JOG - John Ireland's BLOG
Odom is coming back
Lamar Odom has decided to return to the Lakers, sources have told 710 ESPN.
He agreed to sign a free agent contract with the Lakers for four years, $33 million. The fourth year is a believed to be at a team option.
Over the past week, Odom was also offered deals from Miami and Portland.
Posted at 02:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
The Latest on Lamar Odom
I had several conversations today with people close to the Lakers, and asked each about the status of Lamar Odom. Here's what I learned:
--The best deal the Lakers had previously offered Odom was for four years, $36 million. But the fourth year was a team option, that the Lakers had to either exercise, or buy Lamar out for $3 million. That means Odom turned down a guaranteed three year, $30 million contract.
That offer is no longer on the table, nor is any offer from the Lakers. I'm told that if Lamar called the team today and said he would accept these terms, he would most likely be told that the offer is no longer available. Again, this is my opinion based on multiple conversations. I have not spoken directly to Mitch Kupchak or Jerry Buss. If Lamar and Dr. Buss got together over dinner, maybe that original offer could resurface, but I'm told that's highly unlikely.
The common opinion seems to be that the Lakers made Odom an offer that was far above market value, and he turned it down. It's my feeling that the team no longer thinks he's worth a guaranteed $30 million in the current market. Unless somebody has a change of heart, Lamar most likely will have to take less to come back to the Lakers.
We had Jalen Rose on the show Wednesday, and he says that's exactly the way this is likely to play out. Jalen thinks the Lakers won't offer Lamar the original $10 million a year, but he will settle for less and return to LA. Under this scenario, his mistake of not taking the original offer could cost him millions. Of course, if he signs with another team, the most he's likely to get paid is the full mid-level exception of around $6 million a year. Jalen suggested that the new offer would probably be "around seven or eight million."
--By the way, the perception that Odom's agent, Jeff Schwartz, has been making this worse isn't necessarily true. I've had two different people tell me that Schwartz is a solid agent who has taken every offer seriously, and advised Lamar to do the same. I had one guy who told me, "I'm pretty sure Jeff advised him to take the deal...it's always the client's call."
--I said yesterday that I thought the percentage chance of Lamar returning to the Lakers was 70%. Everybody I talked to today said my number was too high, and "it's more like 50/50." I still think it's more than that, but not much. If I'm Lamar, the Lakers still give me the best chance to win, can pay me the most money, and allow me play in the city where I want to live. I know there are other considerations, but none more important than those three.
In other words, I still think he's coming back, but the situation has changed.
Posted at 05:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (31) | TrackBack (0)
Does Ed O'Bannon have a case?
When I heard that Ed O'Bannon was the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against the NCAA on Tuesday, my first thought was the same as a lot of people: he's got no chance.
For years, players have argued that the NCAA takes advantage of student-athletes. Players aren't allowed to be paid (outside of what they receive as part of the their scholarship--books, tuition, etc.), and any money that comes from a players' likeness goes straight to the school. College athletes sign away the rights to their own likeness when they agree to the conditions of the scholarship.
The end result is that schools make millions off of their top athletes, especially with the sales of jerseys, posters, photos, and video games. It has gone on for years, and since the players agree to it up front, it's all legal.
But O'Bannon isn't suing for any money he feels he lost while he was in school (he played at UCLA from 1991-1995, and led the Bruins to the National Championship as a senior). He's suing because he says the NCAA is selling his name and likeness now, some 14 years after he finished his college career.
O'Bannon will appear on my radio show today in the 3 pm hour to explain, but I think he has--at minimum--a legitimate argument here.
He says that some of the kids in his Las Vegas neighborhood were playing a video game produced by EA Sports recently that featured classic college teams. His '95 Bruins were featured in the game, and he is the star player on that team. They don't use his name, but the likeness is obvious: a black, left-handed, power forward wearing his number 31 is on full display. He says it is also now possible to buy his old jersey, and commemorative DVD's.
O'Bannon understands that while he was an amateur, he wasn't entitled to any money. But what about now, when his amateur status is long gone?
According to his attorneys, O'Bannon had to sign away his rights to any royalties each year when he was in college. Since he hasn't signed anything for 14 years, why does the NCAA have the right to continue to make money off his name now?
Two additonal points:
O'Bannon is well-off financially, so this isn't about making him a rich guy. He's been a successful car salesman in Las Vegas for years, and still has some of his money from his NBA days. He says he's doing this because of the principle, and I tend to believe him. Of course if he wins, it will change college sports merchandising forever.
And he could win. He has two elite law firms--Hausfeld LLC and Boise, Schiller & Flexner--representing him. If those names sound familiar, it might be because they've been involved in cases like United States v. Microsoft and Bush v. Gore.
I'll be anxious to hear what O'Bannon has to say today on 710 ESPN--be sure to tune in.
Great article here from Dan Wetzel from Yahoo Sports, who takes a longer look at the O'Bannon case at this link: http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news;_ylt=AuZ.BHuoW57UbgfuyLdOnOU5nYcB?slug=dw-ncaasuit072109&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
Posted at 05:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (6) | TrackBack (0)
The Fans Get It--Beckham Never Has
The latest turn in the David Beckham saga has left me with a new respect for Los Angeles soccer fans.
Upon his return to the Home Depot Center last night, Beckham was booed loudly--and met with several signs calling him a "fraud." A lot of members of the media will call the fans' behavior disrespectful and uncalled for. I'm just not one of them.
Beckham started to lose me two years ago, when he stiffed the media after a large group of us showed up to cover a game he played in after traveling all night. Here's part of what I wrote then, and it's even more true today:
Most of the fans and all of the media who show up at Home Depot Center are there to see Beckham. His bosses at AEG are paying him millions (some say hundreds of millions) to be not only the face of the Galaxy, but the face of the whole sport. He seemed to understand that at his hugely successful introductory press conference, when he said he was here to take the sport of soccer to "a new level."
But after the game....a game that he had traveled eight time zones in one day to play, making him THE story, Beckham went out the back door. He pulled a no comment on a night that he was the only guy any one was interested in hearing from. This is on the heels of his "false start." He caused a huge splash when he announced he was coming, sold a bunch of tickets, and then sat out with an ankle injury for a month. He's selling soccer on borrowed time.
I've been a sportscaster for 22 years, and there's one thing I can always spot: when a guy gets it. Beckham doesn't get it.
Beckham is a huge star overseas and doesn't have to sell the sport--they're already sold. Any really good player knows this about Europe...it's where you go to make millions and become a rock star. Being sent to America for these guys is like being sent to the minors--they not only don't want to be here, they consider it a demotion.
AEG rolled the dice and thought, "we can change that perception. If we pay this guy even more millions, he'll become Wayne Gretzky....the pied piper of our sport."
But Gretzky was smart enough to know that he was the story, not the hockey game. He never missed a chance to sell it. Same thing with Magic Johnson in basketball and Tommy Lasorda in baseball. These guys knew that part of their job was get people talking--about the game, about why it might be important to fly across the world to play twice in two days, about why their teams needed them. Most of all, they were all smart enough to know that if they didn't talk, people wouldn't care at all about the subject. They knew that television stations would stop caring and send their crews home. They knew that newspapers would move the story from page one to page nine.
David Beckham hasn't figured this out yet. And the more I think about his background, the fact that he doesn't need any more money and he doesn't want the attention, the only reasonable conclusion is that AEG might have picked the wrong guy.
What stinks about that is that Beckham was brilliant at that introductory press conference. He gave his bosses every indication that he was worth the extra money, and that he would be the face of the sport. He's perfect for that on paper, because unlike Gretzky, Magic and Lasorda...he has cross-over appeal. When he talks, gossip magazines and sports networks show up. So does Entertainment Tonight. It's a dream scenario that AEG is paying to help develop.
When he was introduced, he said he was coming to help grow soccer here. He stayed at the Home Depot Center and talked to any one would listen that he would try to take soccer to the "next level."
Last night, he did. He helped take it down a notch.
If he wants to to be paid just to play soccer, go back to Europe. If he wants to be the face of the sport, he can't go out the back door. Gretzky, Magic, Lasorda and countless other Hall of Famers never even knew a back door existed.
After I wrote that, I was secretly hoping that Beckham would change his tune. He does have a charisma about him that makes you want to watch him play. But he never changed his tune.
Grant Wahl (a very respected writer for Sports Illustrated) has a new book out, The Beckham Experiment. In that book, he outlines the real truth about what happened with the Galaxy, and why Beckham hasn't lived up to his end of the deal. Landon Donovan, the Galaxy's best player, is very outspoken and should be commended for his candor.
Beckham actually made things worse when he tried to get out of his Galaxy deal and stay in Milan. To fans in LA, that was an obvious snub that I'm sure Beckham thought wouldn't have any impact. But last night, the soccer fans joined together and told Beckham that he has a tired act.
For that, the fans should be proud of themselves--no matter what the media says.
The next move here belongs to Beckham. He can do what he did last night and say things like "you can't make everybody happy." Or he can actually try to make somebody--anybody--happy. He's still a big enough star that if he reached out to the city, we would all cover it from top to bottom. My guess is that every show in town--including mine--will ask Beckham to come on this week to give the fans his side of the story.
Anybody want to bet me that he doesn't come on, with anybody?
Right now, "The Beckham Experiment" is officially a disaster. Only he can can change the way it ends.
Odom is Underestimating Jerry Buss
If he isn't careful, Lamar Odom is about to find out the same thing that Gary Payton, Shaquille O'Neal and Trevor Ariza found out the hard way.
You can't "leverage" Jerry Buss.
Odom an his agent, Jeff Schwartz, are looking around at the marketplace and figure that they are worth at least what Ben Gordon (five years, $55 million) and Hedo Turkoglu (five years, $53 million) are worth. They want at least five years, $50 million for Lamar. While that makes sense to most people, Jerry Buss isn't most people. And Buss is the only person who matters now.
Buss wants to keep Odom, and made him several offers to try and do so. According to Brad Turner of the LA Times, Buss most recently offered a deal for $9 million a season for four years at $36 million, or $10 million a season over three years for a total of $30 million.
But Odom and Schwartz didn't even respond--and now Buss has pulled all offers.
If you think Buss won't walk away, you're wrong. Remember, this is a guy who traded Shaq after making the Finals four out of five years and winning three times. Above all else, he's a gambler who knows numbers. He's reached his limit and is ready to walk away.
To a lot of Lakers' fans, that is infuriating. They think the team needs Odom to continue to win championships, and that Buss should simply meet his demands. But I've been around the team for years, and I can't state this strongly enough: when Buss makes up his mind, he almost never goes back (the re-hiring of Phil Jackson is the only time I can think of). As much as I like Lamar--and he's a great player and an even better guy--he has to realize that now is the time for him to take one of those deals.
If Odom really wants to play for the Lakers, he should take a page from A-Rod and call Buss directly. When Scott Boras wasn't getting anywhere with the Yankees a few years ago, Alex Rodriguez picked up the phone and told the team, "I want to play for you. Let's work out the numbers between us and let Scott handle the small details." That's the play for Odom now.
A lot of times in sports, no matter how much the team likes the player (and the Lakers love Odom and his game), it becomes a business decision. And Lamar Odom better hope that Jerry Buss hasn't already made up his mind.
Chance for the Clippers to Make a Splash
As I write this on Monday night, there are two big NBA stories swirling around Los Angeles: the Clippers are in serious talks with Allen Iverson, and the Lakers are having trouble signing Lamar Odom.
Should these two stories break a certain way, the Clippers would become relevant in Los Angeles, almost overnight.
Let's say, for the sake of argument, that the Clippers sign Iverson. A lot of people think he's finished, but I'm not one of them. He's a career 27 points a game scorer (30 per game in the playoffs), who has appeared in the last ten NBA All Star games. You simply cannot guard him with one player--he'll torch whoever it is. I covered a game in Denver in December of 2007 and watched Iverson score 51 points against the Lakers (49 in the first three quarters). Last November, Iverson scored 25 points in leading the Pistons past the Lakers, handing LA its' first loss of the year. He did all of this over the last 20 months, and I'm convinced he has a lot left in the tank.
At the same time, let's say that Mitch Kupchak isn't bluffing and that the Lakers pass on signing Odom. Here's what Elliot Teaford from the LA Daily News wrote on Monday night:
Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said tonight he was "not as hopeful" of re-signing unrestricted free agent Lamar Odom "as I was Friday." Asked why, Kupchak said, "It's just a feeling you get. You have conversations with the player's representative and, right now, I'm not sure we're on the same page."
Asked during halftime of the Lakers-Clippers summer league game, if he was the point of throwing up his hands in frustration, Kupchak said, "Perhaps."
Kupchak said he had no further plans to talk with Odom's agent, Jeff Schwartz.
"I understand it's a process. I am surprised it's taken us so long to get to this point."
It's believed the Lakers have offered Odom a deal of more than $8 million per season. It's also believed that there are no other teams currently courting Odom, who made $11.4 million last season in the final year of a six-season deal he signed with Miami.
So let's say the Lakers don't sign Odom. That would leave the following line-ups on opening day of next season:
Starters: Kobe, Fisher, Bynum, Artest, Gasol.
Bench: Farmar, Brown, Powell, Mbenga
CLIPPERS:
Starters: B. Davis, Iverson, Kaman, Camby, Griffin
Bench: Gordon, Thornton, D. Jordan, M. Taylor, R. Davis
Wouldn't you at least watch that game? A year ago, the Clippers couldn't even compete with the Lakers, and now they would put up a fight. Even better, when teams like Denver, San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and New Orleans came to town--you would actually want to go to Staples to see who would win. And I'm talking about the Clippers here.
If they sign Iverson, I think they make the playoffs. Especially if Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady don't show up in Houston, and Carlos Boozer leaves Utah. I would bet on it.
Of course, since we're talking about the Clippers here, they could always screw this up. But it's fun to think about, isn't it?
Statement from Ron Artest
This was released by Ron Artest's agent, David Bauman, late Thursday night:
Houston Rockets' Forward Ron Artest Agrees to Terms with NBA Champions Los Angeles Lakers
Washington, DC (July 2, 2009) -- NBA Agent David Bauman announced today that his client, Ron Artest, has agreed to join the NBA Champions Los Angeles Lakers. "I am pleased to announce that my client, Ron Artest, has reached a verbal agreement with the Los Angeles Lakers on a free agent contract. It is Ron's intention to sign a long-term contract with the Lakers on July 8, 2009, once the NBA's signing moratorium has expired, pursuant to the NBA's Collective Bargaining Agreement," said agent David Bauman.
"I am very excited to finally be going to L.A. For years now, the Lakers have expressed interest in having me play for them, but we could never get the stars to align. I'm finally a Laker and I can't wait to get on the court with Kobe, Pau and the rest of the team, and play for Phil," said Artest. "The Lakers really made me feel wanted. I had a great talk today with Phil. I'm a huge fan of his and I can't wait to show him what I can do. I also spoke with Magic Johnson last night. In addition, my agent (David) has been in constant contact with Mitch Kupchak. I made my decision after I had lunch today with Dr. Buss, and I realized what a great organization I'm joining. I'm very, very excited to be a Laker. I look forward to helping the Lakers defend their championship, and it will be great to finally not get booed in the Staples Center."
Ron Artest to the Lakers?
After Kobe Bryant and Ron Artest got into that "war of words" in March back in Houston, I asked Kobe what he really thought of Artest.
"We're friends," Kobe said, "I like him a lot--like his game--always have."
Then he told me a story that makes today's news--Artest is supposedly on his way to LA for three years, $18 million--very likely to happen.
Kobe said that after the Lakers lost game six of the '08 NBA Finals in Boston by 39 points, he was alone in the shower, just fuming. He heard somebody walk in and assumed it was one of his teammates, or maybe a staff member. Instead, he looked up, and it was Ron Artest (to this day, Kobe has no idea how Artest got into the locker room).
"I want to come help you," Artest said. "If I can, I'm going to find a way to come to LA and give you the help you need to win a title."
Kobe didn't think much of it, especially since Artest still had a year left on his deal with the Rockets, and that the Lakers were returning an entire team that had just won the Western Conference. Plus, players talk like that a lot, and it's just talk. But it struck Kobe as a nice gesture, especially since he had just been hammered by the Celtics and nobody was saying much of anything. Kobe told me that the perception a lot of people have of Artest is wrong.
"He competes....every night, every play," Kobe said. "I've known him since high school and he's always been like that."
Kobe found it strange that some people in the media were portraying he and Artest as enemies.
"He wants to win as much as I do...and I respect him--a lot."
When you consider that Artest and Lamar Odom grew up playing together in New York, this move makes a ton of sense. Artest gets to play with two good friends, for a coach that has always spoken highly of him.
Over the years, I've often asked Phil Jackson specifically about Artest's "colorful" nature. Phil never takes the bait, always shifting the conversation to something about how competitive Artest always is. He speaks of Artest the same way he speaks of Dennis Rodman. You'll rarely hear Phil comment on how weird Rodman was, just that he adjusted to the team culture once he came to town. I imagine that if the Artest deal goes through, he'll treat Ron much the same way.
By the way, if the rumored deal was to go through, it leaves the Lakers with even more money to keep Odom. Think about this: they would be getting Artest for less money than Charlie Villanueva just signed for in Detroit. Trust me, there isn't anybody who knows basketball who would rather have Villanueva than Artest. The only downside to this deal is that the it leaves no room on the roster for Trevor Ariza, who was been fantastic in his time with the Lakers. But truth be told, Ariza and Artest play the same position, and Ariza didn't want to play for that money. ESPN is already reporting that Ariza has agreed to sign in Houston to replace Artest.
Final note: none of this is done. League rules don't allow any players to sign free agent contracts until next week, and a lot can happen between now and then. But based on what I know about Artest and the way he feels about the Lakers, I'd say it's more likely to happen than not.