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[Trip down memory lane] Our beloved owner, Leslie Alexander
Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by steddinotayto, May 19, 2016.
houston press
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steddinotayto Contributing Member
From an article in the Houston Press published in February 1997:
What triggered this article:
Multimillion-dollar enterprises such as the Rockets will always have their fair share of disputes and misunderstandings. But since Les Alexander bought the NBA franchise in August 1993, his organization has left behind a lengthy trail of fired employees, stiffed vendors and angry sponsors. And their stories are remarkably consistent -- a litany of broken agreements, unpaid bills and a mean-spirited cheapness that borders on pure greed. Behind the glossy veneer of two NBA championships, there's big trouble in Clutch City.
Most of the stories have yet to be told, in part because the local media has been as enchanted by the Rockets' winning ways as the fans. The majority of those employees, vendors and sponsors have collected their due, but only after either threatening or taking legal action. And in exchange for their money, the Rockets insisted they sign gag agreements not to discuss their cases.
How Les wants the public to see him:
Over the years, Alexander has dabbled in various other enterprises, including horse racing, casinos, leveraged buyouts and real estate, all of which have an element of risk associated with gambling. And he likes to cultivate that high-stakes image, telling reporters of his college days spent playing poker instead of going to class, or taking the bar exam in California without ever attending class or cracking a book.
His inability in the beginning to grasp the concept of being....cordial:
In his first season of ownership, Les Alexander hit the jackpot. The Rockets beat the Knicks for the 1993-94 NBA championship, and the value of the franchise blew through the ceiling overnight. "Obviously, it was a good investment," he gloated to Forbes as the team charged toward victory.
But cutting a bond deal and owning a pro sports team are endeavors with little in common, and Alexander's inability to grasp the difference may explain his current predicament. He did much of his trading from the comfort of his office in Boca Raton (one visitor describes the scene as "four subservient women and a computer screen"), with little human contact beyond telephone conversations with brokers. A basketball team, on the other hand, must maintain a complex network of relationships with the community. Diplomatic skills are critical.
After the Rockets won their first championship, Alexander jacked up ticket prices as much as 100 percent for choice seats, spawning a lawsuit from an irate fan. When a Chronicle interviewer informed Alexander that the cost of two season tickets exceeded the price of a new Cadillac, he responded, "So drive to the games in a used Yugo. I've got mine, and now I've got yours."
How Alexander and his henchmen dealt with unhappy ex-employees:
Brenda Tinnen, for example, who was hired as ticket services manager to replace Bloody Tuesday victim Jeff Gaines, had a reputation as one of the most talented and friendly administrators in professional sports. Wooed by John Thomas from the Minnesota Timberwolves, where she had a similar position, Tinnen was given a raise and a three-year contract and promised the freedom to do her job without interference. Excited at the prospect, she moved her family from Minneapolis and found a place to live in Houston.
If anyone should have felt confident about her bargain, it was Tinnen. She knew Thomas, who had worked with her at the Timberwolves; both were part of a small circle of friends who would drink beer together after work.
But the friendship didn't last. Perhaps because her contract was too fat for Alexander's taste, Tinnen found herself on the outs with her bosses. According to her colleagues, Thomas questioned her every move, undermined her authority and generally made her life miserable. Finally, in frustration, she left -- after extracting a healthy settlement. Tinnen, who's now with the NHL's Phoenix Coyotes, signed a confidentiality agreement as part of her deal and would not discuss her Rockets tenure with the Press.
Such settlements were common among the fired employees -- so common, they jokingly became known as the "Les Alexander Scholarship Package."
How he treated the man that essentially built the championship teams
In announcing the moves, Rockets owner Les Alexander said Leiweke will hold the title of team president. Leiweke said upgrading the team's business practices was his top priority and Alexander was pleased with coach Rudy Tomjanovich.
The Rockets gave no explanation for Patterson's dismissal, but Alexander told KTRH radio he thought "the organization wasn't running smoothly."
Rudy T's departure. Opinion piece written by Marc Stein back when he was still credible:
It was widely known in NBA circles that Rockets owner Les Alexander was not pleased with the team's inability to make the playoffs for a fourth straight season. Adding to his angst were an all-Texas matchup of San Antonio and Dallas in the conference finals, and Houston's forthcoming move into a new building in October.
Rudy Tomjanovich, while regarded as a living legend after more than three decades with the Rockets, has been criticized in recent years for relying too much on the one-on-one skills of point guard Steve Francis and shooting guard Cuttino Mobley.
Tomjanovich, whose season was cut short by bladder cancer, in recent weeks indicated that he was feeling increasingly better and eager to resume his coaching duties next season. That meant Alexander, if he wanted a coaching change, would either have to fire the face of the franchise or convince Tomjanovich to negotiate a buyout of his contract.
It appears that Tomjanovich finally relented, agreeing to negotiate a settlement and then move to the front office. The possibility remained that health reasons might have forced Tomjanovich to leave the bench anyway, but that determination was to be made next month, when Tomjanovich will undergo a biopsy to assess his recovery from cancer.
JVG's departure
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said that Van Gundy encouraged Morey and owner Leslie Alexander to begin a coaching search while Van Gundy considered whether he wished to return, a scenario that Van Gundy strongly denied, calling it "revisionist history.''
"Everyone who was involved in the meeting knows what was said,'' Van Gundy said. "Daryl and I know what was said on our conversation. If he can live with that, so be it.''
"It was never a question of me evaluating,'' Van Gundy said. "It was a question of me being somewhere not because the record was good enough, but because I was where I had the support of the owner. "In that meeting, Les and I and Daryl and Dennis (Lindsey, the Rockets vice president for basketball operations) had, I said to Les, ''Obviously you don't agree to me on important things and you owe it to yourself to find someone you agree with. "If I was told 'I want you to be here and you're the guy,' I would have told them right then, 'I'm in.' ''
"He (Morey) called me 12 hours after we lost. I said, ''Really I don't want to talk right now. We just lost 12 hours ago.' He came in the very next day and said it would be better for him if I gave him the answer. He kept fishing. Like I do every year, I think a lot. The whole idea of me allowing them to go on and contact other coaches was born on Les acknowledging had differences with me as far as style of play."
Van Gundy said he turned down a consultant position with the team because the offer was contingent on calling his departure as Rockets coach a mutual decision.
``Daryl pulled that off the table the moment I wouldn't agree to saying it wasn't a mutual agreement,'' Van Gundy said. ``I disagreed with that and I told them that. I appreciate the offer very much. I was a little disappointed by the heavy handedness of the conclusion.''
#1 steddinotayto, May 19, 2016
luckyman76, WestendMassive, RayRay10 and 18 others like this.
srrm Contributing Member
Thank you very much for putting this together in a very useful thread.
I think this is a pretty even handed evaluation of this character
#2 srrm, May 19, 2016
daywalker02 Easter Egg Hunter - Tell me why? نحن عائلة
scrooge mcduck?
#3 daywalker02, May 19, 2016
Ramo$e likes this.
rocketman12 Member
Too much to read so maybe it's in there but I think I remember a phase where he wanted people to be vegetarian just like him.
#4 rocketman12, May 19, 2016
After Rick Adelman's departure:
"While Alexander was not quoted about how often he communicated with Adelman in the Houston Chronicle report, the story claimed that Alexander would 'phone (Jeff) Van Gundy (Adelman's predecessor in Houston) and Adelman three or four times a season.' The story added that Van Gundy and Adelman 'chose to have virtually no relationship with their boss.'
"Asked to expound, Adelman said he was making light of the report but went on to explain: '(Alexander) said he used to call me three or four times a year and I just . . . it never happened. When you leave a place, there's reasons why you leave. There's reasons why you're not there.
"'I chose not to accept an extension that they offered me. I saw all this stuff about how I never listened to him. I'm not real smart, but I'm going to listen to my boss. That just kind of turned me the wrong way, but this was a great place to work and I had a lot of fun.'"
Circling back to the Post-Van Gundy drama:
By then, Van Gundy apparently had had enough of Les Alexander. He struggled with a long list of other issues, but his problems with the Rockets began after last season when Alexander did two dumb things.
First, he hired a replacement for Carroll Dawson without so much as a telephone call to Van Gundy. You can argue that Van Gundy is being overly sensitive, but he saw it as a matter of respect.
That snub was the first indication Alexander might be unhappy with Van Gundy. Alexander erased any doubt sometime later when he had a tough meeting in which he held him accountable for a long list of things, including attendance, player appearances and failing to make the playoffs even though Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming missed 60 games between them.
Ramo$e and daywalker02 like this.
lnchan Member
This will be my only comment for this...
#6 lnchan, May 19, 2016
treyk3 Contributing Member
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JJ1MTsLHjTk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
finding things wrong about Les is like clubbing baby seals.
Shh... it will all be over soon.
#7 treyk3, May 19, 2016
topfive CF OG
<BR>TL;DR: Les is kind of a dick at times.
#8 topfive, May 20, 2016
After reading all this I'm speculating that Les had another Les scholarship package handed to Charles Barkley... no wonder Charles said he was treated well by Mr Alexander.
Something of note: the basketball operations side of things seems to be run fairly well if both van gundy and adelman said they enjoyed the job. Just a clearer indication that the front office's reputation is ok. I haven't seen character hitting articles about Morey or Hinkie or Rosas or any of them really, over the years.
Unless the front office is just very thorough with gag orders
tmoney1101 Contributing Member
Solid post.
#10 tmoney1101, May 20, 2016
Tfor3 Member
Reading that **** almost makes me wish failure for the rockets. I already dislike that grumpy idiot and now I have validation for that dislike.
#11 Tfor3, May 20, 2016
HP3 likes this.
DonKnock Member
WASF!
#12 DonKnock, May 20, 2016
DaDakota Contributing Member
See, I have been saying the guy is a dick and is cheap forever - thank you for proving what has been obvious to anyone in the know, or that can follow actions and not words.
Le$ Alexander is not someone to root for or cheer for, the sooner he is gone the better.
#13 DaDakota, May 20, 2016
vinsensual Member
At least he's not a Maloof or a Sterling, so we got that going for ourselves.
#14 vinsensual, May 20, 2016
CometsWin Imperial cereal killer
Les comes off as one of these secretive paranoid weirdo type guys. He wants to cultivate a particular image that doesn't really exist because he desperately wants to keep his secrets. He's more interested in style of play and BS than winning. Just sell the team creepy Les.
#15 CometsWin, May 20, 2016
count_dough-ku Contributing Member
vinsensual said: ↑
I don't know. That first Houston Press article was disturbing. I knew about some of the firings when he took over, but I didn't realize he was that big of a cheap ass. The bit about him trying to get bargain basement championship rings so the NBA's 55 grand would cover the entire cost is unforgivable. I can't imagine even Sterling would've pulled a stunt like that.
I think I'm starting to understand why Barkley harbors such a grudge and keeps harping about being owed 3 mil by the organization.
#16 count_dough-ku, May 20, 2016
rockbox Contributing Member
I don't know how any could like him after the exit of Rudy and Dream
#17 rockbox, May 20, 2016
LosPollosHermanos MoRley only Fan
Les is a snake, and a dumbass for blaming Rick for Yao's injuries.
I think I remember hearing a lot of these over the years, its why I've never liked the dude.
Why so many on here praised him...I do not know. But it was an "in" thing to rally around the FO and sheep everything they did
#18 LosPollosHermanos, May 20, 2016
rockbox said: ↑
Exactly...I have yet to see that with an organization. Neither retired a rocket. Your franchise coach wasn't even given a position with the team...disgusting.
Deckard Blade Runner
Great job, Stedd. The guy is a piece of work. It's time for Alexander to sell the team to a human being. That would be a change.
#20 Deckard, May 20, 2016
tinman likes this.
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