Joe Johnson Selfishness

[terrellgroup]

Dirk Nowitzki

Labron James

Chris Bosh

Dwyane Wade

All four have new contract last year, the same as Joe Johnson. All four were offered max contract but decided to take less money for the sake of having a winning team. All four guys are producing better numbers then Joe this season.

I am a true Hawks fan, as a matter of fact, the Hawks are really the only team I watch. I am extremely business with family and work to watch other games.

I am so tired of the Hawks passive fans. Please be real. JJ was not thinking about the Hawks franchise when he accepted that contract.

I do put blame on the Spirits, but their hands were tied and he knew it. He knew what the Spirits were up against. He knew that we needed a franchise player to bring in fans and to possibly sale the team.

JJ needs to man up. Face the fact that he is not elite give up about 6 million of that salary so we can get a decent center.

Truth being said, the elite player for the Hawks is Al Horford, that is , if you put him at the position he belongs, power forward.

[buckeye242424]

It's hard for me to call the guy selfish when the decision wasn't purely his. His entire "camp" was pushing for a max deal...I'm sure his agent surely was, and he was the one negotiating the deal. I also believe that he would have gotten a max deal offer from another team. He was going to get paid that kind of money wherever he landed. I'm not disagreeing with you on how this contract has crippled us moving forward though.

[frosgrim]

What is your point? That Hawks fans can make JJ tear up his contract? If so, how would we accomplish that? Should we boo Joe every time he touches the ball? Should we stop going to games? Should we tweat JJ to live up to his contract? The point is that NONE of that makes a bit of difference.

The most any fan can do is stop paying attention to the team, but that goes against being a fan. We all desperately want the Hawks to be a GREAT team. For the most part, we're horribly dissatisfied with the current team.

The reality of the situation is that JJ is pretty much untradable at this point in time. I would be surprised if there is any sort of market for him. I doubt we could even swap him for Jamison at this point . Thus, we are left to either stop watching the Hawks because of JJ, or we can hope that he regains his form and starts scoring like he did earlier in his career.

[BudBall]

There is no point to this thread. JJ is never gona do that.

[terrellgroup]

What is your point? That Hawks fans can make JJ tear up his contract? If so, how would we accomplish that? Should we boo Joe every time he touches the ball? Should we stop going to games? Should we tweat JJ to live up to his contract? The point is that NONE of that makes a bit of difference.

The most any fan can do is stop paying attention to the team, but that goes against being a fan. We all desperately want the Hawks to be a GREAT team. For the most part, we're horribly dissatisfied with the current team.

The reality of the situation is that JJ is pretty much untradable at this point in time. I would be surprised if there is any sort of market for him. I doubt we could even swap him for Jamison at this point . Thus, we are left to either stop watching the Hawks because of JJ, or we can hope that he regains his form and starts scoring like he did earlier in his career.

I wonder what would the Knick's fan do or Laker's fans.

I like to believe that would show(some how) their dissatisfaction with him. I believe that he would know how the fans felt.

[AHF]

I wonder what would the Knick's fan do or Laker's fans.

I like to believe that would show(some how) their dissatisfaction with him. I believe that he would know how the fans felt.

Did the Knick fans boo Allan Houston? He was a much worse contract than JJ.

[Admin]

Sorry but this thread is seriously misleading. The "Big 3" only took less so that they could play together and not because of some notion of helping the team out. If they wanted to help the team out they could have taken significantly less and built a team that had some actual depth or even 5 quality starting players.

And with Dirk he will be paid 80 million over the next 4 years and the only reason it's not longer is because he's already going to be 33 years old this year.

Here is the truth ...

• Is JJ overpaid for what he brings? Yes
• Is it his fault for taking the contract that was offered to him? No
• Had he taken 2-4 million less per year would we be in any better of a position going forward? No
  

[Guest]

It's so easy to talk about other peoples money. The Miami players took less because they know the difference can be easily be made up in endorsements. Nobody wants Joe to endorse anything.

Why don't you go and march into your boss' office and tell them you're willing to take less money so they can hire somebody else to help you. :beathorse: :beathorse: :beathorse: ...

[terrellgroup]

Sorry but this thread is seriously misleading. The "Big 3" only took less so that they could play together and not because of some notion of helping the team out. If they wanted to help the team out they could have taken significantly less and built a team that had some actual depth or even 5 quality starting players.

And with Dirk he will be paid 80 million over the next 4 years and the only reason it's not longer is because he's already going to be 33 years old this year.

Here is the truth ...

• Is JJ overpaid for what he brings? Yes
• Is it his fault for taking the contract that was offered to him? No
• Had he taken 2-4 million less per year would we be in any better of a position going forward? No
  

So what you are saying that the Heat's 3 took less money because they like each that much and competing for a ring is not their objective.

In addition, I have to disagree with you. 3 Mill make a difference with a team is only one player off from being a true contender in the East.

I wonder what center could we get for roughly 5 mill a year. I know some one better then Collins or the other guy(Thomas maybe).

I feel you are making excuses for JJ. The bottom line is, they could taking a lot more mula but they settled for the sake of WINNING.

[Admin]

So what you are saying that the Heat's 3 took less money because they like each that much and competing for a ring is not their objective.

In addition, I have to disagree with you. 3 Mill make a difference with a team is only one player off from being a true contender in the East.

I wonder what center could we get for roughly 5 mill a year. I know some one better then Collins or the other guy(Thomas maybe).

I feel you are making excuses for JJ. The bottom line is, they could taking a lot more mula but they settled for the sake of WINNING.

They only took a little less so that all 3 of them could get on the same team, not because they were so concerned about the team winning. They are paid just enough that the team will have to go far over the luxury tax and do it MLE by MLE year after year in order to get there because they're capped out. If they really wanted to win a championship they could have signed for a few million less and actually added a decent center and/or PG to the roster.

And no I don't think than extra 3 million would make us a true contender in the East with an ownership group that won't go over the luxury tax. If our owners were willing to spend into the luxury tax then what JJ is making won't matter since they're really saving big money on Al's contract and are getting a pretty good deal for Josh Smith as well.

[AHF]

The Heat's Three-egos took pay cuts to get the three of them under the cap and were not remotely concerned with the rest of the team. I don't see that in the same vein as Joe's decision where he would be freeing up a little bit of room under the tax line to sign someone cut by another team.

Dolfan's 3 bullets hit the nail on the head for me.

Here is the truth ...

• Is JJ overpaid for what he brings? Yes
• Is it his fault for taking the contract that was offered to him? No
• Had he taken 2-4 million less per year would we be in any better of a position going forward? No
  

[benhillboy]

I post my fair share of Joe criticism, but I have to admit he and his agent did exactly what they were supposed to do. Sure, we applaud others who took less money, but I for one wouldn't even dream of it. Kobe wins and gets every cent he feels he's owed. Carmelo went exactly where he wanted and got an extension in excess of about 10 mil. I would never knock a guy for maximizing his earning potential because it all ends one day and we all know professional athletes, especially NBA players are considerably dumb with finances. Taking less money is seen as a no-no amongst peers, a failure even for the agent. I'm sure LeBron's agent is killing him everyday for his decreased popularity, smaller account, and usually he's dancing around silly in first place around this time in a city where you wouldn't find an empty seat at tip-off. If the ASG didn't provide for any restructuring of his situation when they inevitably hit rock bottom financially and Joe is even worse than this year, they deserve to be on the hook. If I hear one more person say "They HAD to re-sign Joe," I'm gonna explode. They didnt, and shouldnt have had they been thinking logically and long-term. Being mediocre in a conference playoff positioning battle, and slipping slowly and surely, is not something to try and preserve by grossly overspending for your perceived "best player" who failed mightily when it mattered most only a few months prior. I wonder more and more everyday why should we be so invested in this team when ownership clearly isn't? I'll try to keep my Joe Bashing to a minimum in the future because I know now he has no intention of even attempting to justify his contract, and knowing how he straight punked the ASG and that the Hawks have a suspect (to say the least) fanbase partly because the brass is so inept, why would he even try?

Edited March 8, 2011 by benhillboy

[Plainview1981]

It's so easy to talk about other peoples money. The Miami players took less because they know the difference can be easily be made up in endorsements. Nobody wants Joe to endorse anything.

Why don't you go and march into your boss' office and tell them you're willing to take less money so they can hire somebody else to help you. :beathorse: :beathorse: :beathorse: ...

Probably because most people actually work a REAL job and most people don't have millions to blow at casino's and overpriced cars and hookers.

[Admin]

Probably because most people actually work a REAL job and most people don't have millions to blow at casino's and overpriced cars and hookers.

And most people haven't spent 10-12 hours a day in the gym every day of their teenage and adult life developing their talent to hope for a one in a million chance of being a millionaire athlete either. I know it's fun to clown on JJ and the Hawks players when they aren't playing well, and really that's the only time most fans on here even acknowledge them, but that doesn't mean they haven't worked their *sses off to get to where they are today.

On a side note it's pretty funny to see how the mood and the posting members tend to ebb and flow from one week to the next. It wasn't long ago that we had come back to beat the Bulls and were on top of the world with our stunning new defense and talking about being able to compete for the championship and now just 2 games later and we're the worst team in the league and not even worth watching.

[Guest]

On a side note it's pretty funny to see how the mood and the posting members tend to ebb and flow from one week to the next. It wasn't long ago that we had come back to beat the Bulls and were on top of the world with our stunning new defense and talking about being able to compete for the championship and now just 2 games later and we're the worst team in the league and not even worth watching.

I would like a point of order that GrayMule and Hotlanta almost never change their tone. I like that they both always stick to their perspective and aren't swayed by the Hawks inconsistencies unlike the majority of posters on here. That is all.

[spotatl]

If Joe cared more about winning than money then he wouldn't have resigned with the Hawks. Somehow I don't think you would be praising his selflessness if he took less to play for a better team.

[Admin]

I would like a point of order that GrayMule and Hotlanta almost never change their tone. I like that they both always stick to their perspective and aren't swayed by the Hawks inconsistencies unlike the majority of posters on here. That is all.

Have you not seen the less than optimistic posts from Gray Mule lately? Even the great optimist is starting to have doubts ... not that I can blame him though. But yes you're right for the most part unlike most of us they are both good at sticking to their optimism and pessimism.

[Guest]

Have you not seen the less than optimistic posts from Gray Mule lately? Even the great optimist is starting to have doubts ... not that I can blame him though. But yes you're right for the most part unlike most of us they are both good at sticking to their optimism and pessimism.

Taking into account what the current state of our organization is at, GrayMule is still the beacon of optimism. And I am factoring in his "bleak" posts from lately, they are still optimistic from what we have seen.

[hawkman]

Taking into account what the current state of our organization is at, GrayMule is still the beacon of optimism. And I am factoring in his "bleak" posts from lately, they are still optimistic from what we have seen.

I still have an issue as to why things have gotten so negative around here lately. It's not like the Hawks are a 'bad' or 'losing' team. Why aren't the fans showing up? They came out in droves for a mediocre Falcons team a season ago. The Falcons didn't even get killed in the media or on the discussion boards for getting destroyed on their home field a few months ago. They had TWO weeks to prepare for their opponent! Yet, their fans are optimistic about next season. But if the Hawks struggle for a few games, they're the worst team in the league and need to be blown up in the offseason? The Hawks have actually went farther in postseason than the Falcons. Shouldn't the Hawks be 'the hottest ticket in town' right now? :scratchhead: