Links: Drafting, KG and Foxy Brown
“His issue is, he just wants to smoke some weed sometime — and you can’t.”
Here we go…
• I am befuddled by the NBA right now. Kevin Garnett doesn’t want to play in the East? And Memphis is serious about trading Pau Gasol to Atlanta for Josh Childress and the third pick in the Draft?
First, KG. He’s been a good company man forever, steadfastly refusing to even dabble with a trade demand. That started changing last summer, when he finally told me that he’d leave if the T-Wolves didn’t start getting better. As Kevin said…
“If you’re not working towards a championship, then why are we in this? I’m in it to win, man, I’m not in it to be coming back talking about next year. I’m 30. I’ve probably got 4 to 5 years, you know what I’m saying? My clock is ticking, man. I’m almost like a woman who’s trying to get pregnant. My years are limited, so my clock is definitely ticking.“
Now there’s all sorts of KG rumors floating around. I guess the real question is, if you were a woman trying to get pregnant, where would you want to be? Minnesota?
Obviously, Alaska is the answer. Unfortunately, they don’t have an NBA team. Yet.
There’s been a lot of talk about KG going to Boston, which would seem to make a lot of sense for KG. He and Pierce could team up and easily make Boston a contender in the East. (So much for all of Fingers Ainge’s talk about the Celts rebuilding from the ground up.)
What doesn’t make any sense is Phoenix trying to get KG in exchange for Amare Stoudemire. I can see moving Marion, only because his deal is up next summer while Stoudemire is signed through 2011. But either way, isn’t this just a lateral move? It’s like the Suns want to have Amare but just wish he was older. The Suns would obviously get better if they somehow kept Amare and Marion and managed to add KG, but there’s no way that’s happening. Losing one of their big three and replacing him with KG will make sure they remain an elite team, but that’s all it does. KG’s a better defender and rebounder than Amare, but Amare is a more explosive scorer, which is what Phoenix is all about.
The only thing that makes sense is that the Suns would want to move Amare because there are unavoidable personality conflicts there between Nash and Amare and Marion. I have heard rumblings of problems there, but nothing ever really sticks.
For Minnesota, I don’t understand their obsession with moving KG. NBA GMs work their entire careers in order to find that one stud player to build around. Kevin McHale found one, and has spent the last decade fumbling around and basically not building around him. (What’s really amazing is that McHale is the GM that drafted Garnett and they’ve both managed to stick around this long in Minnesota.) Swapping out KG for Stoudemire would basically give McHale a mulligan, turning back the clock five years and allowing him more time to not build around a bright young center talent.
The Suns obviously have something cooking. I spoke to Joakim Noah last night to help him write his Rookie Diary for SLAM 111. Drew Gooden and Carmelo Anthony each had this amazing ability to only call me about their Rookie Diaries on Sunday nights during “The Sopranos.” And I couldn’t ask them to call back later, so there was a lot of creative TIVOing going on back then. They’d never call during the week, never in the afternoon, only on Sunday nights between 9 and 10. Last night, Joakim called during “Flight Of The Conchords.” Not exactly “The Sopranos,” but still a good show.
Anyway, Joakim was in Memphis last night, where he works out for the Grizzlies today, then he said he’s going to Phoenix to work out for the Suns. The Suns don’t have a high pick, though, right? Well, obviously Steve Kerr has yahoo’d at someone and they feel certain that something is going to happen.
• Let’s look a little closer at the NBA Draft. I read today that in all his years as a general manager, Billy Knight has never used a first round pick on a guard or center. Never. Ever. So I guess that limits his options a little for Thursday.
There’s apparently some talk about the Hawks trading with Memphis for Pau Gasol. The Hawks would move the 3 pick along with a few reserve players (including Josh Childress and Anthony Johnson) for Gasol. I can’t tell you how much I hope this happens. But from what I heard from Atlanta today, it’s not happening.
• Let’s not even talk about Kobe. Although Mark Heisler admits here that he’s fallen out of Kobe’s “circle of trust.” What is this, “Meet The Fockers”?
• Quote of the Day comes from John Lucas down in Houston, who is working out Sean Williams. Sayeth Lucas: “Sean doesn’t have any real-life issues. There are other guys I’ve had here who have had real-life issues. He doesn’t. His issue is, he just wants to smoke some weed sometime — and you can’t.”
• Looks like the Nets are going to pony up the money to keep Vince Carter in The Swamp. I’d heard that they weren’t going to flash any cash, and that was going to set off a chain of events that would end with Jason Kidd getting moved to LA. Now that the Nets are shelling out the money, not sure what happens to that Kidd/LA rumor.
• The non-basketball news of the day comes from the world of hip-hop. There is no way that I can write this story any better than the original version, so I’ll just excerpt my favorite parts here…
Rapper Foxy Brown has denied reports that she was assaulted by four women in a Brooklyn housing project early Saturday morning (June 23).
According to police, Brown was involved in an argument with her unidentified boyfriend around 5:30 am in the Louis H. Pink Houses in East New York.
Brown was allegedly attempting to dump the man, after she found out he was a pimp with a criminal record.
The man called four prostitutes, who allegedly attacked Brown, ripped out her hairweave, stole her hearing aide, her purse and $500 dollars.
55 Responses to “Links: Drafting, KG and Foxy Brown”
Jun.25 at 4:00 pm
John says:
first?
Jun.25 at 4:11 pm
Bigi says:
C-c-c-c-c-cat Fight…..!
Jun.25 at 4:17 pm
Kadavour says:
the none celeb to bag Fox MUST be a pimp. i’m surprised she didnt see this coming.
Jun.25 at 4:22 pm
dez says:
First of all, if you’re a woman and you’re trying to get pregnant, you go to Miami. At least, every time I go down there, someone ends up pregnant…
And Foxy Brown is still alive? What does she do with herself?
And when are the Fugees going to start tearing it up again?
So many questions
Jun.25 at 4:22 pm
JR says:
i can see why someone would steal a purse and money, but a hearing aide?
Jun.25 at 4:24 pm
Chukaz says:
If the 3 or 4 team trade involving Garnett doesn’t work, I think that the Nets should try to send Wince and Nenad Kristic to the Wolves in exchange for KG.
Jun.25 at 4:24 pm
thomas says:
@ JR - those hearing aide batteries are a bitch to find!
Jun.25 at 4:24 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Having spend approximately four months (give or take four months) on the outer edge of Kobe’s circle of trust, I’d just like to say: Yay.
Jun.25 at 4:24 pm
dez says:
Did they steal her hairweave as well, or just rip it out? Wait, why do I care?
Jun.25 at 4:25 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Or, you know, “spent,” if you’re into proper tenses and sh*t like that.
Jun.25 at 4:33 pm
white hot eboy says:
Lang, Those are fantastic excerpts from the Foxy Brown article. The pimp sounds like a comic-book super villian, with killer ho’s on call. And with one phone call “calling all ho’s, calling all ho’s, it’s time to beat some ass”. That is a true pimphand. Can they find a spot for him on Heroes next season? F*ck Sylar, The Pimp is the sh*t.
Jun.25 at 4:34 pm
white hot eboy says:
JR, I initially thought the same thing, but Foxy supposedly suffers from sudden hearing loss.
Jun.25 at 4:46 pm
Kadavour says:
apparently someone from the L.A. Times is still in Kobe’s “Circle of Trust”. There’s an article that reports a probable 4-team trade that would send KG to L.A. and Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom to Indiana. can’t find any links to it though, just heard it on ESPN
Jun.25 at 4:48 pm
mgw says:
She wasn’t mad that he was a pimp……….she was mad that he had a criminal record.
Jun.25 at 4:49 pm
SwingMan says:
Lang, I’ll re-post what I wrote about my Suns over on Sam’s column earlier today: “The latest on my Suns isn’t so much that a Garnett trade is being discussed, but that they’re - from out of nowhere all of the sudden - bringing in all of Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Jeff Green tomorrow (Tuesday) with, what the Az. Republic calls “a fourth mystery player of top-10 caliber” for a workout. Usual stuff for a team picking #24 and #29, right? WRONG…. Translation: If my Suns haven’t already made a deal to get in the top-10 of the draft, they’re pretty damn close. Stay tuned…..” BTW, the links for that info is here: http://www.azcentral.com/sports/suns/articles/0624suns0625.html
Jun.25 at 4:51 pm
Airick says:
LANG, damn Amare/KG/NASH would most def work, it probably can’t be explained logically in bbal terms, but come to think of it, who the hell is dirk/duncan gonna guard in the playoffs? Matchup hell for the other team for sure, chemistrywise for the suns…I will reserve my comment
Jun.25 at 4:59 pm
RV says:
thats what i thought about sean williams, seems like he aint trouble, too bad Lucas had to acknowledge that the week of the draft, now there’s no way he’ll drop to 26…
Jun.25 at 5:00 pm
Max Airington says:
“I know what’s gonna happen. We’ll wait until the last minute and then they’ll say something like they couldn’t get a deal done because of the cap or somebody pulled out at the last minute. It happens here all the time. I don’t know why I’m surprised every year.” “They’re not interested in winning. They just want to sell tickets, which they can do because of me. They won’t make any deals to make us better.” “Five more years and I’m out of here. I’m marking these days on a calendar, like I’m in jail. I’m tired of being used by this organization, by the league, by the writers, by everyone.” “I’m sure everything will be fine if we win, but if we start losing, I’m shooting.” “I know what I would do if I were coach. I’d determine our strengths and weaknesses and utilize them. And it’s pretty clear what our strength is.” “If I were a general manager, we’d be a better team.”
Jun.25 at 5:00 pm
Max Airington says:
One thing about Kobe, he’s no Jordan.
Jun.25 at 5:23 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
Here’s the story you’re talking about..
http://tinyurl.com/38udkw
…but there are some holes in there. Minnesota trades KG and in return they get…Jermaine O’Neal?
Jun.25 at 5:25 pm
mutoni says:
the la times is reporting that kupchack and mchale are discussing a kg-to-la deal. of course, with those two involved, it’ll never happen. yay!
Jun.25 at 5:29 pm
Ryan Jones says:
I couldn’t have said it better, Max.
Jun.25 at 5:43 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Ryan Jones, aka Greg Focker
Jun.25 at 6:18 pm
Allenp says:
Did Kobe really say all that? Damn, dude is going crazy. His wife must be leaving him and taking all the money.
Jun.25 at 6:27 pm
BallingNZ says:
Flight of the Conchords is hilarious, if you ever get a chance to see them live don’t pass it up. Kiwi baby!!!
Jun.25 at 7:41 pm
Dennard says:
Damn Foxy!!! That’s crazy, stole her purse & her hearing aid. That’s some ish that would happen in the movie Foxy Brown.
Jun.25 at 8:06 pm
Reggie Evans says:
Hearing aid??? What did they do, yell in it?
Jun.25 at 8:10 pm
Young Chris #3 says:
Allenp, those were all Jordan quotes.
Jun.25 at 9:25 pm
Lang Whitaker says:
You mean, Gaylord Focker?
Jun.25 at 9:29 pm
Ty says:
This has to be the funniest slamonline article ever! The stuff about Foxy is isane, I mean what the f… can you do with somebody else hearing aid. (Oh yeah, EBay)!? Is that Sean Williams of the Indiana Pacers?!. And KG to the Lakers makes a lot of sense if they can pull it off but he should consider the Celtics if he has that much say-so.
Jun.25 at 10:31 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Saw Flight of the Conchords for the first time tonight. Funny, but not that funny. If they’d made more jokes about how people in New Zealand f*ck sheep, THEN I would’ve laughed.
Also, Max: You know I don’t like Mike either, right?
Jun.25 at 10:31 pm
Ryan Jones says:
Don’t take the bait, BallingNZ. I’m just playin’.
Jun.25 at 10:34 pm
Ben Osborne says:
Flight of the Conchords is about 15% too silly. Other than that, great comedy.
Jun.25 at 11:16 pm
Kevin Wilson says:
So Foxy Brown has hearing aids. Guess that explains her music.
Jun.25 at 11:20 pm
Boing Dynasty says:
John Lucas is a snitch.
Jun.25 at 11:41 pm
Tim Dennis says:
there not even that popular in New Zealand but they did the whole comedy thing with there music but yeah we dont even get the series in NZ which is stupid i would like to know what the fuss is about
Jun.26 at 12:40 am
Max Airington says:
Ryan, I always hoped you didnt like Mike, but I was never sure. Too many folks hate Kobe that worship at Jordan’s altar. It’s hilarious, I’m just glad you’re not one of em….and John From Cincinnati is that sh*t.
Jun.26 at 2:58 am
Drolfe says:
I love that Steve Kerr doesn’t holla at people, he yahoo’s at them.
Jun.26 at 5:05 am
Nothin_personal says:
Kobe and Rad and the Lakers pick, for oden Roy and some awful contracts (DMiles and laFrentz, namely). If I were the Lakers decision man (is it Kuptchack, Dr Buss or Phil? Maybe Kobe himself?) I would do it in a heartbeat!
Jun.26 at 5:13 am
Doc says:
I want to know how Foxy heard her man is a pimp when she’s supposed to be deaf (alledgedly, alledgedly)
Jun.26 at 5:40 am
Boing Dynasty says:
Dont quote me on list, but i heard she went deaf because shes into ear sex.
Jun.26 at 5:41 am
Boing Dynasty says:
this*
Jun.26 at 6:47 am
Joe_X says:
I guess if all you ever do at night is watch TV, then every call you get is going to interrupt your shows.
Jun.26 at 8:11 am
Ryan Jones says:
Max: A while back, we did a little issue I like to call “SLAM 100.” Check it out if you have a chance…
Jun.26 at 10:13 am
Max Airington says:
I have it, but you were nice in that interview….
Jun.26 at 10:38 am
Lang Whitaker says:
I like Flight of the Conchords…the songs are kind of lame but the rest of it is pretty funny.
Jun.26 at 11:00 am
Ryan Jones says:
Max, I’m asking because I’m seriously not sure I remember: Don’t I say in the intro that I was never a fan?
Jun.26 at 11:08 am
Max Airington says:
“Persolly, I never needed Michael Jordan. As a SoCal kid growing up in the 1980s, I had Magic, Cap, Big Game, and the rest of the Showtime Lakers which was more than enough…”
Jun.26 at 11:09 am
Max Airington says:
You spelled personally wrong too, not me.
Jun.26 at 11:32 am
Ryan Jones says:
Yeah, I couldn’t remember what the final edit was — let’s just say my original lead (”F*ck Michael Jordan”) would’ve been too off-putting for most SLAM readers.
Jun.26 at 11:38 am
Max Airington says:
Word to Karla Knafel. I still love Money, if only for AJ’s III-VII…
Jun.26 at 12:55 pm
Mr. 416 says:
@ Allenp …..not all only HALF the marital assets. cutting that purple rock in half is going to be a B..ch
Jun.26 at 2:12 pm
Kadavour says:
Max, any links to those Jordan quotes?
Jun.26 at 2:23 pm
Max Airington says:
I just cut and pasted them from my CPU notepad, but theres a MJ quotes thread in the Sports forum on Niketalk…
Jun.26 at 3:56 pm
tike says:
Noah for the Diary not good man yall could of easily picked Jeff Green or even the other flordia guy Corey Brewer…slam never seems to amaze me..and Foxy getin robbed for her hearing aide…just not right man.