Around the League: 2018 Offseason

[Indy]

Holy shit that was 10 years ago?

[Superbone]

https://twitter.com/manuginobili/status/1034138568694923265

[ShelC]

Hate how he always killed us but respect the hell out of him. Good riddance!

[Shabazz]

Hate how he always killed us but respect the hell out of him. Good riddance!

Yup. I hated the Spurs, but always secretly loved Manu. I just love the way he played and approached the game and being part of a team.

[Superbone]

Hate how he always killed us but respect the hell out of him. Good riddance!

Yup. I hated the Spurs, but always secretly love Manu. I just love the way he played and approached the game and being part of a team.

GINOBILI!

[Furlanfufi]

You THINK you hate Manu. I'm a Suns fan and brazilian. I REALLY hated him everytime he played against my teams.
But you have to respect the best South american ever to play the game.

[Shabazz]

You THINK you hate Manu. I'm a Suns fan and brazilian. I REALLY hated him everytime he played against my teams.
But you have to respect the best South american ever to play the game.

Probably also the best foreign born wing player to ever play (with respect to Drazen Petrovic).

[Mori Chu]

The ultimate guy who you hate to play against but would love if he were on your team. Hit so many huge shots, many of them daggers that lost the Suns a crucial playoff game or series. First-ballot Hall of Famer. Big part of why they won so many titles, second only to Duncan on the court.

...

Fuck you, Manu Ginobili!!

[Split T]

Wonder how the two teams paths would have differed had we signed Manu in 04 alongside Nash, instead of Q. I'm sure he had no interest in leaving SA, but I remember hearing he was our top target that summer, after Nash. Am I remembering correctly?

[Aztec Sunsfan]

Wonder how the two teams paths would have differed had we signed Manu in 04 alongside Nash, instead of Q. I'm sure he had no interest in leaving SA, but I remember hearing he was our top target that summer, after Nash. Am I remembering correctly?

Precisely my toughts, I have a big What If around that scenario. I recalled like you, he was negotiating with SA, and we didn’t pursue him because of age, then Manu ended up returning on a bargain deal with the Spurs and since I read the number (from top of my mind, I barely recalled it as slightly above Q’s contract) I was bummed we didn’t tried harder. At the end of the summer, I just kept thinking “we could have got him, and get a better player for our money, at the same time we hurt San Antonio. Little did I know back then, how big that turn around would have been.

We would have gotten a secondary creator, a better defender, and a lot of winning attitude and resilience, wich we usually lacked when the shots weren’t falling. And we ended up trading Q as soon as next summer.

Ginobili was the only Spur I respected all alng.

[In2ition]

You THINK you hate Manu. I'm a Suns fan and brazilian. I REALLY hated him everytime he played against my teams.
But you have to respect the best South american ever to play the game.

I would have loved to see Oscar Schmidt play in the NBA.

[O_Gardino]

I'll never forgive or forget what a punk Manu was. He was one of the Spurs who would regularly take cheap shots at Nash, pushing and hitting, and knocking Nash's legs out from under him after each pass when the refs were looking away.

[Split T]

Hmm, I don't really remember Manu being dirty. He was a major flopper, but I only remember Bowen/Horry as the cheap shot artists

[Mori Chu]

Rick Welts is being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Remember how he used to work for the Suns, and then he was mysteriously pushed out, with many speculating that it was due to his coming out as gay? That move doesn't look so good in retrospect.

https://theathletic.com/496548/2018/08/ ... induction/

[In2ition]

Rick Welts is being inducted into the Hall of Fame. Remember how he used to work for the Suns, and then he was mysteriously pushed out, with many speculating that it was due to his coming out as gay? That move doesn't look so good in retrospect.

https://theathletic.com/496548/2018/08/ ... induction/

I don't remember him getting pushed out. In fact, Sarver was very supportive of him, valued his work and wanted him to stick around. I thought he made the move to be close to his partner who lived in San Francisco and it was purely a personal decision. Welts is highly admired throughout the league, including by the Suns.

You may be right, but that's not how I remember it.

[Indy]

Yeah, I don't remember him being pushed out. Knew he left (like so many others around that time) and assumed it was more to do with nobody wanting to work for Bob.

[Mori Chu]

I think it was just speculation. We had a ton of our coaching staff and management leave within a relatively short time span: Kerr, David Griffin, Welts, and others.

[bajanguy008]

Embiid is such a character n talent. Not surprised that this is a good read

https://www.theplayerstribune.com/en-us ... story-time

[The Bobster]

I think Welts left the organization for personal reasons (mainly to move to the Bay Area and live with his partner). Shortly after moving there he was hired by the Warriors.

I don't think this is one we can pin on Sarver or the Suns organization.

[O_Gardino]

Welts would never have left if Robert had wooed him properly!