NBA = Getting That Paper

As an NBA fan who has actively made clear to everyone in the last two years that I don’t consider myself a legitimate Warriors fan (I quit on them back around ‘97, when they moved Spree), I think I’m uniquely qualified to speak objectively about Baron Davis opting out of the last year of his contract and joining the Clippers.

After all, if I was a real Warriors fan, this shit would be driving me crazy. A 29-year old point guard in the prime of his career who took this franchise to euphoria unseen since Rick Barry was on the squad? Walking with a year left on his contract? Moving to another team in the division? Seems pretty awful.

Here’s the thing, though: I don’t blame Baron one bit. Let’s look at the facts:

• The Warriors as currently constituted, will not win an NBA Championship. They will be lucky to sniff the Playoffs, with or without Baron. Period.
• Don Nelson is well known as kind of an ornery bitch. Who benches his star player after one bad shooting half in the most important game of the year? A guy ready for retirement who wants to lock up a couple more paychecks, that’s who.
• The Warriors (according to Tim Kawakami and others) were not even close to matching the number of years (5) and amount of money ($65M) the Clippers were dangling.

Now ask yourself, why would he want to stay? For goodwill? Because a bunch of fans who had never seen an NBA game at Oracle showed up and grabbed some yellow ‘We Believe’ shirts from the pile at the door?

In fact, the number of people flying off the handle about Baron’s decision is literally making ME get angry. C’mon folks, it’s the NBA. Have you seen those T-Mobile commercials? Do you think Dwyane Wade is really using a fucking Sidekick instead of an iPhone? The guy has his jersey number and nickname engraved at the bottom of his pool - I think he’s probably shelling out the $399 for the iPhone.

The NBA is about getting paid exorbitant amounts of money to do something you love: play basketball. Hopefully as a fan, if you’re rooting for the right kinds of guys, it’s also about winning. There’s no reason to believe this wasn’t about both for Baron.

Would you turn down $65M and the opportunity to upgrade Andris Biedrins for Elton Brand? Don’t kid yourself.

What’s the real lesson here? Do yourself a favor and shell out the extra for the throwback jersey, because that Minnesota Timberwolves Kevin Garnett jersey looks pretty stupid right now.