Nalod wrote:TripleThreat wrote:lxndiaz wrote:....what exactly happened to Deron Williams.....
IMHO, Williams is more proof that point guard still holds the lowest positional value across the entire NBA.
Very hard to get the wing play and pivot play you need, and factor in the salary cap and what the market rate is for those positions when you are paying max dollars to a point guard.
Stephen King said something interesting once, he said fame and money are simply like a magnifying glass, that you are what you have always been character wise, everything just seems bigger, but that core part of you will always be your reality.
Deron Williams is a selfish douchebag. He'd be a selfish douchebag if he was a trucker, if he worked on a farm, or if he was in the NBA.
I do approve of what the Jazz did. For whatever struggles that franchise had, at least they didn't get held hostage like the Melo in Denver and Howard in Orlando situations. They just told the guy to go pack his trash and leave as soon as Sloan decided he'd rather fish than deal with Deron Williams.
Think about that indictment. Sloan did something he loved forever, then decided it was easier to stop loving it than deal with Deron Williams. Is there a bigger open judgement call on a person made ever in pro sports? That's quite the mantle - that you are the kind of douchebag that saps every bit of love out of the game itself wherever you go.
But Sloan never did return and to some extent Sloan was also burn't out and cooked as well. No doubt Deron had a piece in it but as Larry Miller health failed and next generation was taking over there was a big change as NBA got to be more than just a family business. IN fact, Jazz upper management has changed again in the last year.
To me the story was not just Deron, but many forces including Sloan losing his wife and by plowing back into coaching with great intensity while not having a balance in other parts of his life. To just lay it all on Deron as the bad guy who sucked the joy out of life for Sloan. Basically Sloan is not some innocent bambi who needs protection. He allowed Deron or the game to eat him up and maybe stayed too long.
Again, not to say Deron is without fault but not everything is good guy vs. bad guy or there are clear lines. Sloan was a throw back and had an owner that had his back always. when Management changed and maybe did no't have his back 100%, it got weird for everyone.
i have zero sympathy for williams. he gave up on conditioning and defense after his first big payday-- i am pretty sure i am right about that without bthering to look up his numbers. i never saw sloan play, i don't think, but i recall his having a rep for being a tough SOB who played both ends with fire and grit. plus he coached stockton for stock's entire career. williams could never live up to that history but fvck him for not trying. now he has a couple of bad wheels and will be out of the league within two years. fvck him.