Last week, the NBA rumor mill went nuts as Chris Paul reportedly expressed his desire to be traded from the New Orleans Hornets. His ties with LeBron James and James’ marketing team, along with a reported list of teams which Paul wanted to be dealt to only helped add fuel to the fire.
Today, after meeting with Hornets team president Hugh Weber, newly hired General Manager Dell Demps and head coach Monty Williams, Paul used his Twitter account to announce his desire to stay a Hornet.
The meeting went well. It was great to get an opportunity to sit down with Coach Williams, President Weber and our new General Manager Dell Demps. I expressed my desire to win and I like what they said about the direction that they want to take the team. I have been a Hornet my entire career and I hope to represent the city of New Orleans and state of Louisiana for many years to come.
Great news for Hornets fans, who didn’t have to witness “The Decision 2.0,” but the question is, do you really believe CP3?
Back in 2008 the New Orleans Hornets were an uplifting success story in the NBA. Chris Paul was making a strong case for the MVP and the Hornets won 56 games. They finished second in the West, and were only a game back of the first-place Los Angeles Lakers.
Even though they took a dip in the second round against the more experienced San Antonio Spurs — they were only one win away from the Western Conference Finals — the Hornets were finally making an impact in New Orleans, after leaving Charlotte in the early part of the decade.
The following season, the Hornets only won 49 games and lost in a downright embarrassing fashion to the Denver Nuggets in the first round and last season things took an even stronger turn for the worse.
Hornets General Manager Jeff Bower fired head coach Byron Scott just nine games into the season. The team finished last place in the Southwest Division, winning 37 games and missing the playoffs.
Thornton dropped 36 points on the Bobcats tonight and fellow rook’ Darren Collison had another outstanding game with 24 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Collison is back in the starting spot for the Hornets with Chris Paulmissing the rest of the season, after suffering his latest injury — a ligament tear in his right middle finger.
Going back to the dunk, take that Wallace. Now if only the Hornets could play the Lakers before season’s end so I could say the same to Shannon Brown.
It was only two seasons ago that Byron Scott won the NBA’s Coach of the Year Award and took the New Orleans Hornets to within a game of the Western Conference Finals, now he’s unemployed.
Taking over will be general manager Jeff Bower, who has no head coaching experience, but spent time as an assistant with the Hornets. Bower is bringing in Tim Floyd as his top assistant. Floyd served as head coach for the Hornets in 2003-04, leading them to a 41-41 record and first round playoff loss.
This was the first firing of the young season, but more are probably on the way. The winless New Jersey Nets’ Lawrence Frank has to a be a presumable next target, he hasn’t fared well the past few seasons and isn’t giving the franchise much of a reason to keep him around.
Frank was actually Scott’s replacement in New Jersey, Scott led the Nets to two NBA Finals appearances before being fired in 2004. Despite success with the clipboard, he can’t catch a break. The moment something goes a little off the track with his teams, he’s shockingly sent packing.
Yesterday I went over the much-improved Eastern Conference, and today I’m going to hit you all with my Western Conference preview.
Ron Artest is in Hollywood, San Antonio is healthy and has added a bunch of new talent and Allen Iverson has agreed to come off the bench for the Memphis Grizzlies. The plot thickens out West, but one thing remains, Kobe Bryant is the league’s best player and is chasing after his fifth championship ring.
How will the West play out? I know the answers to all of this, so read the review already.
Andersen has defied the odds and become one of the best shot-blockers in the NBA after spending two years banished from the league.
When the 2007-08 season began, Chris Andersen didn’t exist to most NBA fans.
Andersen was suspended from the league in 2006 for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. He was pretty much an unknown reserve to begin with. Most NBA fans that knew of him just joked about his physical appearance and his atrocious display in the 2005 Slam Dunk Contest.
Now, that has all changed.
Andersen is relevant, he’s the “Birdman,” and he’s made a name for himself after this season.
Change your NBA franchise? Recent NCAA POY. A.Davis,Jimmer,E.Turner,Blake,Tyler H,KD,Redick,Bogut,Jameer,TJ Ford,JWill,Shane,KMart,Brand.(via Twitter)5 hours ago
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