Was Shaq Being Selfish By Coming to Phoenix?

[The Diesel]

Hey guys,

I thought this topic would make for some interesting discussion regarding the controversial trade last season.

- Do you think Shaq should have thought more about the team's situation than about himself when he wanted to come to Phoenix?

The team had the best record in the West, made a great addition in Grant Hill, and Shawn Marion was a great fit in D'Antoni's system and a 36 year old, injury-prone guy demands to leave Miami and go to Phoenix?

Do you think Shaq should have wanted to go somewhere else out of respect for what Phoenix was doing?

I was thinking about this the other day and I told myself I would have refused to come unless Phoenix first approached Miami...which wasn't the case as Miami were the ones that called first.

Do you think he was being very selfish about the trade and not thinking enough about the team's situation?

I think it shows what a big ego he has.

What do you guys think?

And his reputation has taken a massive hit; the trade was a disaster, he got in an ugly feud with one of the greatest coaches of all time, and people think he quit on the Heat.

What do you think about all of this?

He should have either just stayed in Miami and have faith Riley would turn things around or gone to another team out of respect for Phoenix.

It also seems Miami is going to turn things around very quickly...

[pidi]

of course he thinks about himself the first - everyone else would do the same.
he came to phoenix as the missong piece in the puzzle, so c´mon he still could be the missing piece and we´ll see the next season if he have a legit shot on the títle.
NBA Players are all selfish players..

[The Diesel]

But selfish to that extent? The team was in first place with Marion before the trade and would have won the Championship last year if not for the suspensions!

The team was great without him and got worse WITH him and he should have thought about that before demanding to leave Miami.

By demanding a trade to Phoenix, it forced Marion to leave and the team got screwed because of it.

A 36 year old, injury-prone Shaq is the missing piece?

He should have thought about those things and he didn't and he paid the price.

He is getting blasted all the time because of the negative impact he had on the team and the fact that Marion was forced to leave.

I would have done things differently if I was him...he should have gone to an up and coming team instead of a team in 1st place and which has a style which didn't suit him at all.

[inyourface48]

first of all you dont know how the suns would have finished the season with marion instead of shaq.
nevertheless imho it is just illusive+utopistic to think that ANY player would go to a worse team rather than a possibly championship-ready team if they want him.

the suns made that move because they thought it would improve the team. shaq probably did too. but even if he doubted that, which i don't think, i don't blame him one tiny bit. i'd even go that far and say(though being a suns fan) why the hell should he care about that. it's not his business.it's kerr's +others to think about the suns. as long as he does his job, he does everything he's supposed to.

you might call that selfish. i call this reality and the way the world works. you do the things that are good for you and maybe your family or people you care about not good for others and imho that's totally ok ethically.

[The Diesel]

But Shaq wanted to come more than Phoenix wanted him to come.

Phoenix never made any offers for him until he demanded to leave Miami and I still can't help but think that Sarver wanted this move against Kerr and D'Antoni's wishes.

I mean, why would Kerr, as a GM, take SUCH a huge risk on a 36 year old, injury prone guy when his team is in first place?

And why would Mike want to trade arguably the best athlete in the NBA who was a perfect fit for his system for a washed up Shaq?

This trade was done mainly by the owners...

Shaq should have thought about Phoenix's situation before he decided to come.

Marion got traded, the team got worse, and they got knocked out in the first round and Shaq is taking all the blame just like I thought he would.

I feel really bad for Shawn, to be honest with you.

He got traded to the worst team in the NBA for a washed up player when he was on a team that was in first place with him and WOULD have won a Championship last year if not for the suspensions.

But Miami is turning things around very quickly and Phoenix is only going to get worse when you consider that three of their five starters (Hill, Nash, Shaq) are in their mid 30's.

That was a horrible trade. Shaq and Phoenix should have been smarter!

Who cares if Marion wanted a big contract? He deserved it.

Shaq is clearly not worth the money he is making anymore. Marion might have wanted more than what he's worth, but he wouldn't have been as overpaid as Shaq is.

[pidi]

yo diesel i realy like you, man. you´ve been posting some good stuff, but hey now
you acting like a drama queen. what would have been when ghill could have played
in the playoffs with 100% - - you never know if we could have won than against the spurs.

and so much i love the fanatic play of marion, he wanted out of here, he acted like a
snitch and didn´t want to be the third or fourth option on offense. he was a locker room
desaster.

let this team get a whole season under his belt and than we can judge wether this was a good
or a bad deal. perhaps we will play our best bball not at the beginning of the season maybe we´ll play it when it counts, in the playoffs. just because everybody on the team has fresh legs...

[The Diesel]

But how much of a locker-room cancer could Marion have been when the team was in first place before the trade and would have won the Championship last year if not for the suspensions?

[pidi]

who tells you that we would have won in the finals - or win two other games against san antonio.
we discussed the position of marion thousands time before - i love him as a player, but when you are the highest paid player on youre team, than imo its enough respect you can get.
and i wasn´t in the locker room, but i think, that a players who tells you in every interview that he is jelous bout amare or nash and want to get more shots is not the best locker room presentation...
or?

[inyourface48]

cmon diesel, you're mixing up assumptions + facts badly. you just don't know what might have been.

and the suns did have a lack of a big post presense. amare played very solid at c, but he's better at pf +the suns did have problems playing with teams with big guys for example the spurs. they got their asses handed to them by tim duncan more than once. they definetely weren't a perfect team. you can argue about if they got better or worse, but it's not like they would be the 2008 champions with marion instead of shaq for sure.
plus both kerr and d'antoni thought this was the right move. at least they said so in interviews more than once. shaq could have been the missing part, which prevented them from winning a title, which indeed, he has yet to prove.

[b-ball forever]

Eh, the trade was (Please Use More Appropriate Word), but Shaq wasn't at all being selfish by choosin go to AZ after both the Suns' and Heat management agreed on the deal.
What's he supposed to do? Veto the deal and stick with an organization that he doesn't seem to get along with anymore by force?
The Heat fans wuda murdered him for blocking an opportunity to get Shawn Marion if he did that.

Dumbass move by Kerr and Sarver on the trade, but Shaq wasn't being selfish at all, anybody in the world wuda done the same thing in his place.

I still can't help but think that Sarver wanted this move against Kerr and D'Antoni's wishes.

I mean, why would Kerr, as a GM, take SUCH a huge risk on a 36 year old, injury prone guy when his team is in first place?

And why would Mike want to trade arguably the best athlete in the NBA who was a perfect fit for his system for a washed up Shaq?

Kerr was all over the move from start to finish.
Ever since the trade got pulled off he's defended it on numerous occasions, the tard even came out and said that he still thought the trade was a success right after Shaq just finished gettin embarassingly exposed in the Spurs-Suns series.

D'Antoni on the utha hand never seem to like it, regardless of what he said to the journalists (I mean what's he supposed to do? Come out and call off the move his manager and GM agreed on?).
You cud tell by the look on his face during the press conference at the time we pulled off the deal that he was pissed and didn't like the move... then he leaves the Suns @ the end of the year.
But Mike was the coach, not the GM or manager, he had no shiyt of a say in what he wanted over Sarver and Kerr.

[pidi]

and btw we got him just because of this right here:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=JDxENd2gm30

or

http://youtube.com/watch?v=VukbXYyN7f8&feature=related

[eastsidecrossover]

first of all, the first place thing was a mirage.

Go and look at how everyone finished in the west. You lose 2 or 3 games, you slip down to the 6th spot in the west. It was that close. Suns were barely in first, and the top 6 teams or so where so tight, you never knew what was going to happen.

Second is, if you look at this teams record before the trade against playoff teams, you new they would not keep the pace to win the west with or without Marion. They were getting beat, and had a losing record against these teams.

So you have to drop the first place thing when the trade happened. The west was too good, and the suns record was a mirage due to our weak schedule.

[dflash3]

I've never looked at a trade from that perspective but that's pretty interesting. Shaq was not being selfish to the Phoenix Suns by approving the trade to them, since most players in the league believe they bring something positive to their respective teams. Not to mention it's not the players job to determine whether their arrival with ruin the teams chemistry. It's the GMs responsibility to figure out whether trading for a certain player will be beneficial to the franchise. Shaq was only being selfish to the Miami Heat.

But, it would be wonderful if players started thinking about what type of impact they would have on the team they are being traded to. Then maybe the Heat wouldn't be stuck with Blount's awful contract.

[DEEP3CL]

Well Shaq has this thing for warm weather cities and Phoenix offered a few things. One Shaq knew he could be a starter and he while he knew it was Stat and Nash's team he still saw where he could be a factor in a small way. As you guys know by now Shaq is all about the dramatics. See lets say the Suns would've done very well in the playoff, you know got past the Spurs and whoever else was in the way.

That would've stroked Shaq's ego immensely. He in a lot of ways is like that athlete who can't come to grips that he's slowing down. He can still help a team but he has to realize it will be in a minimal way.

But the effects of him coming to the Suns definitely derailed the team a bit in my opinion. At the time I think you guys were number 1 in the West. Yes the team was "small' so to speak and maybe Kerr was getting antsy to put his stamp on the team in a big way and Shaq was it.

Being on the outside but as a fan of the NBA it seems like the deal wasn't fully trusted by D'Antoni but media reports say he was for it. Then I heard Kerr was apprehensive and deferred to Mike. To me Mike was being a company guy. Agreeing to it to keep team harmony which was key considering how late it was in the season and what was at stake.

Like I said it's had effects, like Mike sensing his time was short and so instead of being fired if the Suns struggle a bit out the gate next season he removed himself from the scene. Which I think was the right move. Now Kerr is the square target of Sarver. Porter in a lot of ways will be a "back pocket chip" for Kerr to play should it get hot. But at the same time if Shaq is motivated and in decent shape along with Hill and Nash the Suns are still one of the most dangerous teams in the West.

Stat taking this summer off was key too so he'll be rested and fully healed. I think for the first time in a long time theres questions about where you guys are going. Your going to have a new coach, new system. Should be interesting.

[BigDaddyPR]

This gets old honestly. I dont know why people like to Hate on Shaq so much... he has made EVERY team that he has played on Better, now youre judging him on half a season, on his decline.. it really bothers me....
Marion wanted out, Shaq did what he was supposed to do when he was brought here. Everyone knew Shaq was an awful ft shooter, he Rebounded, He defended, he was even the only consistent scorer asides amare in the Spurs series. Nash struggled, Hill was injured, but no, lets blame it on Shaq, the classic scapegoat...... it is bs, and all this "hate" threads are ridiculous.... but you know what... whatever......

I just wish Shaq can shut some more "fans" like he did in Miami, well see what some will say afterwards....

The Diesel?? You should change your nick....

[eastsidecrossover]

good take bigdaddy. for some reason, people like to dwell too much in the past sometimes. I personally think Shaq did what he was brought in to do. TD went off, thats for sure. Shaq came in and was a double double guy, he helped us big time in our weakest point, rebounding and defending the paint. But that also made our perimeter defenders look worse in this trade. The hack a shaq thing, well, I have always thought teams were cowards when they went to that. Its low class, gunk basketball. I was surprised to see pops go to that.

about being selfish, well, why not come to phx? Miami was not getting it done, and that team was in shambles. Typically players at the end of their career want to play for a contender and win. Thats what he got except for the win part. Marion was gone. He was done here in the valley, and MD was ignorant as our coach.

The guy is getting paid because he has won 4 championships. Let see how much of a drive does he want to get a 5th? Does he come into camp underweight, lighter, healthy, ready to play when needed in a reduced role. (PT that is)

[Lulkz]

Shaq brought something Amare lacked, DEFENSE! Amare was sooooo soft too many times againest good players like Duncan, Bosh, Garnett and many other PF's.