Uncontested Shots: The Latest on Amare, Iverson, and Shaq

There hasn’t been any player movement of late but there have been a number of stories recently surrounding the NBA. Without further ado, I bring you my latest edition of Uncontested Shots, or should I say, things I was thinking about while wondering if there’s anything worse than the stomach virus I recently had in 90-plus degree weather.

And You Will Know Him By the Trail of Hatred

As if anyone hasn’t noticed, Shaquille O’Neal has burned every bridge with every one of his former employers since he first left Orlando in the summer of 1996. While Shaq has always had a reputation as a coach-killer, the latest story out of Phoenix proves that his charm and charisma have done wonders in making us forget that he’s not the gentle giant he wants to be perceived as.

The latest “Good Riddance” piece comes courtesty of Dan Binkley of the Arizona Republic.

Binkley writes, “Shaquille O’Neal is no longer Superman. He’s a guy riding on someone else’s cape, stealing someon else’s idea, taking someone else’s credit. Along the way, he’s playing the country for a bunch of fools.”

This comes on the heels of Hannah Karp’s story in The Wall Street Journal and Paola Boivin’s story in last week’s Arizona Republic about why Steve Nash’s name appears as an executive producer in the credits of Shaq’s new show, Shaq Vs. It turns out that Shaq stole the idea from his former teammate.

Nash took the high road when asked to comment. He wouldn’t comment when asked to and wished the show nothing but success.

Todd Gallagher, author of Andy Roddick Beat Me With a Frying Pan, might also pursue legal action against O’Neal for stealing his idea.

Should be interesting.

I watched the show. Had I not recorded it and had the ability to fast-forward through the 54 minutes of clutter, I would have turned it off about 13 minutes in. Keep your eye on how the ratings perform  in week two. By then we’ll find out if the show will stay on the ABC schedule or get canceled before the show ends its run.

Here’s the piece I wrote for Bleacher Report at the time of Shaq’s trade to Phoenix in 2008, entitled “Shaq Fallout: Trader’s Remorse for Phoenix?”. Anybody in L.A. could tell you the truth about Shaq. Here’s what I wrote:

“So what exactly are the Suns expecting O’Neal to bring?

They think he’ll be able to ease the leadership burden on Nash. What does that mean? Are we forgetting that this is the same guy who had four coaches fired in his last three stops? (If I’m Larry Brown, I’m already looking for houses in the Phoenix area).

Isn’t this the same guy who felt threatened by a 21-year-old Kobe Bryant and chose to divide the locker room instead of uniting it? The same guy that demanded a trade because he didn’t get a contract extension and then sat in silence as the media pretended that Kobe had him traded?

Leaders don’t show up to training camp out of shape and use the regular season to get in shape. Leaders don’t postpone off-season surgery until September and reason that you should be able to rehab on company time since you got hurt on company time.

Leaders don’t threaten to not play defense unless your teammates pass you the ball on offense.

I wouldn’t want him leading me in the Pledge of Allegiance.”

Farewell, Phoenix?

Amare Stoudemire took to his Twitter account to let the world know that this coming season could be Sun Tzu’s last in the Valley of the Sun.

He wrote, “This Might Be My Farewell Tour here in PHX.Fans I love the way you guys stand up for me. I love all my faithful fans.Thanks 1 love Sun Tzu!“.

Here’s what Stoudemire told Marc J. Spears of Yahoo! last week:

“I was really looking forward to my entire career being in [Arizona]. It kind of put a hold on a few of my decision-making things. … I don’t know if I’m sure if I want to play one more year here, or be gone, or sign an extension and play here for another six years or so.”

If Stoudemire is smart he’ll exercise the $17.7 million option for 2010-11 and become the prize of the free agent class of 2011.

One of the other big names, Carmelo Anthony, appears intent on staying in Denver although a lot can change between now and then. With Kenyon Martin’s contract expiring that same summer the Nuggets should be able to spend big also.

It’s just that no team will be able to offer Stoudemire anything close to that much money next summer, including the Suns.

Instead, he should keep his eye on what’s happening with the Knicks’ Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries. Both have player options for 2010 that they will no doubt exercise—thus limiting the Knicks spending for the summer of 2010.

The Knicks will have enough money to make a run at one big-name free agent next summer but will have plenty of cheddar to spend on adding another piece in 2011 with Curry and Jeffries off the books.

If Stoudemire wasn’t three months shy of 27 I would tell him to opt out and get that long-term deal. But he’ll only be 29 in 2011 so he won’t have a problem getting a five-year deal from somebody.

The only reason Stoudemire would have to opt out would be if he’s afraid that the league’s next collective bargaining agreement will greatly decrease the amount of money that players can make. If that’s the case, then the Suns should trade Stoudemire to a team willing to extend him.

If I had to guess, I’d say that Stoudemire isn’t a member of the Suns after the trade deadline. If they appear headed for the seventh or eighth seed, or missing the playoffs altogether, there’s no reason for Suns owner Robert Sarver not to cut the chord and begin rebuilding immediately.

Just Keep on Using Me…Until You Use Me Up

Despite the fact that Memphis Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace won’t confirm it, it appears that Memphis has offered Allen Iverson a contract for next season.

The Grizzlies are using Iverson to drum up interest in a nonexistent fan-base while Iverson is using the Grizzlies to further his career. This move makes sense for Iverson but makes absolutely no sense for the long-term future of the Grizzlies.

Memphians aren’t staying away from Grizzlies games because they lack star-power. They’re staying away because they suck. Put a team on the court that plays hard (especially at home) and wins half their home games and the fans will return—especially while the University of Memphis is in the midst of scandal.

I’ll tell you what’s going to happen. Iverson will average 20-plus points per game for a team that will be lucky to have 18 wins by the All-Star break.

Some time in March the Grizzlies will release him so he can sign on with a contender. As a result the Grizzlies will spend the final two months of the season doing what they should have been doing the first two months of the season.

Quick Hits

Here are some links to stories that are definitely worth checking out if you have the time:

• Adam Lauridsent’s post on his Fast Break Warriors Blog titled “Miserabilia: Memories From the Cohan Era” about being a W’s fan since owner Chris Cohan purchased the team.
• Cool video of The New York Times William C. Rhoden taking NBA commish David Stern to a Harlem barber shop to talk hoops amongst the people. This should be a weekly reality show on NBA TV.
• Tommy Craggs of Deadspin wrote a story on the shady tactics of NBA statisticians comparing home and road averages. (courtesy of KSPN’s Andrew Siciliano).
• Kelly Dwyer of Yahoo! lists the 10 worst free agent contracts of the decade. Hard to argue with it.

Uncontested Shots will run every Tuesday and Friday from now until at least the start of the season. For up to the minute updates on all free agent happenings and random brilliant thoughts and observations follow Andrew Ungvari on Twitter.