I hate the Jazz, but have been intrigued by AK wanting to leave

[SteelBlue]

I have officially lost all respect for him after reading this article. What a pansy.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3050125

[RockyBalboa]

AK has come off looking like quite the pussy the past several months.

[MikeWaters]

So what's so wrong on AK insisting on the Fairness Doctrine with his coach?

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by MikeWaters

So what's so wrong on AK insisting on the Fairness Doctrine with his coach?

I can picture how that meeting must have gone. Sloan, the tough coach forced to be there and AK, eyes red and moistened with tears. Sloan barely able to look the guy in the eyes for want of going Chuck Norris on his skinny Russian ass, and AK wanting to look deeply into Sloan's eyes and talk about communication. "You never tell me that you love me coach."

[YOhio]

John Saltas of the Salt Lake City Weekly had an interesting anectdote relating to Kirilenko:

There’s no “team” in Kirilenko, either. He says he doesn’t want to play in Utah any longer. He says Jerry Sloan makes him miserable and that Sloan not only took his confidence away but that Sloan cannot give it back. He says Utah Jazz fans (at least the Gordon Monson camp of Sloan baiters and haters, plus those who don’t know a jump shot from a jumpsuit) will understand. He says he’d rather play in Russia. If there’s a way for the Jazz to get a good deal out of this, they should wish Kirilenko good-nyet.

Kirilenko became an NBA all-star under Sloan and Jazz tutelage and investment, so this is some thank you, not even counting the maximum salary Kirilenko is paid by the Utah Jazz. He might even earn it if Carlos Boozer weren’t around. Or Mehmet Okur. Or Deron Williams. Who would dump any of them in favor of Kirilenko? Kirilenko is a star in that small universe of NBA-caliber players with Russian surnames. Before he ever arrived here, a Russian I met predicted this.

On occasion, we’ve had journalists from various parts of the world visit our offices. About the time the Jazz drafted Kirilenko, a group from the former U.S.S.R. came through—Uzbekistanis, Ukrainians and Russians among them. They had just left the Deseret Morning News offices and looked like they’d been punched in the gut. I asked the translator why and was told that, except for the Communist regime they left behind, they had never seen a group of people who looked so lifeless as those sorry Deseret Morning News folks. So I suggested we hold our meeting at Port O’ Call.

We ordered some vodka, which they wouldn’t drink until they had some bread to wash it down with. So we ordered some bread. It was quite fun. Gradually, the English speakers started speaking English—basically all of them, which was my first exposure to Russian treachery. At about the same time, the mostly Orthodox among them opened their lapels to reveal their Christian crosses. Man, were they glad to see me! Same for the one or two Catholics. The couple of Muslims were more quiet and humble, but agreed that the Deseret Morning News experience left them shaken, too. Flashbacks.

So, I asked, “How ’bout that Utah Jazz? They have Andrei Kirilenko.” The Russian, the one who wanted the bread, just laughed. “Don’t you know he is a Russian?” he asked. “He will fail in the end.” I wanted more information. “Andrei will not go so far from home. It is Russian to fall from high places. He cannot accept success,” he said. Andrei was still bound to his Russian team at the time. When he finally joined the Jazz two years later, and up until recently, I kept thinking that Russian guy at Port O’ Call was wrong. Looks like he wasn’t.

http://www.slweekly.com/index.cfm?do...D03389411E90CA