Life upstairs
It is what it is, as we like to say in the NBA. And you are who you are, which extends even beyond our world, though few around the NBA know that world exists.
And so it is with Michael Jordan as well, lately the part owner and basketball operations director of the Charlotte Bobcats.
Why Jordan is having such a difficult time having success in Charlotte is because Michael is just being Michael. He’s doing it as he sees it, and for Michael – for many stars, really – this job is so difficult because the construction of anything great requires subtlety as much as skill. And seeing both.
Because it’s about team building and not talent.
And they can be mutually exclusive.
Sure, you need talent, but the evasive part is the talent that meshes, that fits.
We see every day some team struggling with the combination. Now it’s the Phoenix Suns, who seemed like a championship contender days ago, and they began their new journey Wednesday with Shaquille O’Neal. And we hear now about chemistry and mix and the right group.
It was entertaining to listen to Kobe Bryant last weekend explaining the elements of building a team.
Bryant, of course, has had a bad year doing that, basically trashing his team last spring, trying to get himself traded to what we can clearly see now is a flawed Chicago Bulls team and finally accepting he had to stay with the Lakers, where his team is, sigh, now one of the favorites to win the NBA championship.
“I was frustrated,” Bryant shrugged about having lashed out last spring and demanded to be traded, to the point Bryant apparently was telling some in the media he’d never again wear a Lakers uniform. “We haven’t won in three years. You have an opportunity to get a player like Jason Kidd. Everybody thought I was knocking Andrew (Bynum). But the truth of the matter is Jason Kidd is one of the greatest point guards of all time. Why would you not want to do that deal?”
That was the trade the Nets tried during last year’s All-Star break – which the Lakers rejected and sent Bryant spiraling into becoming his own talk radio call out show by the spring.
“I’m glad I wasn’t the GM,” Bryant says now with a laugh.
I recall a similar scene with the Chicago Bulls of the late 1980s.
Jordan wasn’t getting anywhere despite what was clearly the best individual talent in the NBA. His was winning the oohs and aahs of the fans while his team was 1-10 in its first 10 playoff games. It’s a feeling you figure LeBron James, coming off his second All-Star MVP in the last three years, is getting now with his team hardly regarded by anyone as a contender even if it went to the Finals last season.
Phil Jackson, then as an assistant with the Bulls, had been pushing for the team to trade for Knicks center Bill Cartwright, a big man to at least hold off the big men in the East, which then was a physical big man’s conference. Eventually, the Bulls made the trade for Charles Oakley, a talented young forward and close friend with Jordan. Jordan was furious and for several years derided Cartwright, the trade and management for making it.
Just before the fourth game of the Eastern Conference finals in 1991 as the Bulls were on the way to sweeping the Detroit Pistons and winning their first of six NBA championships, Jordan came out and admitted he was wrong and how much the Bulls needed Cartwright to get by the Pistons‘ James Edwards, the Knicks’ Patrick Ewing, the Celtics‘ Robert Parish and the Cavs‘ Brad Daugherty.
It’s why owners and general managers have to be smart and not let their stars make trades. They see talent and how to combine it.
The Bobcats have been a major disappointment, if only in regard to their own public expectations.
Rookie coach Sam Vincent, who is in hot water with his players and could be out after one season (like Jordan’s first coach in Washington, Leonard Hamilton), talked about a top four finish for the Bobcats this season. I suspect it was less a prediction than an attempt at motivation. He virtually guaranteed a playoff spot, and while it never looks good when you are wrong, what was he supposed to do? Say they weren’t a playoff team. He’s a former Jordan backcourt running mate with the Bulls. It’s his first head coaching job, so maybe he gets another chance next season. Jordan also doesn’t want to appear to be running through coaches too quickly.
The problem is the makeup of the team.
Jordan sees stars and gets them, but they don’t necessarily fit.
The Bobcats have done a good job of developing Gerald Wallace, an athletic wing player. So what do they do? They add athletic wing player Jason Richardson. Certainly a talent, but the team gets into the my turn/your turn thing Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony share in Denver.
Players have to play off one another, a team being a fit like jigsaw puzzles, pieces with different skills in different sizes and shapes coming together to fit at a time.
Perhaps the best at it these days is the Pistons’ Joe Dumars, with whom the Bobcats made their other deal of late.
Give Jordan this: Though he gets criticized by other GMs, privately at least, for not working hard enough because he doesn’t scout or come around much due to to his worldwide celebrity and the potential distraction when he is on the scene, he has tried to address needs.
The Bobcats were faltering in the middle, so he traded Primoz Brezec and Walter Hermann, both with expiring contracts, for Nazr Mohammed. The Pistons were anxious to get Mohammed’s three years off their books, but Mohammed does little to complement Emeka Okafor as both will generally step out about 10 feet to make a shot. Neither is a true post-up player.
The guards, Raymond Felton and Jeff McInnis, the latter a cheap pickup, are both shooting guards trying to be point guards.
Jordan knows talent, and he has talented players. But he has difficulty distinguishing how you make it a team. Though he’s hardly alone. It’s much more difficult than it seems.
Matty Said,
February 23, 2008 @ 1:19 pm
Sam,
Your article touches on a lot of very true points. Creating a team is more than finding talented players. You have to find talented players who can play TOGETHER. This is what separates team sports from individual sports such as tennis.
I am a huge Raptors fan (yes, I am Canadian). With that said, I am a huge fan of Bryan Colangelo. The man is a fantastic GM. What separates him from many other GM’s (besides his ability to work the salary cap and see 2,3,4 years down the road and his ability to make small trades that are significant and get something for literally nothing - Rafael A. for Kris H. for example) is his desire for respectable people in his organization. He only wants people who have character and integrity, who want to be there (and it seems not many NBA players want to be Toronto - bye bye Juan Dixon and good luck in Detroit), who will buy in to the team concept, and then - and only then - who have talent.
My guess is Jordan and many other GM’s take the reverse approach - talent, team, character/integrity.
My thoughts and the article was a nice read.
BullsNut Said,
February 23, 2008 @ 1:27 pm
It’s too bad to see Jordan and Bobcats struggle. Jordan was a fierce competitor on the court, and I’m sure he cannot stand to watch his team struggle. He is not throwing the towel in anytime soon.
SausageKingofChicago Said,
February 23, 2008 @ 5:09 pm
He’s also too married to the Tar Heels thing with his drafting of Felton and May and recruitment of McInnis. I hear Eric Montross is working himself back into shape for a spot at training camp next summer.
Great players frequently make rotten administrators ( or Coaches ) It seems the greater the talent as a player that crosses over to the other side of the hardwood in life after the game - the more liklihood for their failure . Why ? Perhaps because the ego that served their greatness as a player skews their perspective unduly on individual talent and not how the componentry of a team works
It rarely is ever about having the most 5 talented players on the court
Cornell Jones Said,
February 23, 2008 @ 5:21 pm
Wonderful article : agreed that Jordan does not know how to assemble a team but DISAGREE that Jordan knows talent (I think he is still to enamored with himself and his past to look beyond and develop a team). Below are just SOME of his mishaps os part of the Bobcats (lets not even talk about the Wizards) which have caused the Bobcats to be one of the least profitable teams in the league :
> Signed Matt Carroll, a CBA vagabond, to a ludricous $20 million multi-year deal
> drafted one dimensional diabetic Adam Morrison ahead of superstar in the making Brandon Roy
> replaced Bernie Bickerstaff with unproven globetrotter Sam Vincent as head coach (record speaks for itself)
Jordan’s inability to not only recognize talent but to mesh it has set this franchise back before it even began. I am disgusted with NBA franchises giving former NBA superstars opportunities to rundown teams into the ground (i.e. Isiah Thomas, Jordan, McChale, John Paxson, Elgin Baylor). When will team owners look past player’s glory days and bring on board people who are shrewd evaluators of talent, business savy and fiscally responsible? It is no wonder teams like the Spurs, Pistons, Lakers, Blazers, Raptors are positioned well for the forseeable future. SHAME ON THE LEAGUE!
TheRealAbeFroman Said,
February 23, 2008 @ 5:47 pm
Nice article.
No ketchup.
bballer Said,
February 23, 2008 @ 8:25 pm
matty, your love for colangelo is off base. if colangelo was a great gm he would have recognized 2 things. the team needed a scoring shooting guard and a defensive c to complement chris bosh. he made the mistake by picking up bargnani even though everyone knew that roy was the most nba ready player in the draft. gm’s get caught up with upside over basketball talent.
within 2 years colangelo has to make a choice, either bosh or bargnani will be the frontcourt that gets us a championship or do we get a big to come off the bench to replace bargns for 25 mpg. look at western teams like the spurs, portland or houston to see how their players complement each other. ask if toronto does the same.
as for jordan. he makes the same mistakes as isiah, bird, mchale and other hall of famers choosing talent over team. they just don’t get it right away. to get better, they need to put mcinnis on the bench and pick up a big man that likes to play @ the post like an athletic version of magloire (not magloire). gm’s make basketball more difficult than it really is. i hope jordan will change b4 he runs out of coaches, time and fans.
mjm Said,
February 23, 2008 @ 10:11 pm
Some of what you say is true, but wait til next year when hopefully May is back along with Adamson. You add the high draft pick the team will get and they will be much improved. Then, I want all you naysayers to give Jordan a little credit.
Bo Did Said,
February 24, 2008 @ 4:55 am
Sam:
Wonder if you could take a minute here or in another column to discuss Jordan’s GM-ing in Washington. I’ve defended his tenure there against many detractors (I hang with Knick fans who carry grudges).
I thought Jordan moved out all of the bad contracts (Juwan, Strickland, Richmond) rather successfully. Setting the team up with the cap space to steal Arenas. All he had to work with was the Treasury Dept. wings (Alexander-Hamilton). He put his own old butt on the line (and court) to assure the team would earn money, selling out for two years while he stripped down the team.
The mistakes often cited worked out pretty well after Jordan was ousted (and yes I like Ernie Grunfeld, but Jordan made some of them possible).
Exhibit A: Kwame turned into Caron Butler.
That was a tough draft with the top 4 spots going to three 7 foot high schoolers and a 7′ Spaniard.
Kwame still had enough Big Man upside 4 years later to get a top wing in return. So how bad a gamble/selection was Kwame?
And for those wondering why Kwame was picked #1, just look at his physique compared to say Fat Eddy, skinny Gasol, or even Chandler.
If Kwame just had better hands or a better head …
(Aside from the then unknown Gasol, go back and look at that 2001 draft and find the best player: Joe Johnson, RJ, Tony Parker, Arenas — which would be 10, 13, 28, 30. Chandler has come on the last two years.)
Rip Hamilton for Stackhouse looks bad in hindsight, but I doubt many hear thought Rip was going to become a strong-willed all-star. Stack and a #1 were later flipped for Jamison. So Stack still had value.
Anyway, would like to hear your take on Jordan’s Washington GM-ship.
————————
I think it’s a little hard to evaluate the Bobdogs since Ammo and May have been injured. But it’s not clear how good those guys are anyway.
And I think they gave up on Hermann too quickly and for too little.
Ammo at #3 seems off, but very few have distinguished themselves yet in that draft … yet.
For anyone who wants to criticize the Felton and May picks — here you go: http://www.nbadraft.net/2005.asp — what would you have done?
Hindsight says Bynum at #5, but back then he was an unknown 17-year old with a goofy Facebook page. Granger at 13 instead of May I could acknowledge, but there were concerns about Granger’s knee, causing Toronto (who reportedly loved him) to pass on him twice.
- Bo
DJHOTT Said,
February 24, 2008 @ 7:16 pm
CHARLOTTE WILL DRAFT ROY HIBBERT
WILL TRADE A.MORRISON,J.MCINNIS,SEAN MAY, CASH FOR NENE,JR SMITH
DJHOTT Said,
February 24, 2008 @ 7:19 pm
G-FELTON G-E.BOYKINS
G-RICHARDSON G.M.CARROLL
F-WALLACE FJR SMITH-
F-OKAFOR F-MOHAMMED
C-NENE C-HIBBERT
WORKS FOR ME
sean Said,
February 24, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
Mostly disagree with this article. Richardson can go to hoop but is not a slasher and is in fact one of best shooters in NBA. He is a 2 guard and Wallace is a clear three no problem there. Felton is not a shoot first point guard at all, although maybe not destined for greatness he has hown flashes of brilliance. I actually think they have a lot of talent and in a coupe of years could be poised to make a serious run.
Matty Said,
February 27, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
Bballer,
Your insights are somewhat valid - fair enough.
But keep in mind much of my post was regarding the character of players and building a TEAM. As seen in the link here, he has got a good group of players.
http://www.tsn.ca/nba/news_story/?ID=230317&hubname=nba
When it is all said and done, I guarantee you Bargs will be a phenomenal NBA player. The things he can do for a 7 footer is amazing and the guy is only 22. Hopefully he’ll improve in rebounding which is definitely his weakest area. But more than likely another BIG will be there to play 25 mins when either Bosh or Bargs are on the bench. Luckily next year there will be about 23 million reasons why this will happen. As for the scoring shooting guard - basketball is a team game. It doesn’t matter who scores. Most of the games the Raps win convincingly are when there are 5-7 guys scoring 12-20 points. What the Raptors really need is an athletic, defensive stopper on the wings. Joey Graham would be perfect if he had a consistent head. Again, 23 million reasons why this will be rectified next year too.
With regards to Colangelo - he has had a team for about 2 years now that before him was challenging for the most coveted title of worst run team in the league (thank you Rob Babcock - although to his credit he is responsible for Jose Calderon). As well the Raps will have nearly $23 million in expiring contracts to work with next year. See:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080221.wsptgrange21/GSStory/GlobeSportsBasketball/Raptors
As for the deficiencies you mentioned in the Raptors, keep in mind Colangelo has had the team for 2 years not to mention the expiring contracts for next season and opportunity for free agency next summer as well. The core of this team i(Bosh, Ford, Bargs, Calderon) is all under 26 years of age and they all have their eye on the prize a couple of seasons down the road.
“look at western teams like the spurs, portland or houston to see how their players complement each other. ask if toronto does the same.”
- San Antonio has been consistent because they have kept the same core year after year and have grown/tinkered where needed. This is the same path Colangelo is on. To compare the tenure of Colangelo to that of Pop (over 10 years) is unfair.
- Portland is in the process of a major overhaul with a GM who has proven to be in the last year extremely lucky to win the Oden sweepstakes (hopefully he comes back like Amare) and very shrewd in his deals. Like Colangelo, Pritchard is keen on character. He has very quickly ridded the Trailblazers of the nickname Jailblazers.
- When has Houston won a playoff series? And don’t they have McGrady and Ming? I think this is a bad example of complimentary players.
Green Jackson Said,
March 1, 2008 @ 3:52 pm
This article sums up to “Duh!” Jordan was let go from Washington because he is unfit to manage a basketball team. He was a good player but those skills are not what you need to be a good manager. Jordan will not get it through his bald head and that is why he is also failing to make his new team better. Sam Smith aka- Captain Obvious, write articles that tell us things we do not know or cannot easily figure out.
anthony Said,
March 3, 2008 @ 12:47 pm
bulls stink this year. paxson has not done his job.
Sean Said,
March 14, 2008 @ 10:25 am
I think its hard to put blame on Jordan for the bobcats. Its hard enough as a gm to turn around a losing team but its even harder to take over an expansion team. THe bobcats are only 2.5 games out of the 8th spot and with how the bulls nets and hawks have been playing anything could happen. Its too early to determine Jordan’s reign as a gm a failure.
JoeJoe Said,
March 15, 2008 @ 10:32 pm
God I was so pumped for Kobe in a Bulls uni. ”Get a Bulls uniform fellas!” remember that one? I love how it just kinda went away day by day. It would have been great for the league to see LBJ and Kobe going at it in the ECF. The East is so weak so it would have been awesome to bring the closest thing to MJ to Chicago. Oh well. I still think the Lakers are the most over-hyped team in the league.
Allen Hermann » Blog Archive » Life upstairs Said,
June 10, 2008 @ 1:38 pm
[...] Life upstairs It is what it is, as we like to say in the NBA. And you are who you are, which extends even beyond our world, though few around the NBA know that world exists. And so it is with Michael Jordan as well, lately the part owner and … [...]
Brian Laesch Said,
July 15, 2008 @ 5:00 pm
Easier said than done, but I think they need to trade some of their young talent for a proven all-star, so the team can at least have some indentity. Right now, they have a bunch of good pieces but nobody has seemed to step up as a legitmate leader of a winning NBA franchise.
-Genius Sportswriter