Amen! Damn straight!

[JOzersky@aol.com]

Dig this, from CBS Sportsline:

COACH PAT RILEY, these are nothing more than symptoms of 
an epidemic crippling the NBA. 
In the days leading to the trading deadline, Riley said the ugly 
underbelly of the league became thoroughly exposed. 
"The attitude today of the players is of no concern at all toward 
owners,'' Riley said. "They are drafted, they say they love it 
here and will grow with this franchise. It's a lie. As soon as 
crunch time comes, they're off chasing (contracts). It hurts fra
nchises. 
"The owners who have invested money, who get them 
uniforms, who put them on private planes and put them in 
first-class hotels, and create this platform for an individual to 
become great ... this man who has taken the risk should be 
getting some of the reward, too. Not just the players. 
"If the players push this game to the point where none of the 
reward is ever going to come back to the owner, then they will 
all get out of this, and we will all be on a white sandy beach 
someday.'' 
Riley said players who sour deals, players such as Kenny 
Anderson, Seikaly and Hardaway should be dealt with harshly. 
"ONE DAY, AND I CAN'T WAIT for the day,'' he said, "an 
owner is going to sue a player and his agent for damages, for 
killing trades or not wanting to go somewhere else. One owner 
is going to win a lot of damages -- because that isn't right. 
"In your contract, it says that within 48 hours you go. So if 
you're starting to blackmail people, then I think somewhere, 
somebody is going to be sued one day.'' 
Riley said he empathizes with teams that have to discard young 
talent because of outrageous demands. It is a reason why 
Hardaway wound up on the trade market in the first place, 
why the Warriors were forced to move Smith to the 76ers. 
"It's becoming insane,'' Riley said. "The players association and 
the owners have to create a formula that is economically 
feasible for both sides. There are going to have to be caps, 
franchise players and transition players. Otherwise, it's going 
to be totally out of control, and we're heading in that 
direction.'' 
Ira Winderman covers pro basketball for The Sun-Sentinel in 
Fort Lauderdale.