Kenny Smith's All-Star Charity Game Dice Hunter Billups How did Lindsay get into this one? Is he buddies with KSmith? Chauncey and Dyess to play as well. Pistons will be well represented.
This is not for television, this is for charity. So, I would assume that things are being done out of the heart and not by fan selection. Did you see the article about how Hunter was contributing to relief efforts for those affected by Katrina??
NBA Players Hurricane Relief Game takes place in Houston Sunday Kenny Smith Hosts Benefit Game Sept. 7, 2005 -- TNT basketball analyst and former two-time NBA champion with the Houston Rockets Kenny Smith will host the NBA Players Hurricane Relief Game, to help aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. The game will be held Sunday, September 11th at 6 p.m. ET (5 p.m. CT) from the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and will be televised on TNT at 11 p.m. (10 p.m. CT). Players participating in the game will donate over $1 million to hurricane victims. Throughout the telecast public service announcements will be made encouraging fans to support the relief efforts through donations to the Red Cross via redcross.org, or by calling the Red Cross help line at 1-800-HELP-NOW. Kenny Smith, on the set of Inside the NBA with Magic Johnson, Ernie Johnson and Charles Barkley, hosts Sunday's contest to help aid the victims of Hurricane Katrina. Isaac Baldizon/NBAE/Getty Images “The game is a show of our support and solidarity for those affected by this natural disaster,” said Kenny Smith. “As professional athletes we’ve been very privileged. These are the types of communities where we come from and this is one way we can help take care of our own.” “The game is a show of our support and solidarity for those affected by this natural disaster,” said Kenny Smith. “As professional athletes we’ve been very privileged. These are the types of communities where we come from and this is one way we can help take care of our own.” Prior to the game on Sunday, players will distribute truckloads of their donated goods and supplies to shelters throughout the Houston area. Items will include food, clothing, water, toiletries and other basic necessities. TNT’s broadcast team will include analysts Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley, host/play-by-play Ernie Johnson and sideline reporter Craig Sager. Tickets are available for purchase, with all proceeds being donated to charity, for $300 (includes floor seats and player meet/greet) $25, $15 and $10 (see attached ticket information). Special ticket arrangements will be made for Hurricane Katrina victims. NBA players scheduled to participate include:* LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana Pacers Stephon Marbury, New York Knicks Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics Alonzo Mourning, Miami Heat Antonio McDyess, Detroit Pistons Steve Francis, Orlando Magic Sam Cassell, Los Angeles Clippers Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers Chauncey Billups, Detroit Pistons J.R. Smith, New Orleans Hornets Dahntay Jones, Memphis Grizzlies Mike James, Houston Rockets Lindsey Hunter, Detroit Pistons Derek Anderson, Houston Rockets Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz *Participants subject to change.
Mike James and Lindsey Hunter reunited I'd love to see someone bring the ball up with those two back on the court together. Man, I miss those days. We could have used that ball pressure in the Finals.
well.... He was a free agent looking for a long term deal @ at least 5 mill a year. They passed on him. I really wanted to keep him, but they opted to invest in other players ie. Delfino, Dupree in a quest to get more athletic. This of course led to a deficiency at the backup point guard position for the season...which later led to a trade for Carlos Arroyo. Seems as though they underestimated the value of the pressure we got from teaming Hunter and James together off the bench. Most likely they just did not expect Hunter to have this much longevity and saw James as replaceable for that dollar amount.
The moves of '04 Dumars was planning ahead for extensions with Ben Wallace and Tay, had to re-sign Rasheed and didn’t have room to lock down James for anything like the 3 year minimum deal he wanted. He’d already decided he was gonna move Corliss and go after McDyess (he’s said so in the press). Mike James like any young baller wanted an opportunity to start or earn the chance to start for the Pistons. He wanted to pull down a multi-year deal worth 4-5 mil per season. He knew that opportunity wasn’t coming any time soon in Detroit. He was a rent-a-player. They had limited cap space and couldn’t sign him to anything other than their LLE. Dumars trading of Campbell for Carlos Arroyo filled the slot and kept the Pistons at net-net in cost. They could pay Arroyo cause he was traded for “like salary” $4mil a year for 4 years. Even though, had we had the space we could’a probably signed James cheaper, $3mil for 3 years - $9mil total. So it really didn’t cost us anything for Arroyo more than we were already paying out in gross team salary. Arroyo's salary assumed the position of Campbells. Where as signing James would've added gross costs that the team had room to absorb. He was the odd man out because of our cap space and his ending contract. And Dumars was busy trying to replace players and clear some space while making a defending title run. That's why he wasn’t going to pay Okur $50 mil for 6 years, especially when he thought (and did) get McDyess as his replacement for 4 years at $23 mil by using our MLE. That was a long-term net gain of $37 mil, (37 mil fell off our long term payroll). They had Delfino in the wings as a 2nd rounder for less than a mil a year and thought he could take Big Nastys place scoring. Since they owed Williamson another $18 mil for 3 more years, it seemed wise cause Dumars was trying to stockpile “future space” (Wallace and Tay). The loss in scoring off the bench last season is really about Delfino’s nagging injuries, bad attitude and Coach Browns reluctance to play him more than anything else.
Lindsay's invite... LOL, very funny you mention that Tashawn! Just goes to show that Lindsey does get his fair share of respect around the league. Not to mention the fact that he's an alum Jackson State University (Jackson, MS) which I believe is an area that caught some serious damage from Katrina as well. As a kid from Mississippi as well as JSU he probably has some strong ties to the tragedy that happened down in the gulf in general.
If you've recovered from G-Mans finance 400 level dissertation here it is simple. (1) In '04 we were under the soft cap at the end of the season. (2) We were under the cap enough to lock in Rasheed. We did not have Bird Rights on Memo or Sheed, so all was left for Memo was the MLE, then along came Utah. (3) With Sheed's signing putting us at the cap max, all that remained to sign any more players (that we did not have Bird Rights to) was the MLE. (4) We used the whole MLE on McDyess. (5) All we have now are min contracts to offer. (6) Mike James did not want a Min contract, he wanted a mutli-year contract for more than the Min. And rightfully so, at 29 this was pobably going to be his last chance to get a decent payday, and as a career journeyman, who could blame him. (7) Milw gave him 3 yrs 10mill. Contrary to popular belief, we were not being cheap, based on cap rules we couldn't resign James, we did not have his Bird Rights, which allows us to go over the cap to resign him. The only way James could stay a Piston was if he decided to play for the minimum. It was a weird summer because we had 3 integral players (Sheed, Memo, James) on that Championship team that we needed to resign but just did not have their bird rights. We could have used some of the MLE on James, but if we do that, then there's no Dyess.
Game Do you really think there is going to be any defense played in this game? I wonder how "up close and personal" those $300 tickets will be with Ron Artest in the lineup. It may be safer to opt for the $10 tickets. One more post and I get my $%^%$&^$%% avatar!!
Tonights game Hey guys don't forget the Benefit game on TNT tonight (11th)... I believe it will be televised on TNT at 11:00 PM Players playing for Katrina: NBA players scheduled to participate include:* LeBron James, Cleveland Cavaliers Kobe Bryant, Los Angeles Lakers Kevin Garnett, Minnesota Timberwolves Jermaine O’Neal, Indiana Pacers Stephon Marbury, New York Knicks Dwyane Wade, Miami Heat Amare Stoudemire, Phoenix Suns Paul Pierce, Boston Celtics Alonzo Mourning, Miami Heat Antonio McDyess, Detroit Pistons Steve Francis, Orlando Magic Sam Cassell, Los Angeles Clippers Ron Artest, Indiana Pacers Chauncey Billups, Detroit Pistons J.R. Smith, New Orleans Hornets Dahntay Jones, Memphis Grizzlies Mike James, Houston Rockets Lindsey Hunter, Detroit Pistons Derek Anderson, Houston Rockets Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz
Katrina Game I guess most of you saw it. Didn't see McDyess or Hunter there uniform, but Ty Lue did show up in Hunter's uniform. Bullups played and I noticed he got a couple of assists and maybe a hoop too, but I wasn't paying that much attention. Didn't see Shaq at the arena at all and he is from Houston and played at nearby LSU. I am sure he contributed somewhere, but an appearance at this charity game should have been no brainer for him. Nice gesture by Barkley to buy four new homes in Atlanta for some evacuees!
No Cap Space Pistons simply did not have the cap space to match the Bucks offer. It was either James or Dyess. I am happy Dumars picked Dyess.
