article of note (not short)

[Douglas342@aol.com]

For those who, like me, find today's players insufferable egotists, this 
article will be to your liking.

The Fall of Westphal 
Sonics' Mess Is Just Another
Example of NBA's Pathetic State

By DAVE KRIEGER
SportsWritersDirect

DENVER (Nov. 30) -- If you're wondering what to make of the mess in Seattle, 
I'm here to help. It's really pretty simple. What's wrong with the NBA these 
days is what's wrong in Seattle.

It's money. Selfishness. Sloth. Grotesquely enlarged egos that would require 
emergency surgery if they were hearts. But the hearts on the Sonics have the 
opposite problem. You'd need a microscope to find one.

If you're expecting a spirited defense of Paul Westphal, you'll be 
disappointed. As a coach, Westphal made a great jump shooter. He was handed a 
terrific team in Phoenix back in 1992 and lasted less than four seasons. He 
has never shown any particular ability to motivate, and defense is definitely 
not his strong suit.

That said, the dynamics of his firing were another demonstration of patients 
running the NBA asylum, and to what effect.

Gary Payton has worked over the past year or two to try to improve his 
national image by going on TV and being his version of charming. But Gary 
Payton is not a good guy. Anyone in my business who has tried to deal with 
him over the past decade can testify to that.

Payton is the best player the Sonics have, but not as good, it turns out, as 
we thought. For a long time, it seemed that Payton was the reason the Sonics 
won 50 games every season. Now, it's beginning to look as if maybe George 
Karl was the reason.

But Payton, being the best player they have, is in charge. Sonics ownership 
and management have permitted this to be true. They didn't have to. They 
could run a ship like the Heat's or Sixers' or Lakers' where the coach is 
actually in charge. But they don't.

Then you have Vin Baker, who has tried to be Payton's social buddy, which is 
about the worst decision he's ever made. He has been marginalized as a 
player, for one thing. Whether this is because of off-court activity or a 
lack of competitive fire in the belly, Baker plays like the Pillsbury 
Doughboy and sometimes even looks like him.

And finally, you have Patrick Ewing, a player permanently offended by 
everyone's lack of respect, even as he's voted one of the 50 greatest players 
in NBA history and collects his grotesquely enlarged paycheck. Remarkably, 
Ewing's game is now very similar to Baker's. He likes to face the basket and 
take jump shots. He doesn't do this particularly well, but he likes to do it 
anyway.

So there they were, three of the game's big names, certainly three of its big 
paychecks. Doing nothing. Going nowhere.

Of course, Westphal took the fall. But the way he went down was particularly 
humiliating, as if it were a plot line out of Lord of the Flies.

First, frustrated by the obvious underachievement of his troops in the early 
season, Westphal offered to step down in a meeting with his players. They 
declined the offer. Not because they supported him. Not at all.

Payton was up front about the reason, explaining he didn't want it going out 
in the media that he had led a coup d'etat, the report that helped to destroy 
whatever Penny Hardaway's public image had going for it a couple of years ago.

Even in urging the coach to stay on, Payton was acting selfishly, worrying 
about that cuddly image he tried to cultivate with Ernie Johnson in his 
appearances on the Turner cable channels during last season's playoffs. The 
Sonics, of course, had no further need for him at that point, having bowed 
out in the first round.

Here's my favorite quote of many entertaining quotes out of the Seattle soap 
opera:

"If he's going to disrespect me, I'm not going to play for him, period. He 
say something bad to me, that I think is bad, and he will not disrespect me 
like that." 

This is what Payton had to say following his fourth-quarter blowup with 
Westphal in Dallas last week. To hear Payton criticize someone else for a 
lack of respectfulness was reminiscent of Bob Knight offering a lecture on 
good manners. It was laughable.

Payton is well-known around the league for hurling epithets at anyone he 
pleases. During a game last season, he shouted at Nuggets coach Dan Issel, 
"(Bleep) you, bitch." This sounded a little disrespectful to me, but then, 
the rules are different for Payton -- and most of the other overpaid stars in 
the NBA.

Issel shrugged it off afterward, calling Payton "a competitor." Coaches are 
now so conditioned to kiss up to these self-absorbed egomaniacs, they do it 
even when it's not their player.

I'm just guessing, but I doubt Westphal said anything approaching what Payton 
said to Issel. I'm thinking he suggested he run the offense or something 
along those lines. Payton, of course, exploded on the spot, declaring he no 
longer cared about the game and would be happy to be permanently suspended. 
If this has a familiar ring, it is the NBA version of the 10-year-old 
threatening to take his ball and go home.

What followed was little short of pathetic. Westphal suspended him. Payton, 
sensing a threat to his wallet, cried a few crocodile tears. And Westphal, 
essentially firing himself, revoked the suspension. At that point, he was 
blood in the water.

Just before he was fired, he was asked about Payton's play in a Sonics win. 
"He was fantastic," he gushed. To the end, Westphal was kissing up to the 
player who wanted him gone so long as the blood wasn't on his hands.

A grown man willing to publicly humiliate himself for the sake of a job is 
always a sad sight. I'm guessing that being fired by the Sonics will turn out 
to be one of the best things that ever happened to Westphal's mental health.

A day after the deed was done, Westphal blamed Baker, not Payton, for his 
demise. This is understandable. A coach always prefers the player who plays 
to the player who doesn't. But there is a distinction to be made here. Baker 
might have been the reason the Sonics underachieved. But Payton was the 
reason Westphal was fired.

Now, Nate McMillan, who was everything as a player that the Sonics now lack 
-- a defensive stopper, an unselfish performer who put the team first -- is 
in charge. Will it be better?

For one day, it was. The Sonics got the normal dead-coach bounce, beating 
Portland on Tuesday. But will it be better in the long run?

The new coach is not yet emasculated -- always a good thing. And McMillan 
will be stressing defense, he says, which the Sonics certainly could use.

But the essential problems remain. Baker and Ewing have more reputation than 
game at this point. Payton is an excellent player but also a sociopath with 
no regard for anyone who can't help him get what he wants.

Maybe what goes around comes around. Maybe these guys will get just what they 
deserve.

If the Sonics fail to do anything of consequence this season despite the 
much-heralded acquisition of Ewing, it might be simple justice. It might be 
their own karma.

Still, if that's how it turns out, you can bet Payton & Co. will find someone 
else to blame. One thing you can take to the bank: It won't be their fault.