Blue Collar Blueprint

And now the time has come

The regular season is over and on we go to the playoffs. Our final TV 20 games were with the Magic, Knicks and Milwaukee and there were thought provoking elements in each of them.

What got me about Orlando was the change in Darko Milicic. He stopped by the hotel the day of the game to see his old teammates and seemed so utterly happy. It was a stunning change. I rarely saw him smile at all in Detroit. He brooded here, unable to accept his role on a championship caliber team. He’s still a kid, and he needed to earn his playing time. I believe he was treated fairly here, but lacked the maturity to accept the situation.

It was also sad to see Grant Hill hobbling again. The hernia operation he had before the season didn’t hold and it’s been another terribly frustrating season in which he missed 60 more games. He’s had a shocking six operations since leaving Detroit in August 2000 – five on the ankle and then the hernia. He said that more surgery was recommended and he’s had enough. I get the impression that if he can’t rehab it without surgery, he’ll call it quits. After the game, he walked in pain, holding his daughter’s hand, as they headed to his car. He’s only 33 and in the six seasons since he left the Pistons, has played only 135 games.

As Grant, Darko and Carlos Arroyo chatted with Piston players after the game, it struck me what a small world these guys are in. Each NBA game is like reunion. Some of these players have known each other since high school All-American games, or played against each other in college. They are in an elite class, and after attacking one another for 48 minutes on the court; you see afterward how they share such profound professional respect and friendship.

Larry Brown’s absence was powerful when the Knicks came to town. He had it made in Detroit. He could have retired here and won more championships before he did. Instead, he followed his maniacal wanderlust and created an unnecessary professional hell for himself. We’re aware of some of Larry’s oft- discussed demons – like the fact that he can never sit still and is always grasping for something else. I don’t doubt that his flare-up of acid reflux caused him to miss this game. I just wonder if it was the thought of coming back to Detroit that contributed to the bout with acid reflux.

I quoted the age-old adage of the discontented on our broadcast: “Be careful what you wish for – it just might happen.” That’s Larry. He couldn’t maintain the status quo with a great franchise here in Detroit. He felt compelled to go to New York and just recorded the worst season in Knick history – and got a stomachache the size of Manhattan to go along with it.

In Milwaukee, a guy from La Crosse Wisconsin approached me and wanted me to be aware that he’d given Flip Saunders a videodisk that morning. It was footage of Flip’s 1992 La Crosse Catbird celebration video after they won the CBA championship.

Of Stars, Egos and Emotional Ties

It was the summer of 1991 and I was driving around Detroit with Pistons Hall of Famer Bob Lanier. We found ourselves talking about Isiah Thomas who had recently turned 30 and had been NBA Finals MVP the year before. Bob explained that what’s interesting about superstars is how they adjust to the later stages of their careers. In other words, are they willing to become a support player or will they quit once they can no longer play at All-Star level? He suspected that Isiah would arrive at that point in his career in a few years and he wasn’t sure if he would be emotionally willing to become a support player. Bob said he was certain that Michael Jordan wouldn’t (he was right!) and he also doubted Isiah’s willingness to eventually check his ego at the door.

Turns out Isiah was beset by injuries a few years later and retired. It wasn’t until recently that he revealed that he regretted leaving so soon, but it all makes sense in light of Lanier’s insight into the mindset of great athletes.

Compare it, for example, with Antonio McDyess. Antonio was an all star, but not a superstar, and he is thrilled to be able to contribute off the bench. He’s so accepting of his role that he refused a starting assignment recently when Rasheed Wallace forgot to set his clock ahead and showed up late to the Phoenix game.

It all raises an interesting proposition we’ve heard lately. 

Grant Hill is 33, and has managed to play only 135 games in five years in Orlando. This year, a succession of hernia problems will cause him to miss some 60 games. But if his rumored trade here comes off, it could close the book on a Piston parting that pleased no one. He’d be a perfect compliment off the bench and possibly get his championship ring. He could also ensure his Hall of Fame credentials

Hill may be one of the more selfless stars of this generation. His interests in art and charity give him character and depth well beyond the court. I think he’d be able to be a sixth man if it meant winning a championship and helping him soothe the pain and anguish six years of injuries has caused him. I find myself rooting strongly for this story to happen.