Re: Billups - Pitino Trade Barbs

[William Lee <leew@wadsworth.org>]

At 07:40 AM 10/7/99 -0400, Ray wrote quoting the Globe 
story:

>                                 [deleted stuff]
>
>                                 Chauncey Billups had this to say ... on the
>                                 deal that sent Ron Mercer to the Nuggets:
>
>                                 ''...Pitino is a cold
>                                 individual, man. There really is not that
>                                 much loyalty in that Boston organization...''


I've never been really sure why player's always get to use the "it's a 
business" line for essentially the same fiscal actions that cause 
management to be considered cold, disloyal, stupid, and even incompetent 
(see not only Mercer, Ron but Vaughn, Mo).

I also found a couple of Pitino quotes amusing:


>                                 ''Trading Ron was a business decision. He
>                                 told us if we did not re-sign him [before
>                                 the season], he was not coming back. And
>                                 we were very far apart. Trading Chauncey
>                                 was a basketball decision. He couldn't
>                                 play the point. .."

WHAM!!

And then:

>If trading him back home,
>                                 where he's making 2-3 million dollars a
>                                 year - if that's cold, well, I wish people
>                                 treated me coldly like that.''


  Pitino traded Chauncy back home?  Funny, I don't remember reading 
that.  If Rick really sent Billups to Denver, he is much more far-sighted 
and manipulative than I ever thought.

Bill