Fool me once…
This article, sent to me by reader Chris this morning, is more than a week old, but I’m guessing most of you don’t read the Denver Post on a daily basis. So we’ll call it new.
It has taken exactly four months for Iggy to get under the skin of folks in Denver.
Mark Kiszla of the Denver Post:
To score 13.5 points per game, Nuggets forward Andre Iguodala is being paid $15 million per year, give or take a Porsche.
Even by the wacky standards of the NBA, that does not compute.
No way, no how, is Iguodala worth the money.
…
Iguodala is a clamp-down defender, a true professional and a compelling interview.
But the NBA is not a spelling bee. You don't get paid $15 million for giving intelligent sound bites or getting eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.
For $15 million, was it too much to expect for the 29-year-old Iguodala to lead the Nuggets in scoring, be an all-league defender and stamp his personality on the locker room?
His defense has met expectations. The rest of the shiny package? Empty.
After 50 games with the Nuggets since arriving in trade, Iguodala is in danger of finishing with career lows for field-goal percentage, free-throw percentage and rebounds per game. But the real head-scratcher is why an Olympic gold medal winner from the Dream Team hasn't been more forceful in establishing high standards for these young, often- inconsistent Nuggets.
In two games since that article was written, Iguodala has scored one and five point(s), respectively.
Kiszla seems to be blaming Iguodala for his (remaining) $15 million contract, which isn’t entirely fair, especially since Iggy signed it with another team. But, those are the same sorts complaints we heard in Philly– good defender, liked by most scriptuals, but ultimately disappointing and frustrating.
Iggy is Denver’s problem now, and, even with all the Bynum nonsense, I’m glad he’s gone. But one of the sentiments that still seems to exist is the general applauding of the Sixers for pulling off some great trade last summer.
They did no such thing.
I wrote at the time that the Sixers were patsies, a means to an end. The deal was about Dwight Howard going to the Lakers. Everything and everybody else was just filler. The Sixers (it seemed…) made out, but no more than the local diaper store makes out when Walmart moves to a bigger, newer location a town away. The Sixers won(?) by osmosis, nothing more. So, Bynum’s looniness aside, why do we still talk like the Sixers orchestrated some breathtaking trade? They didn’t. They lucked into being able to move Iguodala, and in the process, they landed what they thought would be a star someone who would play basketball.
On that note, here are some Bynum hair memes from Twitter:
via (@YourMasterTyler)
via (@PhillyUnionKevinK)
via (@cjzero)
9 Responses
that’s okay, we’re paying a guy who saw a leprechaun in a tree more.
I agree…..but hate the game not the player…if your boss offered you 15 mill…would you take it?
That last paragraph is some of the worst writing the internet has even seen and you have no idea what osmosis means.
Osmosis jones was black.
Kyle you fuckin’ racist
bobbysab, i see what youre saying in that the current system allows and almost encourages this type of behavior. additionally, the sixers knew full well that they were getting themselves likely damaged goods when they elected to trade for bynum. however, what irks me most is that it is has become quite clear that this was all part of bynum’s master plan. you could tell in his introductory press conference that he did not want to be here and was going to do everything possible to limit his performance and effort while here because he didnt want to waste one ounce of sweat or effort playing for this team. granted thats my opinion and it cannot be proven. however, what can be proven is that the idiot, knowing full well that his knees were an issue, was negligent and irresponsible when he elected to go bowling resulting in greater injury. thats where his contract should be voided to an extent and he should forfeit part of his earnings.
Informed: Don’t hold your breath waiting for Bynum’s contract to be voided, or for him to forfeit so much as one red cent of his earnings. Ain’t gonna happen. The endgame will see the Sixers part ways with Bynum after the season ends so he can get another sucker to blow their salary cap on him. I can live with that.
agreed, ThePhillyFlash. my fear is that he comes back, plays 25 games, puts up some double-doubles, gets the sixers somewhere near the playoff hunt again, and then the sixers foolishly believe he is back and look to reinvest in him. i pray that they are sensible enough to part ways so that some other dumbass team falls for his act instead.
I agree with both of you, as long as he’s not brought back, regardless of pay, the trades a win in my book.
Informed: Your concern is exactly why I don’t want Bynum to play so much as one frigging minute for the Sixers. I say, leave that smacked ass on the bench to rot for the rest of the season, even if he’s declared fit to play, then cut him. I don’t trust Doug Collins, Tony DiLeo and the rocket scientists in the front office not to become enamored of Bynum and let the fool’s gold of a contract push lure them into making a monstrous mistake that could put the Sixers back into salary cap hell for the next half decade or longer. Bynum simply isn’t worth that risk.
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