Comments on: J-Rich Speaks

By: Rob Broe

Rob Broe — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:28:36 +0000

Thanx Marcus for the insight, I wanted to know what Mullin’s reaction was to J Rich’s claims of betrayal over the way the trade was handled?

By: Marcus Thompson

Marcus Thompson — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 00:54:58 +0000

Matt Barnes, Al Harrington and Stephen Jackson all told me they were shocked. None of them were mad, they expected someone to be gone, but they were shocked it was Jason Richardson. I haven’t talk to him yet, but I heard Baron was pretty upset, and from a reliable source. He wanted for him and Jason Richardson to get a chance to play a whole season together. Both felt like they could be the best backcourt in the NBA, but injuries never allowed them to play together for a whole season

By: JJ

JJ — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 19:01:33 +0000

Marcus,

Thank you greatly for the article, and the follow-up post in your blog.

Like EJ above asked, how is the remainder of this team reacting to the news? How is the mood following this trade vs when Dunleavy/Murphy were traded? I wonder if guys (BD especially) are heartened at all by the fact that this demonstrates management’s intent to be a serious bidder for KG’s services.

Thanks again!

By: EJ

EJ — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:31:35 +0000

Marcus, have you had the chance to get any reactions from the rest of team? I’m mainly interested in Baron’s take on the situation and how that impacts him resigning at the end of the season with the Warriors. I know him and Jason were close. Has the team’s perception of the front office changed? While they didn’t gut out the nucleus of the team, management did take away part of its heart and soul. The trade was part of a move to acquire KG, not necessarily because they eyed Wright the whole time. If they don’t end up getting KG, what happens to the roster? I can’t imagine Wright and Biedrins playing on the floor together; they’re very similar. Is Yi still in the plans as a second option to KG?

By: BenCeezy

BenCeezy — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 02:38:28 +0000

Overpaid and Overrated…? Truthfully, sounds like Steven A. Smith as an analyst.

By: Marcus Thompson

Marcus Thompson — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 02:27:33 +0000

He was pretty upset about all the negativity about his game. Obviously he doesn’t think he’s maxed out. He said he is motivated more than ever. He was really motivated by Stephen A. Smith’s comments about JR being overpaid and overrated. He said he’s going to work harder than he ever has to prove his doubters wrong.
He waited to have knee surgery because he didn’t think he was going to have to have it. JR is a workaholic. He knew knee surgery would kill his offseason workout and he would be out of shape come camp. He was hoping some rest would heal the knee, and he would only be a little bit off schedule. I just think he underestimated how serious his knee problem was, and he was the kind of player that thought he could tough anything out. It backfired.

By: commish

commish — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:44:41 +0000

You were lucky to know him so up close and personal. All the Warrior nation will miss him, even those of us who felt it would potentially better for the team long term to trade him now.

The one thing I wondered about is if he heard–and if he did–how did he feel about that many people were saying he had hit his ceiling in terms of his ability and upside. Although eveyone agreed he had a great work ethic and improved every summer in a skill area, he does not have the wheels he used to have to slash, drive and dunk. He was another Dub shooting threes and twos from the perimeter. That is not what we need because we enough of those guys with Jax, Harrington, MP, and even Baron. So in some ways he had become redundent to our offense since his injury.

The other thing I never understood was why he waited so late to get his knee surgery. It left him unready to play at the beginning of the year and if it hadn’t been for the freak hand injury, he may never have gotten into playing shape and risked re-injuring his knee because it never would have healed.

All that being said, for a long time he WAS the face of the Warriors and as far as I’m concerned we should retire his number for his six years of service.

By: zgreat

zgreat — Wed, 04 Jul 2007 23:37:25 +0000

Great article Marcus!

It’s a refreshing change to get a player’s honest viewpoint in regard to trade.

As sports fans, we usually only get management’s spin of the story (although in this case, JRich is such a class act, they didn’t have anything negative to say about him).