NBA 2021 - 2022 BENched Simmons

[WarGalley]

16 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

So the T-pups, being the T-Pups, fired their PBO just before the start of the season. Not sure why, but if it was performance based why the hell was he allowed to construct the roster during the offseason? His first two years were awful and it's hard to say he made many good moves other than drafting Ant. 

He was sleeping with someone in the office apparently. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

On 9/23/2021 at 1:00 PM, WarGalley said:

He was sleeping with someone in the office apparently. 

That probably doesn't get you fired on its own, given his position and the timing. Seems like he was hated by a lot of people in the organization and they were already looking to potentially replace him.

 

In other news, LeBron came out and said he's gotten the vaccine after months of seeming like he wouldn't. After reading his comments from today it makes you wonder if he did it in part to troll Kyrie. 

[briantw]

39 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

In other news, LeBron came out and said he's gotten the vaccine after months of seeming like he wouldn't. After reading his comments from today it makes you wonder if he did it in part to troll Kyrie. 

The Staples Center has a vaccination requirement.  If LeBron had to miss half the season (plus Clippers and Warriors games...and Kings?), that team isn't making the playoffs.  LeBron cares about LeBron first and foremost, and so he's going to do what's best for his legacy.

[Wilbur]

I wonder how much Kareem's pointed message to current players has influenced LeBron.

You would think that when the all-time leading scorer and thoughtful civil rights leader says that you are taking a poor ethical choice by not getting vaccinated, NBA players would listen.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

25 minutes ago, briantw said:

The Staples Center has a vaccination requirement.  If LeBron had to miss half the season (plus Clippers and Warriors games...and Kings?), that team isn't making the playoffs.  LeBron cares about LeBron first and foremost, and so he's going to do what's best for his legacy.

I thought they still had a player exemption though. San Fran and NYC are the only two cities I was aware of that had a hard ban on unvaccinated players, hence why Kyrie and Wiggins are getting dragged. 

[briantw]

16 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I thought they still had a player exemption though. San Fran and NYC are the only two cities I was aware of that had a hard ban on unvaccinated players, hence why Kyrie and Wiggins are getting dragged. 

Ah you might be right.  I didn't look into it outside of a quick google search.

[DireWolfSpirit]

A player exemption is an disgraceful outrage. They should be forced to follow the same local health rules as any other user of the arena.

Especially considering a sizeable majority of these arenas have accepted public funds.

Okay just looked it up and the Magic, the Hawks and the Nets have accepted public financing for their arenas.

https://www.sportscasting.com/taxpayer-money-billion-dollar-stadiums/

Kyrie needs to follow the local ordinance or NYC can/should definitely shut him down. Exceptions my ass!

[BigFatCoward]

With regards to Wiggins, is he even allowed to train? Playing half the season is shit, playing half the season but not match fit should be sackable. 

[DireWolfSpirit]

27 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

With regards to Wiggins, is he even allowed to train? Playing half the season is shit, playing half the season but not match fit should be sackable. 

For $30 million a year you'd think a guy could be bothered to make himself available for the damn games.

Suspend them....without pay.

[BigFatCoward]

2 minutes ago, DireWolfSpirit said:

For $30 million a year you'd think a guy could be bothered to make himself available for the damn games.

Suspend them....without pay.

I'm guessing, because of his albatross of a contract GSW would love to be able to sack him. 

[Proudfeet]

What I don't get is why the Players Association is providing cover for these players when supposedly 90% of players are already vaccinated. Do they actually not agree but feel forced to get it, so they are okay with others standing their ground? Or is it simply about avoiding conflict? Or alternatively, not wanting to set any precedent of being dictated to by the NBA, perceived or otherwise? 

[Slurktan]

23 minutes ago, Proudfeet said:

What I don't get is why the Players Association is providing cover for these players when supposedly 90% of players are already vaccinated. Do they actually not agree but feel forced to get it, so they are okay with others standing their ground? Or is it simply about avoiding conflict? Or alternatively, not wanting to set any precedent of being dictated to by the NBA, perceived or otherwise? 

All signs point to the latter.

[Maithanet]

I fully support not paying players who are missing games because of their personal decision not to get vaccinated.  The anti-vaxx stance is particularly egregious for pro athletes, who defer to team doctors on medical decisions CONSTANTLY.  Like, do we really think that Irving is reading medical journals about the health impacts of cortizone shots or supplements?  Of course not.  He trusts the doctors to do their job and takes the medicine to stay fit.  It would be ridiculous to carve out a medical exception for this one particular vaccine that has already been proven safe and given to a billion people worldwide.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

27 minutes ago, Slurktan said:

All signs point to the latter.

It’s a mix of not wanting to set a precedent and a lot of players are upset they felt forced to take it, but if you don’t have a good deal locked in you don’t have much a choice. But I agree that the PA is really failing all the vaccinated players by placating to a few loud morons.  

[Slurktan]

26 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

It’s a mix of not wanting to set a precedent and a lot of players are upset they felt forced to take it, but if you don’t have a good deal locked in you don’t have much a choice. But I agree that the PA is really failing all the vaccinated players by placating to a few loud morons.  

Its not just the vaccinated players they are failing though, but also everyone who works in the arenas who have to be fully vaxxed.  It really is reprehensible and I agree with Maith, not vaxxed say bye bye to your millions.

[Proudfeet]

The way I understand it, the NBA has their hands tied unless they come to an agreement with the Players Association. Which they did, except that it allows players to be unvaccinated with last year's restrictions placed on them. The alternative is local laws, like SF and NY or the now moot option of not coming to an agreement and it becomes a lockout.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

2 hours ago, Slurktan said:

Its not just the vaccinated players they are failing though, but also everyone who works in the arenas who have to be fully vaxxed.  It really is reprehensible and I agree with Maith, not vaxxed say bye bye to your millions.

As do I, but you can’t just remove players from their teams like Kareem said. However, the NBA just came out and said unvaxxed players won’t get paid for missed games.

[Maithanet]

I'm ok with the NBA's stance.  I'm not really sure why the players union is taking the stand that they are, rather than standing up for the vast majority of players who are making the sensible decision and getting vaccinated.  But once the players union decided to fight this fight, this is about the best the NBA can do. 

Unvaccinated players would need to miss all home games for the Knicks, Nets and Warriors (possibly others if additional jurisdictions pass rules).  So we'll see if Irving is willing to hurt his team AND pass up 13+ million dollars for this vaccination stance.  I suspect the answer is no.  Even for a rich man, that is a lot of money. 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

56 minutes ago, Maithanet said:

Unvaccinated players would need to miss all home games for the Knicks, Nets and Warriors (possibly others if additional jurisdictions pass rules).  So we'll see if Irving is willing to hurt his team AND pass up 13+ million dollars for this vaccination stance.  I suspect the answer is no.  Even for a rich man, that is a lot of money. 

If he doesn’t change his stance, would you try to trade him? I know he’s said he’d retire if that happened, but I’m sure there are some teams that would be fine with that if it meant they could dump some bad contracts onto the Nets.

[Maithanet]

23 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

If he doesn’t change his stance, would you try to trade him? I know he’s said he’d retire if that happened, but I’m sure there are some teams that would be fine with that if it meant they could dump some bad contracts onto the Nets.

The Nets are looking to win a championship this year, and understandably so.  They should only trade him if they can get some guys back that would actually help them win a title more than Irving playing 45% of your games.  I'm not sure there are a lot of possible trades that fit that bill, because most teams aren't going to want Irving at all.  Irving is an injury prone superstar with a history of clashing with coaches and teammates - his trade value is pretty low.