Wilkins gone {Again}

[Gray Mule]

Money making -- one way to do it. Not recommended for

the average Joe. It won't work for us.

The Toronto team has fired L.W. with a year remaining on

his contract. They have agreed to pay the balance owed

him under the contract.

Sounds familiar. Atlanta has been paying him under the

contract he had with us, even though he was coaching

another team.

He wants to stay in the N.B.A. and will be looking for

another contract.

Something is wrong with these contracts that the entire

N.B.A. is putting out. If you sign a contract for an

annual salary, then you are owed this amount for however long the contract calls for. If you get fired, they still owe

you all that money and get nothing in return.

Change these contracts. The team you signed with still

owes you the same money but you are tied to that team

for the duration of the contract. You must work for them

and do something, even if it is nothing more than sell

hot dogs. Picture L.W. behind the counter saying, "You

want fries with that?"

If another team wants to hire the person under contract,

they buy the contract from the team or offer to replace

it with one of their own.

Seriously, while L.W. was still under contract and Hawks

were paying him, he could have been added to our weak scouting department and earning some of the money that

we were paying him. When he left to coach the other

team, they should have simply taken the contract that

Atlanta had. He was working for them. He was under

contract for so many years. They could have revised it

to suit themselves and L.W.

ENOUGH!!! You have my rant for today.

[Jamil]

This is what's wrong with the NBA and MLB as well.

If this were the NFL, players like Alan Henderson, Chris Crawford and Nazr Mohammed would be asked to restructure their contracts or be cut from the team.

Of course the blame partially lies upon idiots like Pete Babcock who give these players those deals in the first place, but the team shouldn't be stuck to have to pay big money for small production over the course of several years like with Henderson. A team should have an option at some point of voiding the remainder of the contract. If the player still has some sort of ability, someone out there will pick him up at some price.

In the case of someone like Crawford, it's unfortunate that he is chronically injured. That's tough. Injuries are a part of sports and only the strong survive. The best interests of the team should be first and foremost. He's making about $3 million a year and that is simply too much for a player who is contributing NOTHING.