Best of luck to Derek Fisher
July 2, 2007 | 6:30
pm
Former Laker Derek Fisher will be released from his contract with the Utah Jazz to help take care of his young daughter, who'll be undergoing chemo treatment for eye cancer detected during the '07 playoffs. Fisher said he's not retiring, but acknowledges that basketball is a secondary priority right now, which creates a need to step away from the court.
D-Fish has always been a favorite of BK and mine, among the elite when it comes to NBA players we truly respect on and off the court. We wish the best to his family.
-AK
Mike,
"If you had put Jermaine O'neal on last year's laker team in his first year he would have lost you games."
J.O.'s problem was a lack of playing time.
And please stop with the "first year" line of reasoning for Bynum. IT WAS HIS SECOND YEAR!! Before last season started, he had an entire year to get used to the travel, to see the level of fitness and the level of effort that would be required, an entire year of special coaching from Kareem.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | July 03, 2007 at 06:56 PM
Mike,
You realize that this season there were only three players in the entire league who averaged 20-10 (Garnett, Boozer, and Duncan. Stoudemire was close.)
And you think in a year Bynum will be playing at that level? OK. I'll pencil him in on my projected all-star team roster.
Posted by: exhelodrvr | July 03, 2007 at 07:15 PM
KL
"dude, I don’t need to have a PhD on basketball pshycology to know that when a shaq leaves, “them other guys” will have no reason to stick around. just look at the roster from 2004 and 2005. it’s not rocket science. also, look at the roster for the past 3 season. it’s not rocket science either. NOBODY OF STATURE WANTS TO PLAY WITH A SELF-ABSORBED KOBE BRYANT."
Thats BS and you know it. Derek left because he got a $30M contract from Golden State. Cupcake did not even bother matching it.
Your posts are starting to get over the top, stretching "FACTS" a little bit. Using your reasoning, lets take a look at the Timberwolves' lineup....I wonder why they missed the play-offs the past 3 years? Ooops...seems like NOBODY WANTS TO PLAY WITH KG EITHER.
Posted by: The Waterboy | July 03, 2007 at 07:19 PM
Waterboy
“Your posts are starting to get over the top, stretching "FACTS" a little bit. Using your reasoning, lets take a look at the Timberwolves' lineup....I wonder why they missed the play-offs the past 3 years? Ooops...seems like NOBODY WANTS TO PLAY WITH KG EITHER”
Fair enough. For the record, my statements are opinion only, not factual. As for KG, I recall there was some scandal where the Wolves were penalized for the tampering with Joe Smith. Nevertheless, point well taken.
Posted by: KL | July 03, 2007 at 11:20 PM
Here's a quote from Fisher that appeared in an AP article regarding whether or not he will retire.
"I'll be 33 in August. I'm 6-1. I averaged 10 points this year," he said. "I don't know how many people feel strongly about what I do."
He does now.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you, Fish.
Posted by: Hal9000 | July 03, 2007 at 11:40 PM
I just remembered...
I was rummaging through some old Lakers memorabilia the other day when I came across a commemorative issue of Sports Illustrated from the 2001 Lakers Championship. If y'all remember, that was the season that started with Shaq and Kobe's feud making headlines and ended with the lakers going 15-1 for the title. In one of the articles from that magazine, it said:
"Although L.A.'s dominance had beed widely attributed to a cease-fire in Bryant's and O'neal's hostilities, Fisher's return had a galvanizing effect. The Lakers, who were 41-21 in Fisher's absence, were 26-5 since his return."
"The key to this whole thing is right down there," said forward Robert Horry, pointing to Fisher's locker. 'When that cat put his uniform back on, it all started to come together."
"Nobody on the club is more respected than Fish", said Fox.
" No one holds Fisher in higher regard than Bryant...."
--And that was six years ago. FISH, YOU DA MAN.
Posted by: Hal9000 | July 04, 2007 at 12:18 AM
Our prayers go out to the Fisher family.
He remains as Kobe's friend even afte he left the Lakers. Remember Kobe text messaged him during the playoffs encouraging Fisher and told him to go get them (Warriors)?
I'm fine with Fisher comes back at the vet minimun. However, His agent asked for too much money, too many years of a contract. In this case, say no to Fisher.
Posted by: gdchild | July 04, 2007 at 12:58 AM
Happy July 4th everyone.
Derek Fisher... you are a true class act. All of our thoughts and prayers go out to you and especially your daughter during this tough time. Laker Nation is with you D-Fish... ALWAYS.
Posted by: Tim-4-Show | July 04, 2007 at 10:06 AM
I wish Derek's family the best. and i also do know that derek fisher has made some big shots in his nba career. however, the way he plays basketball, especially the last several years, has been quite humiliating, not only to himself, but to nba fans around the world.
If anyone tries to take a shot near or around or in the vicinity of this guy, he flops so hard, that the refs have to make a call. this is not only annoying to other players and fans, but it also slows the game down, which is why nba ratings have gone down in the last several years. I though vlade divac was a flopper. well, vlade has nothing on fisher.
The next time I play basketball, any time the person i guard takes a shot, I am going to just fall down. Is that basketball? Absolutely not. I urge fisher to play like a man.
When are the refs going to wise-up to this flopping technique used by the likes of derek fisher? a line has to be drawn. because of his antics, the game last night against the warriors was a complete fluke. of course, the warriors were not guaranteed a victory, but due to fisher practically tackling monta ellis on an in-bounds play with five or six seconds left on the clock, and getting a charge called on ellis, the lakers pulled out a game, not by skill or strategy, but by a bad call. This is not an indication of a good team, but of a team that has to resort to bad calls by the referrees to get a victory against an 8th place seeded team. It is terrible and fisher should be ashamed of himself.
Posted by: VG | March 25, 2008 at 10:57 AM