For you basketball fans

[HRHAndrew]

I am the only one who can't believe the stunt that Boozer pulled on the Cavs? Â Gordon Gund is one of the class owners in all of sports, and has totally been screwed over. Â I think that there will be a new term when it comes to pro sports negotiating "a boozer." Â I can just see my Pistons negotiating with Ben Wallace. Â Well Ben, you have become the heart of the team, lead us to two straight NBA championships

, but we can't take care of you for the fear that you will pull a "boozer." Â How sad is this, I hope that this agent finds it much more difficult in the future.

 

[alaaro]

I'm still shocked about the ridiculous amount of money that he is making for being a very mediocre player.

 

[jpeirpont]

What Boozer did was definitly shady.
He's surely not a mediocore player. 15.5 points and over 11 rebounds per game are legit stats. But he's definitely not impossible to replace

 

[alaaro]

OK let me rephrase. He is not a $66 Million dollar player...

 

[banksmiranda]

There are so many players whose play never approaches their pay. The Nuggets are probably making a mistake throwing $60+ million at Marcus Camby. http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/overpaidnba.html http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/read...erpaidnba.html

 

[banksmiranda]

Carlos Boozer and Kobe Bryant share the same agent, Rob Pelinka. article on Boozer's decision: http://sports.espn.go.com/nba....1836842

 

[NavyStyles]

I'm still shocked about the ridiculous amount of money that he is making for being a very mediocre player.

I know I'm late in replying to this... I was really disappointed to hear that Boozer did that, but -- at the same time -- it's a business; guys will make decisions that best benefit them financially. What I found much more surprising than Boozer's contract was the deal offered to Mehmet Okur. Sure, he played for the NBA Champs, but he didn't do too much to get them there. At least Boozer can put up very respectable numbers. Memo has career averages of 8.2 ppg and 5.32 rpg. With a little luck, I might even be able to accomplish that.

 

[Thracozaag]

Cavs pulled a nice deal in landing Gooden, though.

koji

 

[banksmiranda]

A horrible decision some years back - Sonics signing Jim McIlvaine to a big contract and in the process making Shawn Kemp, IMO the best young player in the game at the time, unhappy. Another case of poor judgment was the Timberwolves' secret agreement wih Joe Smith, a pretty unspectacular former #1 overall pick, which set the franchise back.

 

[banksmiranda]

Athletes are justified in being selfish when looking out for themselves. Many of them have little education on which to fall back. Both athletes and management have to be somewhat considerate when making decisions. Last offseason the Patriots released Lawyer Milloy just before the season began. Coming out of college Ricky Williams hired an idiot(Master P) as his agent. He got a good signing bonus but agreed to make the minimum each year with escalators which could make his contract worth as much as Terrell Davis'(and which required him to perform on par with Davis). If the Dolphins go after him for failing to play out his contract he could end up paying them back more than he made in the two seasons he played for them.

At least he's getting out while he can still walk. I'm glad that Barry Sanders, who was an absolute joy to watch and averaged 1526.9 rushing yards per season, retired when he did. Michael Jordan overstayed his welcome by coming back with the Washington Wizards and making an ass of himself with the news of his affair and his feeble attempt to make his teammates the scapegoats for the team's failure to make the playoffs. It's no surprise that his teammates didn't buy him a retirement present. http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...st/retirements