Dear Mr. McHale:
I am writing you to express my dismay with your performance as General Manager of the Minnesota Timberwolves. You have disappointed many players and fans who are or have been involved with your once-respectable basketball team. Central to your failure is your inability to furnish the Timberwolves with a competent point guard.
You were one of the great post players of your time, and of the NBA's rich history. I would imagine that the necessity of a skilled point guard would be quite apparent to you. After all, you played with with great passers throughout your career, from Tiny Archibald to Dennis Johnson to Larry Bird. Even if that necessity somehow escaped you as a player, surely the success you once experienced as a General Manager made you realize that Kevin Garnett, the best player in the NBA and a man with considerably more talent than you ever possessed, is far more effective when he plays with the Stephon Marburys, Terrell Brandons, Chauncey Billupses and Sam Cassells of the world. Sadly, it appears that you have learned nothing from your years.
I write motivated by both curiosity and consternation. Why would you surround someone of Garnett's caliber with Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Mike James, and Trenton Hassell? Why would you assemble a team on which Kevin Garnett helps others score (4.1 apg) almost as much as the leading assist man (Ricky Davis at 4.7)? How could you possibly construct a team on the premise that Ricky Davis, Ricky Davis, is your leading passer?
Two seasons ago you traded away Sam Cassell for Marko Jaric and Lionel Chalmers. Neither Marko Jaric nor Lionel Chalmers are viable point guards, and therefore your team needed one. In the two seasons subsequent to the Cassell trade, you have not made any effort to acquire a player who can run the offense and assist the best player in the NBA.
Tonight the Minnesota Timberwolves, with a record of 32-45, play the Dallas Mavericks, who own a record of 64-13. The Mavericks were once your teams' lesser peer. How things have changed.
It is unfathomable that you are still gainfully employed. You are (and always have been) a liar and a cheater, and even with your unfair advantages, you cannot construct a winning team. You have sabotaged the career of a once-in-a-generation player, the likes of whom the NBA may never see again. You have embarrassed a city almost as much as you've embarrassed yourself.
In one month and eight days Kevin Garnett will turn 31. He may only have a couple of seasons left before he is no longer the player he will be remembered as. I ask that you please resign your position as General Manager and allow someone with greater talent, shrewdness, and integrity to assume you position.
Thank you for your consideration.
Yours truly,
Jimmy
Don't Ever Give Up: The Basketball Blog
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8 comments:
Forbes magazine best GM in sports.
KG isn't the best player in the league...hasn't been for a few years
KG is the best player in the league. Kobe is a close second.
I mean, who else can boast 22.4 points per game, 12.8 rebounds per game, 4.1 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game, 1.7 blocks per game, all while shooting 48% and 84% from the line? Nobody, that's who.
Best all around player? Maybe. But what about Dwyane Wade, LeBron, Kobe, Dirk Nowitzki, etc...wouldn't you rather have them on your team at this point? Not that scoring is everything (obviously), but all of the guys mentioned score more than KG too -- and he's on a bad team (my point being, he should score more on a bad team). When you put all of the numbers together and you use some hollinger/sabremetric/PER whatever-stat I bet KG comes out on top...at this point in the NBA landscape, I'd choose someone else.
Perhaps he'll be a Knick next season!
I honestly wouldn't choose anybody on that list except Lebron, and I would only pick him because of his youth.
Garnett can't score more on a bad team because he's a post player with no point guard and Ricky Davis. Also he's unselfish.
Plus, out of all the players you named, none of them can play defense. Garnett is arguably the best defender in the NBA who isn't completely out of his mind.
JV
James, I must commend you on your wonderfully written letter. I haven't checked the blog in awhile and I could not have been more pleasantly surprised to read this as your last entry. I have spoken with many noble Twolves fans and they all agree with your sentiment, with myself leading the way. And Kevin Garnett is the best player in the league and it pains me to see his unlimited talent wasted on such a dismal team. I appreciate the KG love Jimbo. Although I'm very concerned that with him out for the rest of the year, we've seen his last game in a Timberwolves jersey.
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