with the Brooklyn Nets organization. Their signing of Jason Collins was just plain TERRIBLE! What was the reasoning behind this? Who in that executive office thought that bringing in a seven foot, non-scoring, non-rebounding, no defense playing journeyman, would somehow turn the Nets into contenders?
Courtesy: NY Daily News
The answer is obvious; Billy “The Idiot” King! The one GM in all of basketball that continues to get me that much closer to my dream job. Seriously people, I really can do a better job running an NBA franchise than this knuckle head.
There were plenty of OTHER big men on the market that King could’ve pulled the trigger on besides Collins. I have nothing against Jason Collins the person, but Jason Collins the basketball player is another subject altogether. The guy flat out stinks! I don’t understand how a seven footer plays in the NBA for over a decade, receives consistent minutes, but only manages to average 2 points and 3 rebounds per game. How insane is that?
Let me shed some more light on how ridiculous the Jason Collins signing was, despite the fact that a colleague of mine thinks it was great for basketball and society as a whole. Greg Oden of the Miami Heat has played a total of 82 games over five seasons prior to this one, and in playing 6 minutes more per game than Collins during that time, his career averages are 9.4 points and 7.9 rebounds.
You see, injuries and not being the focal point of emphasis when his team was on offense (that job went to Brandon Roy), Oden still managed decent numbers. What was Jason Collins excuse? While all of you sit there trying to come up with one for him, I will continue with my article so I don’t fall asleep waiting for the answer to my question.
Courtesy: Bleacher Report
This is why I honestly believe that the Nets signed Collins for publicity purposes. You have this brand new one billion dollar arena and a team that when healthy, couldn’t get past an injury riddled Chicago Bulls team that was missing its franchise player in Derrick Rose. Why wouldn’t they need a distraction from the horror show they put on throughout the season?
Guys like Ronnie Turiaf, Chris Kaman, and Byron Mullens, are all players who could’ve helped the Nets bolster their playoff position. Regardless of their contract situation, there’s always a way to get the player you want when it comes to negotiations.
Sign a guy who can actually play the game and who can actually help you win in the post season. Don’t sign a guy because you want to be known as the franchise who signed the first open gay player. In the words of the great Bill Russell, “defense wins championships, not publicity”. Well I actually said that but I believe you guys get the point.
