Do you whole-heartedly support any of the following examples of being a fan?

-Supporting players and their questionable marital infidelity, some have even called it rape.

- Your secondary superstar running the second greatest coach in the history of the NBA and his absolute beast of a center, one of the top five of all-time, out of town?

- Holding an entire franchise hostage while being vague and immature during free agent negotiations and once signing adding a player option to opt out in 5 years? Does that sound like dedication to a city?

- Killing a previous championship coach, Rudy Tomjonavich, half way through the year because a spoiled brat squashed any chances of signing or luring any prospective free-agents to L.A. with his ludicrous contract?

- That said spoiled brat demanding trade after trade from the city that he saddled himself with by demanding to wanting  to win it by himself. The moping, the sad-puppy faces, incessant bus-throwing, aloof nature towards the media and his management didn't even start to slow until the acquisition of Paul Gasol.


Face it: You answered yes to every question and therefor if you are even loosely considered a fan you are a bad one at best.

Side note: Does Jerry West get a percentage of every Gasol L.A. jersey sold to the souless? What a brilliant retirement plan; we all know L.A. fans and teams love to toss their money at questionable purchases- see Ramirez, Manny.


     The simple fact is casual, fair-weather  L.A. fans and the masses of uninformed, ignorant Laker fans deserve each other. After Magic Johnson retired the Lakers realized they had lost the only identity they had ever had, a winner that finally toppled the Celtics and dominated for roughly ten years. The loss of a winning culture trickled down to the fans and without any champion to root for they all bought Chicago Bulls hats and quietly forgot about the Lakers and their lost glory.  
      
    Enter Shaq, a force so dominant that it took Ewing, Robinson, and Olajowon to decline before he even got a whiff of a championship. (Oh, and those Bryant airballs against Utah didn't help much either).
       
    You guys had something to root for again, a team very much taking advantage of the talent lull of for it's era, after a lockout put the NBA on life support. Your identity was that of a team barely good enough to beat a Chris Weeber-led Sacramento Kings squad. A team that faced the likes of the senior citizen aged Smits and Mutombo in the back-to-back finals. A team that beat the New Jersey Nets, a squad that had no business even competing for a championship. A team that teemed with self-loathing and brooded with inner-jockeying for dominance and glory.
       
    While this transpired you smiled and flew gay little Lakers flags from your Exteras, flags that disappeared about five years ago and re-emerged last year mysteriously. You sat in traffic in L.A. after leaving early from games you attended as nothing more that an exercise in showing everyone your social status by way of what seats you could afford. You left early and you'll always leave early, just like your team. Just look at game 6 of last years finals.

You truly deserve each other.

GO MAGIC!

    After sitting through another agonizing, self-initiated loss against the Lakers compounded by another depressing salary-dump deadline marathon(I.E. the trade deadline) the NBA’s ominous problems became more obvious.  As fans who grew up watching a sport that focused on team chemistry achieved through the draft and limited free agency acquisitions this game is starting to look like a bizarre, unfamiliar animal.     
    Teams like the big-market Lakers can afford to add on a wealth on contracts and pay the luxury tax so easily it’s like tipping on a fifty dollar tab. Where is the parity, or more simply purity, in that? Boston will most certainly add another bought out veteran that was traded knowing we would simply be cut. A lot of yellow tape and window dressing is all the trade/waiver wire amounts too. What other sport can a retired player such as Keith Van Horn be traded and it’s legal? Anyone want to sign Len Bias and trade him back to the Celtics?  He’s probably still more agile than Big Baby anyway.  

    Teams have sold their fans out by dumping salaries and putting out a D-League level product for the mere CHANCE at signing a marquee free-agent in 2 years. If you are okay with your teams doing this you are not a fan, you are a certified moron, and sorry If I made New Yorkers mad. Just wait two years when you don’t sign LeBron James to be angry. Meanwhile enjoy Larry Hughes: Turnover Machine.

     What is happening around us is big business and not just competition anymore. That is no startling revelation I know, but there is the right way to do things and then unethically wrong ways. Having good relationships amongst G.M.'s and highjacking talent for little compensation (Pau Gasol's ears are burning) is not only bad for the leauge but bad for loyal, devoted fans around the world.

    Fortunately enough the Warriors are on the right track, with a blend of younger spark-plugs, intriguing bigs with potentially huge upsides, and a couple of savvy veterans to lead the way. What else do you want from a small market franchise? Look at how the Spurs did it. They drafted their big three and subtle free agent acquisitions have aided them in building a team with unique character and chemistry. More teams should emulate that, letting a squad develop together over the course of a few years so that there is no mercenary feel to your wins.

     People have been crying foul over our treatment of Baron, letting J-Rich go and signing Corey Maggette but these descions are made with the fans in mind. Look at how B-Diddy and J-Rich are doing now. Nostalgia aside they are simply not the same players. The We Believe era, if two years of barely contending for the playoffs can even be considered an era, is over. Letting aging players go in order to secure our young, draft acquired talent is the name of the game, allegiances aside.

      Now we have a product with a solid youthful base that could have contended for a playoff spot if we weren't overtaken and bitten by a swath of injury bugs. A product that cares about each other, their community, and their fans because they know they made a commitment to be along for the long haul. It'll be fun to see how we develop ove the next year and a half before the dawn of the free-agent frenzy of 2010. Chemistry, unlike in the labratory, can't be fabricated.  Remember, we are a small-market team with small- market values. If you're looking for more I'm sure the Lakers would love your donation after trading your soul for a Kobe jersey.

      I for one wish that ESPN would return to it's journalistic roots and stop sensationalizing our leauge.  To have the only sports monopoly daily exhaulting the genius of G.M.'s that have no backbone and are selling two years of their franchise down the river for a mere CHANCE at one of the marque free-agents is disturbing at best.  Jalen Rose on television quoting "my inside sources tell me Bosh and James will both sign in two years with the Knicks". Propaganda at its best with no journalistic merit.  There are far more highlights to be seen every night and instead they are talking about hypothetical situations two-years down the road. I for one do not have League Pass and hell, I might like to see the Hawks v. Bobcats highlights instead of pomp and speculation.

     All the talk concerning these last two Knicks trades have not mentioned the positives for the secondary teams involved. These teams are DEVOTED to put out a competitive team THIS year instead of throwing their hats into the LBJ lottery. Seriously ESPN?

     I feel bad for the fans of New York because no one knows what can happen in two years to a players health and for Donnie Walsh to have such utter distaste for his fanbase is ridiculous. And why would Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas even want play as mere spare parts? This is not the nature of sport and it gets worse year after year. I'm happy our team has signed the players we have signed because an entertaining team that falls short is always better than an unsure scenario in '10. I miss you Dan and Keith!

    After all that has transpired this off-season I think signing you was the only thing that gave me solace. You as in Monta Ellis. After a couple of years of blowing everyone away in practice and shining while Mr. Bad Shot Baron was on the bench we gave you one of the highest pay raises in league history. It came with great distaste to hear you hurt yourself playing pick-up basketball back home in Jackson. It sounds like a serious injury, one that few athletes suffer while playing ball. And I've heard all the whispers concerning the nature of your injury, and whether or not you've been truthful. 

    You'd never lie to us because we believe so much in you. It would be like lying to your mother except to millions of caring fans. You'd never carelessly careen your motorcycle into another object, damaging your livelihood, reputation, career and ankle. Not Monta Ellis. I know for a fact if I signed a 66 million dollar deal I'd never risk such a lofty status amongst the world of sport. I wouldn't even get on a motorcycle wearing my 290$  Hardwood Classics 2007  Monta Jersey  because I'd be affaid to damage my investment. If you really think about it that's what you are Monta: an investment.

    Your responsibility is so great in carrying this franchise that I know you'd never act so foolish to throw it all away.  Your contract is predicated by fan interaction so in a way your livelihood is forever linked to us. You play in front of the most loyal, patient fans in all of sports, and adversely you should feel lucky to do what you love and have four months off a year while making the same income as the GNP of a third world nation. It's because without the fans athletes are nothing, and that's why I know you'd never lie to us

Right?

          Agony and tumult have long characterized the hapless Golden State Warriors, and this off-season held form. Like Andre said, “You can plan a picnic but you can’t predict the weather.” Mully and Nellie must be hearing this echo repeated as they collectively try to pick this franchise back out of the mud that has stained, even DEFINED us, for so long. With much all-too-familiar anxiety gripping long time GSW die-hards let us take a moment to , not so much on the last two years, but what waits in the uncertain future.

             Many people were hurt by the Baron situation, and talking comprehensively about the Dubs next season would not be complete unless Davis is addressed. B-Diddy is a killer, a clutch indomitable force unlike the bay has ever seen. Coming off what many would call his two defining seasons (sans the playoffs when he stomped out T-Macs’ Magic) it was an afterthought that he would be tendered a more lucrative deal, a reward for making the entire city of Dallas remember they are still the Mavericks after all. Not so fast, as the J-Rich trade proved GSW’s future is a youth movement, and Davis’ rickety history of injury was a big question mark on an already shaky resume.

              From 02-05 Barons’ games played per season was 50-67-18. Last season was the first in which he had played 82 since EARLY in his career, which was long before he was tarnished with injury and personal indifference. Even the two and half years have not been in favor for Baron, never eclipsing 43% FG and never surrendering less than 3 turnovers per game. Couple that with abysmal three point shooting, even though he insists on jacking them up constantly, and the ability to become an aloof malcontent (see Carter, Vince) that holds their franchise hostage, the sun had set on Baron in blue and gold.

            Sure we’ll miss the fire and the eye-popping plays but a five-year deal for Diddy seems as ludicrous as his free agent deal was rich. Thanks for the memories but the real strength of an NBA team is not live and die by the three. Baron showed he could penetrate but his shot selection was enough to make even Antoine Walker sick. The most important player on this roster has and will be Stephen Jackson, exhibiting long defense on the perimeter, strong three point touch and the ability to penetrate or back down most defenders. That is versatility, something our first-in-show one trick ponies have lacked top to bottom since the Dubs were playing in San Jose. So how do we assess the future now that some would say all is lost?

            Patience. Baron brought grit and it will remain in those who played along side him. In Montas’ case, he is primed to average upwards of 25 points this season, and if he handles the ball more the best case scenario only gets better. All in all, Baron only averaged 7.6 assists last year, down from the year before, and that goes to show you offensive productivity is not always predicated by the point guard position in Don Nelsons system. Baron used to speak volumes about Ellis murdering everyone in practice, and with Diddy not around his game will not be constrained by the chokehold number 5 had on this offense. Look out for Monta this year, if J-Rich was able to average upwards of 25 points a game in Oakland than there is no doubt that Ellis, his game far more complete than Richardson, could duplicate or better those statistics.

              Our draft and free agency movement this off season only shores up what looks to be the new plan: Versatility. Corey Maggette goes to the basket. Hard. He will draw fouls and give our players much needed rest in our frantic system by getting easy points from the free-throw line. Magette hasn’t been the healthiest of thoroughbreds in his career but he will give the Warriors what they’ve lacked since J-Rich’s departure. Randolf is interesting, giving those commonplace MVP performances in the Summer League we come to expect from first round draft picks. Much of the time these stars of summer either never find their way into Nellies spagetti-on-the-wall system or their skill-set fails to materialize otherwise. Brandan Wright and Randolf are both player whose athleticism are needed to add an inside focus to our strong perimeter game. Defensively, Biedrins and Turiaf give you a two-headed monster that is almost unparalleled on D. Rebounds, hopefully, won’t be our Achilles heel as it has been in years past.

             So that’s what we’re looking at, a team in transition that’s looking to improve it’s, what a familiar term, transition game. This team needed less flash and more slash and a hard-working rebounder and shot blocker to spell Biedrins. Taking the ball away from Davis and giving Ellis the rock in the spotlight may be considered and risky move by some, but that’s what being a Warrior fan is all about. Uncertainty, the reason why real sports fans watch the games they love. Cheers to the Warriors upcoming season, and as a wise man once said when he finally reached the top of the mountain: “ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!”

p.s. I wrote sometime ago a piece concerning our free agency moves before the market opened. I predicted Davis would bolt and we'd offer Arenas a max contract. Don't seem like a nutjob anymore, do I......

Sometimes the most obvious of realizations become credited as revelations-

I've loved the Warriors for along time. Not in the brevity, strictly platonic sense either. I love this team like a fat kid loves cake. I'm numb from a forlorn sense of emotional hi-jacking everytime J-Rich sends an authoritative 360 down, I can't look away.  Dunleavy excelling in this league after so many disappointing seasons is a credit to working under a guy named Bird. Even Troy Murphy is a statistical anomaly amongst the trees of the NBA (give me Murph over K-Mart anyday of the week, sans last year check out his career stats).

But the most intriguing alums, and I call them alums for the simple fact that Golden State is a staging ground for greatness, are on the verge of an implosion. With DeSaun Stevenson as it's court jester, the once Warriors-East Wizards are a bunch of directionless malcontents in need of respective changes of scenery. Don't tell that to their faces though or the beating they handed down on LeBron will look like that emasculating Kimbo Slice prime time debut let-down.

It's no secret. The Warriors need help. Not the kind of "divine intervention" we hoped and blindly prayed aloud for over the last few years. GS is close, in fact closer than any post-Barry team of the last 30 years in my opinion (no offense Mr. Mullin).

In my opinion, keep your hands off of Baron Davis you damn dirty ape!!!  Davis exists in a realm where past and present GSW untouchables reside. Two other current players, Jackson and Ellis can call this place home themselves. These three form the most intriguing match up problems for any team looking to run with the Warriors. But an athletic, long big on the wing is still needed to push us over the top.

Jamison fits this mold, the mold he forged years ago while killing it nightly in The Bay. Coming off a career year he will command a pretty penny but he's familiar with the east bay and don't forget........

In all attempts to create an identity molds are cast and if they are proved to be inadequate they are tossed aside. During the lottery-bound Twardzik-Adelman-Lanier-Montgomery-Musselman years draft day mishaps became commonplace. When a solid pick was chosen, say twice a decade, it was immediately discounted.

Antwan Jamison and Gilbert Arenas anchored a team for Golden State that was already flirting with postseason a few years back. Antwan with his smooth touch around the basket, outlandish rebounding abilities and deceptive speed was a quiet producer of many memorable performaces. Gil-Zero is an assassin; seemingly a mercenary looking for a new team to apply his craft. Jamsion once had consecutive 50 point games. Gilbert went from having zero chances at stardom, to throwing oops to J-Rich en route to another Slam Dunk title, and finally to the man with the ugliest signature shoe on the market.

The ones we let go should serve as our back up plan. We'll call it Back to the Future, Mullin is Doc, a man who is viewed as a  crackpot but manages to create success from apparent chaos. Nellie is an adorable pre-parkinsons Micheal J. Fox, along for the ride, not really sure where he is going or what the always strange outcome will be.

In this movie Davis lets the first two relatively healthy seasons go straight to his head and foolishly opts out of his current 17 million dollar final year of his contract. Scott Boras is even appalled at this greedy move, and he goes on to commit suicide days latter because he is so disturbed by Davis'  overwhelming selfishness.  Baron ends up in New York, is handed a New York Knicks jersey by P. Diddy at a news conference and  promptly trips and falls down the stage, tearing every last bit of organic matter in his right knee. He is added to the long and illustrious list of former Knicks greats whose knees turned into jelly and have looked back from time to time on their careers asking themselves "what if?"

authors note- Somewhere Ewing just shed a tear and Bernard King got his wings.

Pietrus also walks, and upon finding no interest stateside for his reputed reckless and unmanageable brand of basketball he becomes an assistant coach or executive inside the Warrior organization. Marculonis becomes green with envy; he too wants his opportunity to be included along with seemingly every other marginal player that ends up with cushy jobs.

Harrington is traded, wisely retires and goes back to school. He takes decision-making courses. Upon his unheralded return to the NBA, Al is signed by the Spurs and goes on to attain greatness, reigning  in his elbows under the basket and maintaining a mid-range game. Hard to fathom isn't it.

Chris Mullin then gets a wild hair up his as, one more reminiscent of Kupchack as opposed to Antoni/Kerr, and realizes Shawn Marrion,  Ron Artest, and other long wing players are available to add to this depleted husk  of  a roster. Jackson is at home polishing his gun. Ellis is fishing, rueing the day he didn't sign with the Grizzlies. People are not happy. It comes to Mully at an odd time, during a typical A.A.meeting he usually attends every tuesday night. The idea for the flux capacitor.

This is just a figurative name for the non-nonsensical  and mostly laughable scenario I'm to propose right now: Gil Zero and Antwan Jamison making a unlikely return to their roots.

Golden State doesn't like to pay for their talent. Thats why Sacramento enjoyed the spoils of Webber and New York united under Sprewell. It's arguable that feuds such as Sprewell/Hardaway or Sprewell/Carlisimos' Throat could be the causes of departures. I'm not stupid though; players become either complacent or irritable in situations were there is nothing to play for and no money to be made. That's how J-Rich endeared himself to me, by playing his hardest every night no matter how bad things were. It was the contract, not YOU Jason!

Back to the point.... We don't pay and not until our foray into free-agency moves (Najera and Fisher?) did we really resemble a hapless laughingstock, looking more like a D-League team more than our own peers. But this is now.

Mullin engineers a amazing coupling of signing, pludering the future of the Wizards while reclaiming two of our last four draft gems, Gilbert Arenas and Antwan Jamison. The other two outstanding picks, Andres Bierdrins and Monta Ellis have just resigned for 3 and five years respectively.

That is what this Warrior incarnation needs, a small/power foward who can play sufficient defense and apply pressure to the boards. Hopefully Davis, Ellis and Biedrins resign, but there needs to be change! You don't almost get to the top of Mt. Everest but let fear of change turn you back.

Harrington, Pietrus, O' Bryant and Barnes must go in exchange for the inclusion of an ELITE wing, preferably Marion secondly Jamison, and third-most Artest. Marion is somewhat of an aloof athlete,  very egotistical and un-justifiably paranoid about his place on teams. That kind of personality would defiantly throw a figurative turd into our coffee. Artest is a basketball savant and an interesting choice in his own right. The man is a sociopath though, known more for his basket-case leanings than his uncanny drive and hustle.

That brings me to Jamison. I'm almost guilted into admitting that we owe this to him, and I think the management of the Warriors owe it to us. After setting career highs this last season me thinks a championship could bank on such deft maneuvering. All this upheaval is up to Mr. Mullin, take the young fans to a place they never thought possible.

C'mon Doc, give us what we deserve.

Mackistan