Alonzo Mourning - Calgarypuck Forums - The Unofficial Calgary Flames Fan Community

dirk diggler · 02-11-2005, 05:14 PM

The Raptors bought him out today for roughly 10 million dollars, even though he never played a game for the Raptors.. has there ever been a player who has gotten so much for doing so little. in the seasons he was healthy, he was a good player, but he has never been healthy for a long time.. i realize it is not his fault he had kidney troubles in the past, but teams continue to line up and pay ridiculous sums of money for a guy who could play 1 game and then have to shut it down....

JiriHrdina · 02-11-2005, 05:21 PM

What a joke!

Mourning is going to take his 10 million buy out and then turnaround and sign with the Heat.

So the guy gets paid not to play.

I don't give a rat's rear end about his health - the bottom line is if he didn't want to come to Toronto - fine - void your contract. Why should the Raps pay for this guy not to play. 10 million dollars!?!!? A complete joke.

Resolute 14 · 02-11-2005, 05:47 PM

The question is, why the hell isnt there a provision to suspend a player without pay in the NBA? if he doesnt report, he goes into limbo.

habernac · 02-11-2005, 10:52 PM

Shouldn't it be the GM's job to know the guy just has no interest in playing for Toronto? Why waste your money on him in the first place? Get a freaking draft pick or something. Instead, you blow $10 million just to get rid of the guy. What a crock. Should have been suspended without pay or flipped to another team he wanted to play for. This is why the NBA's next CBA will turn into the same thing our NHL season has. Guaranteed contracts suck.

Mike__ · 02-12-2005, 10:43 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by habernac@Feb 11 2005, 10:52 PM
Shouldn't it be the GM's job to know the guy just has no interest in playing for Toronto? Why waste your money on him in the first place? Get a freaking draft pick or something. Instead, you blow $10 million just to get rid of the guy. What a crock. Should have been suspended without pay or flipped to another team he wanted to play for. This is why the NBA's next CBA will turn into the same thing our NHL season has. Guaranteed contracts suck.

Babcock made the trade with the mindset that Zo would never play for Toronto. Zo was nothing more than salary dump for NJ. Have no idea why he wasn't traded to Miami for something useful though.

I_H8_Crawford · 02-12-2005, 11:36 AM

Speaking of the Carter trade, it's looking worse and worse... Williams wants out, they just blew $10 Mil on a useless acquisition in Mourning... what a joke this team is; I didn't think it would be possible, but they're worse than the Leafs!

Actually anyone notice any similarities between the Raps and the Flames of old? Always taking chances on inexperienced GMs/coaches; poor trades, etc.

spydermal · 02-12-2005, 12:38 PM

I dont mind the coach. Hopfully the two first round draft picks are good ones!

fredr123 · 02-13-2005, 12:06 AM

Zo probably had to be included to try and even out the salaries going both ways. I don't understand the advantage in buying out the contract. I know they saved a bit (Zo had $16M left on his contract, right?) but it would have been nice to see a GM make a stand.

"Oh, you refuse to play for us? Well, unless your buyout price comes WAY down, we're gonna let you pout wherever the hell you are. Have fun wasting away the last years of your NBA career."

jam26 · 02-13-2005, 02:06 AM

Another reason to never watch the NBA.

snappyk · 02-15-2005, 07:10 PM

I like it when a pro athelete dictates where he wants to play it makes me laugh. I can't believe that he is going to sign on with the Heat after not wanting to play for the Raptors, what a D**K

fredr123 · 02-16-2005, 08:23 AM

Can you really blame him for not wanting to play in Toronto? Things are a mess up there. Guys are getting beat up by coaches, 5-digit salary guys are coming off the bench and your best player is a soft-spoken sophmore playing out of position. The guys that came North when Vince went South are a bust and want out too.

Situations like these are but one example of why guaranteed contracts can operate unfairly. It would be great if the Raps could have just cut Mourning and without having to pay his salary. With that not being an option, I still wish they would have hung on to him and fined him for not reporting. If he did show up, you dress him but park him on the pine for all to see.

moon · 02-16-2005, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by fredr123@Feb 16 2005, 08:23 AM
Can you really blame him for not wanting to play in Toronto?

I don't blame him for not wanting to come up but I can blame him and lose respect for him for actually not coming here. I would have a lot more respect for Mourning if he would have just come up played or even sat on the bench and shown up to practice while waiting for a trade release.

What drives me up the wall is not that he was released because that was inevitable as soon as the trade went through but I think he could have acted like a professional and shown up in TO and tried to do a little bit to help the team while he waited for his move. He could have at least come up and gave some pointers to guys like Bosh and Araujo. If he had done that I think he may have been moved or released earlier and would have looked like a professional and earned a lot of respect from me and I imagine others as well.

fredr123 · 02-16-2005, 08:42 PM

It's not about being professional or trying to help out the young guys. It's all about the Benjamins. Professional sports == business. You luck out and get born freakishly tall or unusually gifted. Play your cards right and you can play pro sports for a few years, date movie stars, have the world at your front door. Then, you retire and never have to work ever again. You can't do that if you do stupid things like act professional or try to help other people out.

OzSome · 02-17-2005, 12:28 PM

Raptors is a joke this year. I love basketball but what the Raptors are doing this year makes me change the channel everytime I see the Raptors on TV.

1st: They traded Vince Carter to the division rival New Jersey Nets for who?? Mourning who they ended up buying out for $10M and didn't even suit up with them. 2 bench players, one Eric Williams wanted to get out Toronto because he is not playing and the other Williams who plays sparingly. Talk about HIGHWAY ROBBERY!!!

2nd: The Rafer Alston-Coach Sam Mitchell soap opera. The Raptors should get rid of both of them or one of them. If they ever pick the latter, I choose getting rid of Mitchell.

3rd: Jalen Rose-Sam Mitchell soap opera. Why is a guy talented as Rose sitting at the bench most of the time. Why not trade a guy if you are not gonna use him properly. Again this is another reason to get rid of Sam Mitchell.

4th: Sam Mitchell fighting with everyone in the team. Mitchell should learn that in order to motivate players, you shouldn't fight them. The guy should take anger-management and also maybe take the "How to Motivate Spoiled-Brat NBA Players" course.

Mike Babcock should do something before Torontonians start avoiding going to games at Air Canada. Either get rid of Sam Mitchell and hire someone respectable experienced head coach or trade not give away the cancers in that team.

CaramonLS · 02-17-2005, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by moon+Feb 16 2005, 06:04 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (moon @ Feb 16 2005, 06:04 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-fredr123@Feb 16 2005, 08:23 AM
Can you really blame him for not wanting to play in Toronto?

I don't blame him for not wanting to come up but I can blame him and lose respect for him for actually not coming here. I would have a lot more respect for Mourning if he would have just come up played or even sat on the bench and shown up to practice while waiting for a trade release.

What drives me up the wall is not that he was released because that was inevitable as soon as the trade went through but I think he could have acted like a professional and shown up in TO and tried to do a little bit to help the team while he waited for his move. He could have at least come up and gave some pointers to guys like Bosh and Araujo. If he had done that I think he may have been moved or released earlier and would have looked like a professional and earned a lot of respect from me and I imagine others as well. [/b][/quote]
Strangest thing is 'Zo spends his summers in TO, has a home there as well.

Pathetic... this definately isn't getting the play in the headlines that it should be getting.

Also with the heat rumors... WHY didn't they trade him to the Heat and send some cash with him, maybe 6-7 million to cover the expenses?