David west

[mikepacernation]

Just some comments he made.. At this point in my career, I just want to win," West told WTHR.com in an exclusive interview Wednesday night. "I'm just not sure the Pacers are in title contention right now. I'm going into my 13th season. I'll be 35 soon. When I got to Indiana, there was hope of getting there and we played at a really high level for a couple of years. But I just don't know if the team is in the position to win right now and I didn't know if I'd have that opportunity to win a title if I'd stayed with the Pacers."


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[pacers33]

THEN WHY ARE YOU GOING TO NEW YORK JABRONI!? I don't see how a Euro rookie with Melo and whatever **** they've got is sooo much better than what the Pacers have right now. I hope he goes to a team that actually contends if he's ring chasing.

[mikepacernation]

"West said the rumors about him going to the Knicks are ridiculous; he wants to be with a contender; the Knicks don't qualify."




Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[boomershadow]

http://www.wthr.com/story/29457742/kravitz-west-opted-out-because-he-didnt-think-he-could-win-a-title-in-indiana

The comments made by Bird after the season about Hibbert didn't sit well with me either.

[EuroPacer]

Yes boomer, I think that is the crux of it. West enjoyed playing with Hibbert and wasn't amused with the way Bird dealt with him. I actually agree, it was very unprofessional and unnecessary. I am not sure what Bird was looking to gain from that.

[SmashMouthRod]

You remember the post-season postmortem when Larry Bird all but begged Roy Hibbert to opt out of the final year of his contract? West was watching. West was listening. And West was seething. He thought it was a low-class move by the organization to, in his words, “throw Roy under the bus.” “That’s one thing where I wish they would have handled better was the situation with Roy,” West said. “I’ll be honest with you, that bothered me a little bit, and I told Roy that. I’m the type of guy who feels like we’re all in this fight together and I’m not designed in that way to put it all on one guy. That did rub me the wrong way. That threw me off. I started reading some of that stuff, I started thinking, ‘Whoaa.’ I just didn’t feel good about that. I told Roy that it bothered me, that he’s still my teammate."

“You know, obviously Roy wants to play, he knows he’s unpopular right now, but we talked and he’s going to be a professional. He’s always been a professional. He’s had his ups and downs but he’s always been a pro and been diligent about his work. He’s working to get better. He’s going to fight. He’s not going to be one of those guys who’s going to become a locker room issue. “But that was not the straw that broke the camel’s back. “I just watched those finals, and I thought, ‘Man, I’ve got to give myself a chance.’ That’s the reason I made this decision.‘’

I have to agree here. I thought it was classless how Bird made certain statements about Stephenson even when he hadnt been in any trouble and was playing well. One wouldnt expect any less from clueless basketball fans. But the GM should generally make statements in support of every guy whether the plan is to trade them or not. It simply was not smart. A guy like Roy has shaky confidence. If Roy starts the year off feeling devalued and playing terrible, it will make it that much more difficult to get some kind of asset for him. Of course West's going to say it wasnt the straw. But for him to say it bothered him means a lot. I bet Paul and G. Hill didnt love it either. This was a close knit group. I guess Bird forgot about that.

I hope you don't mind, I added in the quote block to separate out Bob Kravitz' work from yours. - Scoot

[Wizop]

praise in public. criticize in private.

[boomershadow]

If I remember right, publicly criticizing players was brought up in the press conference for why Jim O'brien got let go.

[Boneman2]

Players should refrain from making stupid comments to the media. Once Roy proclaimed himself to be the finest Center in the world, he opened himself up to it. His reputation took a major hit after that stupid comment.

So what if Bird called him out for playing soft. Shouldn't more be expected from "the best Center in the league?"

[JeffFosters]

It's not like the criticism was unfair. Hibbert played terribly last season. This wouldn't have been the first time Bird had made his feelings known to Roy, but was obviously more public. Maybe it'll serve as motivation.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

[Scoot McGroot]

Players should refrain from making stupid comments to the media. Once Roy proclaimed himself to be the finest Center in the world, he opened himself up to it. His reputation took a major hit after that stupid comment.

So what if Bird called him out for playing soft. Shouldn't more be expected from "the best Center in the league?"

Even if Roy opened into it with a "wrong" comment a couple years back, adding another "wrong" doesn't make it right.


I don't know that anything good is going to come from Bird criticizing that openly and thinly. It was clearly an attempt to get Roy to opt out, and he didn't. Now, it only hurts us in trades, as well. Even if it motivates Roy to play better, I'm not sure it would do so in a way to make him play harder in a "team first" setting.

[Moooose]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2015/07/02/david-west-free-agency-spurs-warriors/29605207/

Saw in the wiretap that he'd be interested in joining the Spurs or the Warriors. I think I like him better with the Spurs and help Timmy on another title run.

[Scoot McGroot]

http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/2015/07/02/david-west-free-agency-spurs-warriors/29605207/

Saw in the wiretap that he'd be interested in joining the Spurs or the Warriors. I think I like him better with the Spurs and help Timmy on another title run.

For GS, they cannot get him in a S&T, so he's limited to the taxpayer exception of around $3m. San Antonio could give him the room exception if they use cap space to sign LMA, the MLE if they acquire LMA via S&T, or cap space if LMA doesn't go there.

[basketballwacko2]

It's not like the criticism was unfair. Hibbert played terribly last season. This wouldn't have been the first time Bird had made his feelings known to Roy, but was obviously more public. Maybe it'll serve as motivation.


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums

Roy hasn't played well for 18 months or so but you don't run down your players especially if you are thinking about trading them. After that presser everyone knew Bird was looking to move him. It's the Ron Artest thing all over again. Once everyone knew we wanted to dump him the best we could get was 1/2 a season of Peja!

[JeffFosters]

^ fair point


Sent from my iPhone using RealGM Forums