No More Mr. Nice Guy

"NO MORE MR. NICE GUY" is the Warriors' slogan this year. Their billboards feature the coaching staff wearing suits and sunglasses. If they were truly trying to live up to that slogan, though, they'd start wearing shorts below the knees...

...Then again, they should get extra credit points for Latrell Sprewell.

Sprewell's assault of coach P.J. Carlesimo was just the latest in a mostly nonverbal war on the Golden State authority. On arrival in camp this fall, Sprewell didn't mesh with the new coaching staff and decided not to speak to the media. He missed practice, missed flights, and apparently missed the lecture on how to be a team player.

The Warriors, for their part, have been trying to trade Spree since day 1, desperately seeking something more than Sean Elliott for their former All-Star. Sprewell knew about this potential trade and approached San Antonio coach/GM, Greg Popovich, during a Warriors-Spurs game and said, "Come on, trade for me. Pull the trigger." Finally, tonight, the Warriors pulled the trigger and fired Sprewell, terminating his contract, an unprecedented move.

Ostensibly, the move was to rid the team of an insubordinate player. But the move also helps the salary cap situation, which was very bad for the Warriors who were paying $8 million to their Employee of the Month. No trade other than one bringing bad players in could have helped with the salary cap. It was a convenient termination. Local fans cheered it.

...Not The Same For You And Me...

Oddly, people are comparing Sprewell's actions to those of a regular worker: "If I choked my boss at work, I'd get fired on the spot. I'd get arrested."

Pro athletics are nothing like real work, though. Nothing like it.

Your boss doesn't yell at you during the day, but Pat Riley gets praised for it. It's not professional for a boss to berate an employee unless that boss is a coach.

We perhaps foolishly pay to see things in pro sports that we would never see in our boring workplace. Obnoxious coaching is part of that. The violent response from Latrell Sprewell is another part of it.

It is hard to condone violence in any form and Sprewell's form was over the line (whatever it was -- since the details have yet to be fully reported). But to say it was unprofessional, not appropriate for a worker -- the comparison is wrong because the work environment of a pro athlete is so different. It ain't Dilbert's World, that's for sure.

...So What's The Bum Worth?...

Back to business. Business in basketball is evaluating players. Sprewell's value is -- even ignoring the attitude -- not that great.

Sprewell has complimentary talents. He has even said it himself. Taking the lead on the Warriors team made him look bad.

I created a ranking of the most overrated players, simply comparing a player's offensive rating to his defensive rating if he uses more than 15 possessions per game. Below is the list as of 12/1/97:

Obviously, there are some pretty good players on this list. Penny Hardaway and Grant Hill are destined to be Hall of Famers, but haven't been playing too well this year.

Sprewell's presence at #2 doesn't mean he's awful. It just indicates that any team built around him is not going to be all that great. He was a fine player when he played with Chris Mullin, Chris Webber, and Tim Hardaway. I'm sure he would have made the list of underrated players if I'd had such a thing. But being a showpiece player was something he could not do.

He'll get a second chance in the league because teams know this.

...And because pro sports are not real life.