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OT: Finding Darko

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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#21 » by Joker » Wed Aug 2, 2017 5:42 pm

UcanUwill wrote:
Alfred wrote:
OakleyDokely wrote:Hey I wish someone would pay me millions to sit on a bench.


Would you honestly take millions of dollars to be a punchline, have your name synonymous with failure and spend a decade being embarrassingly bad at something? I mean, there are worse fates, but that obviously took an emotional toll on him.


I dont know. He made NBA, most pro basketball players don't. He is only a failure from NBA perspective, in grand basketball scheme of things, he is quite successful.


I come from a city with a million people in it, and we haven't produced an NBA player yet. That should put things in perspective in terms of failing from an NBA perspective vs. grand basketball scheme of things.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#22 » by yk24 » Wed Aug 2, 2017 6:28 pm

Double Helix wrote:I had replied earlier without actually reading it. I'm going to assume many here will do the same. The words "long read" have a way of doing that in this TL;DR culture but now that I've read it I agree that this was a worthy read and it reminded me of something simple and true.

Darko isn't a mistake. The entire process and all the people who spent the money on him and convinced themselves they could coach him to become something of value to them were the real mistakes of basketball and it's they who should feel embarrassed only.

Sure, he's a trivia joke but he earned 52 million dollars. There's a lot of people on this planet who'd do far more embarrassing and horrible things to themselves or others for 52 million dollars. He has a successful apple farm. He has his children in a top private school. He has stories to tell and wild cars to drive. He's healthy, has a healthy, happy family who won't want for anything and he's doing what he wants. He's a winner, not a loser.


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So true. The people that drafted him and gave him all the money he got should be the ones who should be ashamed. The dude did what he could do and yeah maybe he didn't try his best but its not his fault he was paid millions of dollars. Its the bafoon GMs that gave him all that money lol. I can imagine look on Doc Rivers face though when Darko walked into his office and said "I quit" :lol: :lol:
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#23 » by freebird » Wed Aug 2, 2017 6:30 pm

Alfred wrote:
OakleyDokely wrote:Hey I wish someone would pay me millions to sit on a bench.


Would you honestly take millions of dollars to be a punchline, have your name synonymous with failure and spend a decade being embarrassingly bad at something? I mean, there are worse fates, but that obviously took an emotional toll on him.


He who dies with the most stuff wins...
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#24 » by yk24 » Wed Aug 2, 2017 6:31 pm

Alfred wrote:
OakleyDokely wrote:Hey I wish someone would pay me millions to sit on a bench.


Would you honestly take millions of dollars to be a punchline, have your name synonymous with failure and spend a decade being embarrassingly bad at something? I mean, there are worse fates, but that obviously took an emotional toll on him.


I don't think being a bust took an emotional toll on him. In the article he refers to himself a bust time and time again.

He took millions of dollars to do something that was taught to him and he had the physical gifts to do. Ppl thought they could teach him when really he wasn't ready to be a student like they had envisioned him to be.

He literally got the last laugh.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#25 » by Tokey41 » Wed Aug 2, 2017 6:45 pm

This was an awesome read, thanks for posting. The main thing is he's happy and doing okay financially -- unlike (according to the article) 60% of former NBA players who file for bankruptcy in the first 5 years of retirement. Darko may not have succeeded at basketball, but it sounds like he's succeeding at life.

It's great Darko is taking responsibility for his shortcomings as a player. He definitely partied too hard and didn't put the effort in, kind of like a spoiled rich kid expecting people to cater to him. But allow me to defend him a bit, I will say that his situation wasn't ideal based on a number of factors. First, Darko wasn't a mature kid and that seemed obvious even before the draft; he needed to learn American culture in addition to going to a team with title aspirations. Certainly, riding the bench while his fellow top 5 draftees were in starring roles was probably hard for him (again, not the most mature guy out there). Second, from what I recall Larry Brown wasn't the most easy coach to get along with - especially for younger players. It sounds like in the article Brown was trying to turn Darko into something he wasn't. Should have let him work on that outside shot, probably would have worked out fine for the Pistons to trade him for more veteran help, and definitely would have been better for Darko -- though its tough to say if he would have ever really matured enough to be a star.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#26 » by CoachJReturns » Wed Aug 2, 2017 7:40 pm

Alfred wrote:
OakleyDokely wrote:Hey I wish someone would pay me millions to sit on a bench.


Would you honestly take millions of dollars to be a punchline, have your name synonymous with failure and spend a decade being embarrassingly bad at something? I mean, there are worse fates, but that obviously took an emotional toll on him.

Hell yes. Lol. The Pistons screwed up that draft large when they could have potentially extended their dynasty by picking Melo, Wade or Bosh. That's not on Darko at all. It's like BC drafting Bargs. I don't even blame Bargs because I figured he was going to suck before the draft even took place.
As for Darko, he made $46.9 million US!!! Like damn. Find a lovely woman to be your wife and enjoy your summers with your family. When it's over, move to a country that doesn't give a damn about basketball and never hear about being a bust ever. Like Thailand or something. They don't give a rat's ass about the NBA over there I'm guessing.
Also, he could have retired after the first few years of his career as well without any trouble. A rookie contract can last a very long time if you live a more ordinary lifestyle.
I'd switch places with the guy 10 times out of 10. Glad to hear he's happy though. I don't want anyone to be unhappy really.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#27 » by Patman » Wed Aug 2, 2017 9:31 pm

CoachJReturns wrote:
Alfred wrote:
OakleyDokely wrote:Hey I wish someone would pay me millions to sit on a bench.


Would you honestly take millions of dollars to be a punchline, have your name synonymous with failure and spend a decade being embarrassingly bad at something? I mean, there are worse fates, but that obviously took an emotional toll on him.

Hell yes. Lol. The Pistons screwed up that draft large when they could have potentially extended their dynasty by picking Melo, Wade or Bosh. That's not on Darko at all. It's like BC drafting Bargs. I don't even blame Bargs because I figured he was going to suck before the draft even took place.
As for Darko, he made $46.9 million US!!! Like damn. Find a lovely woman to be your wife and enjoy your summers with your family. When it's over, move to a country that doesn't give a damn about basketball and never hear about being a bust ever. Like Thailand or something. They don't give a rat's ass about the NBA over there I'm guessing.
Also, he could have retired after the first few years of his career as well without any trouble. A rookie contract can last a very long time if you live a more ordinary lifestyle.
I'd switch places with the guy 10 times out of 10. Glad to hear he's happy though. I don't want anyone to be unhappy really.


Melo would've been perfect for them. A scorer to surrounded by a mostly defensive team.

PG - Billups
SG - Hamilton
SF - Melo
PF - Sheed
C - Big Ben
6 - Prince
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#28 » by Bankai » Wed Aug 2, 2017 9:36 pm

Zeno wrote:I really hope things work out this well for Anthony Bennett

I thought I saw Bennett do security at Rebel Nightclub the other day, seemed happy....
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#29 » by Tokey41 » Wed Aug 2, 2017 11:22 pm

Patman wrote:
CoachJReturns wrote:
Alfred wrote:
Would you honestly take millions of dollars to be a punchline, have your name synonymous with failure and spend a decade being embarrassingly bad at something? I mean, there are worse fates, but that obviously took an emotional toll on him.

Hell yes. Lol. The Pistons screwed up that draft large when they could have potentially extended their dynasty by picking Melo, Wade or Bosh. That's not on Darko at all. It's like BC drafting Bargs. I don't even blame Bargs because I figured he was going to suck before the draft even took place.
As for Darko, he made $46.9 million US!!! Like damn. Find a lovely woman to be your wife and enjoy your summers with your family. When it's over, move to a country that doesn't give a damn about basketball and never hear about being a bust ever. Like Thailand or something. They don't give a rat's ass about the NBA over there I'm guessing.
Also, he could have retired after the first few years of his career as well without any trouble. A rookie contract can last a very long time if you live a more ordinary lifestyle.
I'd switch places with the guy 10 times out of 10. Glad to hear he's happy though. I don't want anyone to be unhappy really.


Melo would've been perfect for them. A scorer to surrounded by a mostly defensive team.

PG - Billups
SG - Hamilton
SF - Melo
PF - Sheed
C - Big Ben
6 - Prince


Melo would have probably clashed with Brown too. Hell, even LeBron would have. Brown just doesn't mix well with rookies. The difference would've been Melo eventually accepting his bench role (under Brown, Prince would have started) because he cared about making a name for himself as a player. Sounds like Darko didn't care and was only playing ball because people said he should.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#30 » by RaptorsNorth » Thu Aug 3, 2017 12:18 am

Dude would probably still be in the league if he wasn't drafted so high. I think even brags would probably still be in the league if he was drafted late in the first. After all patterson and carroll are still in the league and One guy is almosted crippled and the other guy can only play defence.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#31 » by Mascot » Thu Aug 3, 2017 2:28 am

I have no respect for a man that says hes going to rape and kill the daughters of referees

lock this up
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#32 » by Boogie! » Thu Aug 3, 2017 2:38 am

Double Helix wrote:By the way... if anyone was wondering about Bargnani lately... He's turning 32 in a couple months and this was him last year playing in a lesser league.

*WARNING* You will be reminded of mouth breathing from watching this clip. :laugh:



if bargnani could rebound or defend, he'd still be in the league right now. colangelo was right in that the league was trending towards stretch big men, and bargnani with defense would still be a good fit in today's nba. what a waste.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#33 » by EG73 » Thu Aug 3, 2017 3:35 am

Draft position seems 'overrated' IMHO (the relationship between draft position and expectations even after a few years)
If Milicic was drafted as much later pick, his NBA career would have been considered a success.
And for Raptors: imagine Raptors got Araujo or Bargnani as a late-first, or second round pick. They wouldn't get so much hate. And if Norman Powell was a lottery pick, realgmers opinion about him wouldn't be so positive.
Draft position seems to modulate excessively the opinion people have about a player.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#34 » by BackseatBoss » Thu Aug 3, 2017 8:06 am

Double Helix wrote:By the way... if anyone was wondering about Bargnani lately... He's turning 32 in a couple months and this was him last year playing in a lesser league.

*WARNING* You will be reminded of mouth breathing from watching this clip. :laugh:


Didn't Bargs ride the pine on that team as well until he was released? I remember reading somewhere that he's as big of a bust in Europe as he is in the NBA. Also, didn't he sign this summer with a second division Italian team?
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#35 » by carl_english » Thu Aug 3, 2017 10:49 am

Agimat wrote:I still remember one of the reasons why Pistons didn't draft Carmelo (who was projected to be drafted next to Lebron) was Tayshuan Prince was coming to his own as a player and they didn't want a really good SF prospect to hinder his development. It was still a mind boggling pick though!

Darko lesson. Always pick BPA :lol:
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#36 » by UcanUwill » Thu Aug 3, 2017 10:58 am

BackseatBoss wrote:
Double Helix wrote:By the way... if anyone was wondering about Bargnani lately... He's turning 32 in a couple months and this was him last year playing in a lesser league.

*WARNING* You will be reminded of mouth breathing from watching this clip. :laugh:


Didn't Bargs ride the pine on that team as well until he was released? I remember reading somewhere that he's as big of a bust in Europe as he is in the NBA. Also, didn't he sign this summer with a second division Italian team?


He started the season very well, then got injured, missed a lot of time in sessions and then looked horrible ever since. Not only his rebounding was pathetic, but he cant even shoot well anymore. He is still free agent and no one wants to touch him.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#37 » by CoachJReturns » Thu Aug 3, 2017 2:24 pm

UcanUwill wrote:
BackseatBoss wrote:
Double Helix wrote:By the way... if anyone was wondering about Bargnani lately... He's turning 32 in a couple months and this was him last year playing in a lesser league.

*WARNING* You will be reminded of mouth breathing from watching this clip. :laugh:


Didn't Bargs ride the pine on that team as well until he was released? I remember reading somewhere that he's as big of a bust in Europe as he is in the NBA. Also, didn't he sign this summer with a second division Italian team?


He started the season very well, then got injured, missed a lot of time in sessions and then looked horrible ever since. Not only his rebounding was pathetic, but he cant even shoot well anymore. He is still free agent and no one wants to touch him.

To be fair though, he only ever had two years where he shot an above average 3 point percentage in the NBA as well and that was in back to back seasons. After that it dropped below the league average and he was truly useless.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#38 » by bstein14 » Thu Aug 3, 2017 2:27 pm

The pick that killed a chance for a destiny in Detroit. Any of Melo, Bosh, or Wade would have likely lead to Detroit winning 3-4 or more championships instead of just one, a game 7 finals loss, and 4 other conference finals appearances.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#39 » by CoachJReturns » Thu Aug 3, 2017 2:32 pm

bstein14 wrote:The pick that killed a chance for a destiny in Detroit. Any of Melo, Bosh, or Wade would have likely lead to Detroit winning 3-4 or more championships instead of just one, a game 7 finals loss, and 4 other conference finals appearances.

I remember a year or two back someone mentioning that Melo may have been a different player had he been drafted by Detroit. It might have even been Carmelo himself saying it. He would have been placed in a situation where he would likely start with a smaller scoring role and be asked to pass and defend more. His career might have been quite different.
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Re: OT: Finding Darko 

Post#40 » by UcanUwill » Thu Aug 3, 2017 2:41 pm

CoachJReturns wrote:
UcanUwill wrote:
BackseatBoss wrote:Didn't Bargs ride the pine on that team as well until he was released? I remember reading somewhere that he's as big of a bust in Europe as he is in the NBA. Also, didn't he sign this summer with a second division Italian team?


He started the season very well, then got injured, missed a lot of time in sessions and then looked horrible ever since. Not only his rebounding was pathetic, but he cant even shoot well anymore. He is still free agent and no one wants to touch him.

To be fair though, he only ever had two years where he shot an above average 3 point percentage in the NBA as well and that was in back to back seasons. After that it dropped below the league average and he was truly useless.


Yes, people say how good he would be if he could defend and rebound, but would he? He is not even that good at scoring or shooting. Its very disappointing how washed up he became, there were points in his career where he looked decent, but now even his supposed strengths became weaknesses.

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