Phillyist: Asshole of the Week

Pat Holston

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:05:38 -0500

I never said he was Lucas Entertainment, but I know I hear his name and the name of his entertainment company (Verso, I think) thrown around a lot and since I live about as far from LA and the LA production scene as you can get, to me that is somewhat successful. All that said, I agree, he could have handled it much better and I think even he knows it. Difference is, he doesn't care. p.s. a person who quotes the Juice and Three Six Mafia is a person I can't find fault with.

bheezy

Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:31:42 -0500

Man, I wrote a long response that would have had you two checkmated into next Thursday. But to quote Oran "Juice" Jones, "Instead...I chill." Look, you both make great points. I just think he could have handled it a LOT better. But Pat, I'm not letting you slide on "somewhat successful." Just IMDB'd Baron Davis. David O. Selznick he's not. Three Six Mafia will get an Oscar before hi...oh wait...

Pat Holston

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:48:11 -0500

The East is a joke. There were teams over .500 in the west that did not make the playoffs. The Celts were the best team, but one team does not a tough conference make. Especially night in and night out. p.s. Golden State plays in Oakland, not Anaheim, so while still not a huge uprooting, it is not as close as Anaheim to LA. And Baron also is from LA, went to UCLA and has his own (somewhat successful) production company, so maybe he moved back to LA not simply because of Brand.

Ross Currie

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:02:42 -0500

As far as the East being soft, I'm sticking by that. I don't think Boston winning the title makes it any less soft. Just like Miami winning in '06 didn't, nor did Detroit in '04. But the grind that a Western Conference team has to go through just to get to the NBA Finals is much more difficult than what teams in the East face. This year, the only teams in the East that were gonna pound you night in and night out were Boston and Detroit, and God only knows what's going to happen with the Pistons going forward. I think Brand was well aware of geography before he spoke to Davis, but he probably wasn't aware that the Clippers were "only" going to make an offer of $70M at the outset. Once they did that, I think he found himself willing to turn down the subsequent $81M offer (made only after the Sixers ponied up $79M) because he felt like he'd been disrespected. God, I wish I could scoff at $70 million bucks.

bheezy

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 11:40:16 -0500

Except for the racist moron who wrote the first comment, these are all learned thoughts. But I think we are using some revisionist history to rationalize the fact that he is now plying his trade for our Sixers. For instance, the East is soft as mashed potatoes. That might be true to some extent, but...who won the title this year again? Second, did he not know that Philly was close to NY BEFORE he advised Baron Davis to come to L.A.? OK, Anaheim to L.A. is not a huge uprooting, but it is a major adjustment all the same, especially when you consider that Golden State is a rising young squad and the Clips are now a continuously moribund franchise with a donut hole where their power forward used to be. Bottom lizzy: He may be our a-hole, but he is an a-hole all the same.

Ross Currie

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:27:32 -0500

Right on, Pat. It looks like this was more about getting back closer to his hometown and playing in the soft-as-melty-ice cream Eastern Conference. Even if Brand and Davis were both on the Clippers, the team would be fighting from day one and would still have to deal with a half dozen other killer teams in the West. It certainly wasn't a guarantee that they'd shake up the landscape of the conference there.

Pat Holston

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 10:18:58 -0500

Despite whatever else went on, you can't say he made the decision based on finances when both LA and Golden State offered him more money.

Ross Currie

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 00:11:25 -0500

Brand may have given the shaft to the Clippers, but he's certainly not a thug.

Davis 3417

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 23:17:36 -0500

This is normal behavior for these thugs known as basketball players. What rock have you been under?