Re: Oneal

[Eggcentric@xxxxxxx]

< But if anyone believes that he was letting Jermaine--or ANYONE--
think that Thomas was going to be in Pacer training camp, I have some 
land her in Florida to sell, cheap. > - Snoop

ANYONE might believe it if Larry flat out told them that to their face... 
which he did.  Ex-Celt or not, Bird comes out pretty badly in this one. 

Jermaine, one of Isiah's few supporters, made it very clear that the
ONLY reason he would re-sign with Indiana was if his father figure
remained as coach.  Bird did not put it in writing, but clearly made a 
VERBAL PROMISE to O'Neal that Thomas would be retained.  

I don't blame Bird for firing the inept Thomas.  But the fact remains that
Bird had two choices - either sign O'Neal and retain Thomas, or fire 
Thomas and lose O'Neal.  Through transparent deceit, Bird not only got his 
cake (O'Neal signing) but with crafty timing got to eat it, too (Thomas 
firing).  So how can you blame O'Neal for feeling he was lied to?  

< O'Neal is too much a liability. >

As for your thoughts concerning O'Neal the player, where does your data 
come from?  I feel he is not only one of the top PF's in the entire league 
at age 24, but also fine in crunch time.  

I can only dream about Bird trading Jermaine to us for half our team, 
including Walker. 

Eggy