This relationship has all the plotlines of a soap opera, or the
Jerry Springer Show depending on your tastes. You have the
Casanova (Brown) who has been with all the chicks (NBA and NCAA
basketball teams). He falls in love a couple years back with the
newest fling (the Pistons). And it looks like he’s just about
ready to settle down into a life of monogamy until the young
hottie in the Daisy Dukes (Lebron’s Cavs) begin their
flirtatious ways. But, after that would-be couple doesn’t come
to fruition, the legendary Broadway starlet (the Knicks) is soon
waiting in the wings to catch Larry the Casanova on the
basketball rebound.
Okay, enough with the dramatics. But, this whole Larry and the
Pistons saga have almost gotten this silly. Larry wants the team
to “wait for him” during his treatment for bladder problems. One
day, it’s a crisis; the next day, it’s not. If it’s not his
physical condition, Larry is upset that the team doesn’t
“appreciate” him. And you wonder why I compare this to something
you’d see on afternoon television, just no “baby mommas” and DNA
tests, please. It’s time for these two sides to break up
“mutually” on “good terms” on the basis of “irreconcilable
differences”.
Larry Brown gave the Pistons what they wanted, and the Pistons
did the same for Brown. Detroit is on top of the NBA world, by
winning the Championship in ’04, and almost repeating in ’05.
This squad has free agents to resign, young players like Darko
Milocic to develop, and if this pissing match in the public
continues, the Dynasty window in Detroit will begin to close
much quicker than it should. It’s a testament to those players
how well they stayed focused during the Playoffs when Brown had
one foot already out the door.
These two sides met yesterday, reaching no definite conclusion
that we could tell. On Thursday, they get together again. If
Brown stays, these hints and rumors will continue from today
until the day he finally does leave. This is Larry Brown we’re
talking about; he’s always on the way out the door. Today is the
day to put this lunacy to an end. Larry walks away, to either
address his health issues, or more than likely, go coach the New
York Knicks, and Detroit goes ahead with plan B, the hiring of
Flip Saunders, and gets prepared for the 2005-06 NBA Season.
But, please make your mind up today, guys. Isiah Thomas is
waiting impatiently for your decision.
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