Theus Held Artest Out of Lakers Game

by Ziller on Apr 16, 2008 4:35 PM PDT in News Comment 16 comments

From Sam Amick's Bee notes column:

According to numerous team sources, Artest – who has been battling a left thumb injury – asked to play and was rebuffed by Kings coach Reggie Theus. ... He said recently that he had wanted to sit down for the rest of the season weeks ago, but Theus asked him to keep playing.

"I told coach … asked him if he wanted me to sacrifice some of my time for the young guys," he said. "He said no."

Was it a matter of Theus wanting to allow extra minutes for Francisco Garcia and Quincy Douby? Or was it a last stand by Theus in opposition of Artest's infamous practice of deciding his readiness right before games? Judging by Artest's attitude on the bench, I'd guess the former.

A depressing note from the column: Kenny Thomas won't be opting out to chase his championship dreams elsewhere.

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Kenneth Thomas

Yeah, I’ve never signed a ridiculously overpriced contract, but I’d like to think my love of the game would override the money. At least after the first couple of years of that contract. But then again I’d probably also follow the Keon Clark method of conditioning/playing.

Muff rules. http://vegaskings.blogspot.com

by Muff209 on Apr 16, 2008 4:52 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

eff that

give up 7 million? are you shitting me? no way in hell would i do that. 7. Comma. Zero. Zero. Zero. Comma. Zero. Zero. Zero. Doesn’t matter if my playing time is zero, I’m still getting them paychecks signed.

You’re going to sit there with a straight face and tell me you’d throw that away? Puh-lease. If someone offered you this deal: 7 million to be hated, or half a mill to play 15 minutes a night on the way to a championship ring, which would you take? Huh? Huhhhh?

7 million dollar-dollar-bills y’all.

Mikki Moore in the skills challenge! - LPA

by iashwash on Apr 16, 2008 5:22 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Next year it's more like 8.5 million dollar bills yall

Link to Sham Sports for those with visual proof needs.

We could build ping-pong ball shrines and make sacrifices at them, like broken ping-pong paddles, or burning Peaches in effigy--LPA

by pookeyguru on Apr 16, 2008 5:27 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey now...

I didn’t say the money wouldn’t be enticing, but how many years has he already ridden out this contract. After the first couple million I’d just stop caring. Although I’ve never been one to live the life of excess. All joking aside I’d probably do kinda what Keon did. Play a few years and earn enough cheddar to live more comfortably than I do now, then either retire after my second contract or I’d call up Geoff Petrie personally and tell him I’d play for the vets minimum if he signed me. Sure it’s pretentious to say I’d play for the love of the game, but honestly I don’t think money = happiness. It’s usually the opposite. It’s what bugged me the most about HS players coming out right away. They’d rather take a huge payday and ride the pine, then get better at their craft and potentially contribute. I understand why they do it, and some of them need to. It may not be for the right reasons, but it’s right for them.

Muff rules. http://vegaskings.blogspot.com

by Muff209 on Apr 16, 2008 5:38 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

muff, muff,

I do say: you are wrong.
Here’s why:
About the rookies selling out to enter the big time: they get better faster training for an NBA team. It’s simply a matter of the hig-level of competition they are exposed too, the high level of training they are exposed to, and the fact that everything in the league is better. As far as missing out on the fun? Read [http://toomuchrodbenson.com/page0/files/7b12bd0de607e4321b197187c9c8c8fa-23.html this]. Those kids are having a blast in the NBA. They are getting better at their craft, and if they get good enough, they could potentially contribute. Plus, real night clubs >>>>>> college room parties.
About sitting on the bench to get more pay: a) we don’t know whether K-9 actually is fine with being on the bench – maybe his plans are for after the NBA, and the money he makes now will go a long way to starting a non-profit foundation or something. b) Dude. Duude. Duuuude. 30 million versus 5 million. 30 million means you’e set for life and never have to worry about money. 5 million means you can maybe sorta retire. You don’t just give that away. c) It’s hard to give up free money. Yes or no – would you say no to 10 million dollars? Never.

Mikki Moore in the skills challenge! - LPA

by iashwash on Apr 17, 2008 1:58 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

btw i was only kidding about the wrong

Clearly this is a conversation about personal opinions on what counts as a good life, and not a serious debate on whether or not a person should give up 8.5 million dollars. However, strong words lead to lively conversations, so I’ll just reiterate that I think you’re wrong.

Also, another thing about the rookies – entering earlier gives them the ability to maximize their earning potential. They can capitilize on the fact that they’re young (and thus can improve), which will drive up their asking price, and they play their rookie contract years at a rookie level, and in that final season when the hard work pays off, they see the payday that much quicker. But that is me continuing an entirely different debate than the point you were using this as an example for. I’m just poitning out that it is not a good example (well, for the reasons you cited – to improve their knowledge of the game, as they improve better in the L; and their potential contributions being offered up at a value much less than deserved).

I understand your sentiment that you’d rather be a part of something, but I counteract with a) if given the choice, I’d be very surprised if you don’t take the money, and b) K-9 probably is fine with it, c) money is not equal to happiness, but money can make a happy man that much happier, d) 8.5 million is alot of moolah. A whole lot of moolah.

Mikki Moore in the skills challenge! - LPA

by iashwash on Apr 17, 2008 4:02 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Iash the interesting part about the Rookies is that you're correct

The driving force behind the owners perspective restricting the age limit was that their hope is that older players don’t draw as much money as the Jason Kidds, Tim Duncans, Kevin Garnett’s have in their later years. They’re hoping to restrict, and have done so successfully, to cripple earning potential for the more marginal all-stars like Rashard Lewis. Laugh at the irony if you wish.

We could build ping-pong ball shrines and make sacrifices at them, like broken ping-pong paddles, or burning Peaches in effigy--LPA

by pookeyguru on Apr 17, 2008 4:10 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

yessir

bitterness at the league that tries to extract so much profit for so few indviduals.

Personally, I’m of the view that David Stern might need to be on the way out. Not solely in exchange for a more fan-friendly commish, but I think that he’s been drinking his own kool-aid for too long. Adding a young commish now will prevent the position of commisioner gaining too much power (as Stern is in a uniquely powerful position to give himself more power with the backing of the owners). IMO, he could be dangerous if he believes too strongly in his ideals and sub-plottings that he loses sight of his current fanbases.

Mikki Moore in the skills challenge! - LPA

by iashwash on Apr 17, 2008 7:09 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Me. I would.

Remember, we’re not talking about going from zero to $7million here. If I I already had $20 or $30 million, I would have absolutely no problem giving up the $7 million. I mean really, what can you do with $37 million that you CAN’T do with $30 million? I realize I’m in the slim minority here, but there’s such a thing as Enough and the money that Kenny Thomas has already made far surpasses that amount.

by Carl on Apr 17, 2008 2:14 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Kenny isn't opting out we all knew it

That’s the way it goes. Either the Kings buy him out, or they won’t. We’ll see, and I would suppose alot of that depends on whether Artest opts out. If he does the Kings can keep Thomas as trade bait for the upcoming season. I’ll be shocked if Petrie allows Thomas to be bought out. It’s always a possibility that Shareef may get a medical retirement which would remove his entire salary off the cap depending on the date that is set.

We could build ping-pong ball shrines and make sacrifices at them, like broken ping-pong paddles, or burning Peaches in effigy--LPA

by pookeyguru on Apr 16, 2008 5:23 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Keep Praying

That SAR and KT will take a page out of Brad’s playbook and suddenly remind people how they earned their contracts next season… It’s a slim, faint, distant hope, but a fantasy I would not mind seeing fullfilled.

by dkons21 on Apr 16, 2008 7:15 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

$7 million a year for courtside seats?!

Hell, even better than courtside. Can you really blame him?

I’ve been saying for a little while that my dream job would be to be the 15th man on an NBA team with a long term minimum contract. A minimum contract is like $400,000 a year. How cool would it be to make that much money every year to kick it on the bench with your favorite team and watch the games up close?

In fact, I think as a bench player I could contribute a lot more than Kenny Thomas. I’d be happy to be there every day. I’d be a positive influence on the rest of the team. Hell, Theus could throw me in the game for 2 seconds just to set a pick on Shaq and I’d do it!

How can I make this happen?

by vfettke on Apr 16, 2008 7:21 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Send him home next season

Here’s the thing – Kenny Thomas is going to have a HUGE expiring contract in a year. This can be an extremely valuable chip in trading for players who have a long term deal on teams that want to cut salary.

If you buy him out, his salary counts against the cap and there’s nothing you can do to change that. If you trade him while he’s expiring, you may get a decent player for him.

Tell Kenny to stay home next year. There just isn’t any reason for him to show up. This time next year you start shopping that expiring deal like crazy.

The worst case scenario is that you buy him out the year his contract expires without taking the multi-year cap hit that buying him out now would entail.

by Carl on Apr 17, 2008 2:20 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Goofy comment

Just to clarify what I posted above (because even I can’t figure it out from what I said):
If you buy Kenny out now, his salary counts against the NBA salary cap for the next two years. There is absolutely nothing you can do to get cap relief once you buy him out.

If you hold on to him for a year, there is a possibility of trading his expiring contract, meaning you’ll actually get something for the guy. Even if you can’t trade his contract in a year, you lose nothing by buying him out then, because his salary would have counted against the cap anyway.

So, let Kenny sit at home next year and try to trade his salary next offseason.

by Carl on Apr 17, 2008 2:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Why not do this?

If you have to pay him, why not give him a renewed shot next year? Not meaning a starting position or anything, but just tell him during the offseason that if he shows something in camp that he could actually fight for some minutes.

The guy was a pretty good player when he first got here – he keeps himself in decent shape alsfdjlasfoaihnfaohfiauhuifehauhfeuohowe;h:LBWAHAHAAHHAHAHAHHAAAAAAHAAAAAAA I ALMOST MADE IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH!!

I so can’t wait for him to be the expiring contract everyone’s craving.

"Boo Lakers! Boo Kobe! Go Kings! Go Giants! Boo Dodgers!" - my 5 year-old daughter - 4/15/08

by otis29 on Apr 17, 2008 3:05 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Where's the Artest hate?

Was it a matter of Theus wanting to allow extra minutes for Francisco Garcia and Quincy Douby? Or was it a last stand by Theus in opposition of Artest’s infamous practice of deciding his readiness right before games? Judging by Artest’s attitude on the bench, I’d guess the former.

I suppose if you dress Ron against the Lakers, you’ve got to play Ron against the Lakers. I can’t imagine coach would not dress someone for the mere sake of getting younger guys some court time - you could still do that with Ron in the rotation if you wanted a more real-world scenario. Probably more like “take a break, Ron - everybody else is.”

I like how Ron offers up his playing time though. Like an eager puppy, ready for the kicking.

by ogre lawless on Apr 21, 2008 1:03 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs