Dante’s Speak, Installment 21
INSTALLMENT: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
14 | 15 | 16 | 17 |
18 | 19 | 20
Karl Malone say, "enough is enough". After 19 seasons in the NBA "The Mailman" has called it quits. I, for one, am glad. Now we don't have to read any more awful headlines, like "Mailman retires his route" or "The Post Office was open on Sunday" or "Mailman delivers apology to Kobe". In 19 years we've heard it all, there are no more clever lines to be written. What I WILL miss is his constant reference to himself in the third person. He talked about "Karl Malone" so much that I truly believe he forgot he IS Karl Malone. "Karl Malone had a good game" or "no one can stop Karl Malone" or "Me and Karl Malone are going out to dinner". As for his legacy? He's a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, he's arguably the best power forward that ever played the game, and he's certainly the best player to never win a title. Malone retires having scored 36,928 career points (36,000 of which came on a pass from John Stockton). He'll finish second on the all-time scoring list, less than 1,500 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who did NOT wear a cowboy hat to his retirement).
Well Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell I hope you guys are happy, you were successful in getting your Head Coach fired. After 10 seasons at the helm for Minnesota, Flip Saunders was fired and now Kevin McHale will run the team. This is insane that it had to come to this. The T'Wolves have the EXACT same team they had last year, a team that had the best record in the Western Conference at 58-24. So did Flip all of a sudden forget how to coach? NO, he has two underachieving malcontents that will eventually get their contracts, without showing any remorse for costing a great coach his job. You should be proud guys and you can both sit next to Vince Carter and cry when the quarter runs out on the horse carousel.
Alonzo Mourning will reportedly sign with the Miami Heat. What is interesting about this is that if Miami does sign 'Zo, then the Miami Heat will be the first ever team to have the top three picks in one draft on the same team. Back in 1992, Shaquille O'Neal was taken first, then Alonzo with the second pick, followed by Christian Laettner with the third. If they can somehow acquire Jimmy Jackson and LaPhonso Ellis, they can field the first five picks. What else is interesting is how perfectly Mourning orchestrated this whole deal. He said he was unhappy playing for the New Jersey Nets. The same Nets team that paid him $5 million last season to NOT play basketball.
Maybe I'm crazy, but if the Magic paid me $5 million to NOT work this past year, I'd sit courtside at the TD Watherhouse Centre and cheer like a madman.........even if there WASN'T a game that night. So for 'Zo to show that much ingratitude, when the Nets took such a big risk on him is unacceptable. Then Toronto has to pay $9 million to buy him out!! WHAT? Instead of Mourning getting the remainder of his contract, somewhere around $15 million, he has Toronto pay him $9 million to not play for THEM! This is grand larceny. Most people would be locked up for life after doing what Alonzo Mourning has done. Maybe he can work out a deal with Miami to not play for around $3 million and get a ring if the Heat win a title.
What is going on up in Toronto? Raptors point guard Rafer Alston demanded an apology from his Head Coach Sam Mitchell after Alston was benched in the first quarter of their loss to Cleveland. Alston didn't come out of the locker room for the second half, and was seen crying as he was escorted to the bus DURING the fourth quarter. I don't know much, but I think you forfeit your right to an apology when you refuse to return with your TEAM to the court and then you CRY after being benched. Good grief, if that was the case, Joe Kleine would have spent his entire NBA career in tears. Pull it together, you're "Skip to my Lou" a Rucker Park legend, you have a reputation to uphold. I'd hate to be around if Rafer got a splinter.
Finally, the Orlando Magic head into the All-Star break at 28-24, currently sixth in the Eastern Conference. Grant Hill is coming off his best performance in a Magic uniform, a 39 point effort against the Clippers. Hill played just 47 games in his first three years with the Magic, and he's already played 50 this year alone. I'd love to have the Sprewells, Alstons and Vince Carters of the world spend 10 minutes listening to Grant tell them what he has gone through these past four years just to be able to walk without pain, let alone PLAY. He does it for the love of the game. He could have easily sat out and collected a paycheck, heck, he probably should have, he's tried to come back three times unsuccessfully, at some point you gotta give up right? Nope, not Grant Hill. I've personally seen him work four long years to get to where he is now and I for one will cheer like hell when his name is announced to start the 54th All-Star game, yes, even though he'll be standing next to Vince Carter.......
Dante welcomes your comments, questions and alternative opinions. E-mail him here.
Dante’s Speak is solely the opinion of Dante Marchitelli and does not reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA. Marchitelli has served as radio producer in the Orlando Magic's Broadcast department for six seasons.
Karl Malone say, "enough is enough". After 19 seasons in the NBA "The Mailman" has called it quits. I, for one, am glad. Now we don't have to read any more awful headlines, like "Mailman retires his route" or "The Post Office was open on Sunday" or "Mailman delivers apology to Kobe". In 19 years we've heard it all, there are no more clever lines to be written. What I WILL miss is his constant reference to himself in the third person. He talked about "Karl Malone" so much that I truly believe he forgot he IS Karl Malone. "Karl Malone had a good game" or "no one can stop Karl Malone" or "Me and Karl Malone are going out to dinner". As for his legacy? He's a first ballot Hall-of-Famer, he's arguably the best power forward that ever played the game, and he's certainly the best player to never win a title. Malone retires having scored 36,928 career points (36,000 of which came on a pass from John Stockton). He'll finish second on the all-time scoring list, less than 1,500 points behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (who did NOT wear a cowboy hat to his retirement).
Well Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell I hope you guys are happy, you were successful in getting your Head Coach fired. After 10 seasons at the helm for Minnesota, Flip Saunders was fired and now Kevin McHale will run the team. This is insane that it had to come to this. The T'Wolves have the EXACT same team they had last year, a team that had the best record in the Western Conference at 58-24. So did Flip all of a sudden forget how to coach? NO, he has two underachieving malcontents that will eventually get their contracts, without showing any remorse for costing a great coach his job. You should be proud guys and you can both sit next to Vince Carter and cry when the quarter runs out on the horse carousel.
Alonzo Mourning will reportedly sign with the Miami Heat. What is interesting about this is that if Miami does sign 'Zo, then the Miami Heat will be the first ever team to have the top three picks in one draft on the same team. Back in 1992, Shaquille O'Neal was taken first, then Alonzo with the second pick, followed by Christian Laettner with the third. If they can somehow acquire Jimmy Jackson and LaPhonso Ellis, they can field the first five picks. What else is interesting is how perfectly Mourning orchestrated this whole deal. He said he was unhappy playing for the New Jersey Nets. The same Nets team that paid him $5 million last season to NOT play basketball.
Maybe I'm crazy, but if the Magic paid me $5 million to NOT work this past year, I'd sit courtside at the TD Watherhouse Centre and cheer like a madman.........even if there WASN'T a game that night. So for 'Zo to show that much ingratitude, when the Nets took such a big risk on him is unacceptable. Then Toronto has to pay $9 million to buy him out!! WHAT? Instead of Mourning getting the remainder of his contract, somewhere around $15 million, he has Toronto pay him $9 million to not play for THEM! This is grand larceny. Most people would be locked up for life after doing what Alonzo Mourning has done. Maybe he can work out a deal with Miami to not play for around $3 million and get a ring if the Heat win a title.
What is going on up in Toronto? Raptors point guard Rafer Alston demanded an apology from his Head Coach Sam Mitchell after Alston was benched in the first quarter of their loss to Cleveland. Alston didn't come out of the locker room for the second half, and was seen crying as he was escorted to the bus DURING the fourth quarter. I don't know much, but I think you forfeit your right to an apology when you refuse to return with your TEAM to the court and then you CRY after being benched. Good grief, if that was the case, Joe Kleine would have spent his entire NBA career in tears. Pull it together, you're "Skip to my Lou" a Rucker Park legend, you have a reputation to uphold. I'd hate to be around if Rafer got a splinter.
Finally, the Orlando Magic head into the All-Star break at 28-24, currently sixth in the Eastern Conference. Grant Hill is coming off his best performance in a Magic uniform, a 39 point effort against the Clippers. Hill played just 47 games in his first three years with the Magic, and he's already played 50 this year alone. I'd love to have the Sprewells, Alstons and Vince Carters of the world spend 10 minutes listening to Grant tell them what he has gone through these past four years just to be able to walk without pain, let alone PLAY. He does it for the love of the game. He could have easily sat out and collected a paycheck, heck, he probably should have, he's tried to come back three times unsuccessfully, at some point you gotta give up right? Nope, not Grant Hill. I've personally seen him work four long years to get to where he is now and I for one will cheer like hell when his name is announced to start the 54th All-Star game, yes, even though he'll be standing next to Vince Carter.......
Dante welcomes your comments, questions and alternative opinions. E-mail him here.
Dante’s Speak is solely the opinion of Dante Marchitelli and does not reflect the views of the Orlando Magic or the NBA. Marchitelli has served as radio producer in the Orlando Magic's Broadcast department for six seasons.
