Dear Antonio,
Greetings! I thought i'd write you to congratulate you on your successful separation from the Denver Nuggets, and to offer some advice to you about how to spend your next thirty days of unemployment before resuming the endless grind that is the NBA season. As a sportswriter and a liberal arts college graduate, I am an expert in not having a job, so you should read carefully and really consider what I have to say. Normally, I wouldn't give away my secrets to jobless success for free, but for you, I'm willing to make an exception.
I'm going to violate my normal protocol and get right to the point here: watch TV. That's my own personal secret to successfully combatting boredom in the many hours of the day when I should be working. Oh yeah, and I read a lot of sports pages, thanks in no small part to the miracles of the interwebs. There's a whole lot of content out there for the basketball crazed mind to devour, and thanks to cable and god knows how many different channels of ESPN, there always seems to be a basketball game on TV. My advice to you, Antonio McDyess, is to watch as much basketball as you possibly can in the next 30 days, mostly because, in my humble opinion, watching is the next best thing to playing.
And if you didn't have it already (if I had to guess I'd say you do), I'll bet there's enough coin left over form your impending buyout from the Denver Nuggets to support NBA league pass and NBA TV, which will allow you to watch any and every game going on in the NBA on any given night! But with so many games to choose from, which ones will you watch? If you will, allow me to make another suggestion that will make not only your next 30 days enjoyable, but perhaps the rest of your season better as well.
As with my first ingenious revelation, I will not waste any more space than is absolutely necessary to cut to the chase: I want you to watch the Pistons and the Celtics as much as you can for the next month. Watch every game, study every nuance and really try and look at not only where these two teams are going, but where they've been as well. If you watch the games with those questions in mind, I think it will illuminate clearly which path is best for you to follow once your 30 days are up.
So where have these two teams been? Detroit (as you obviously know) has been a contender for many years now, and last won a title in 2004. You were a great part of many of those teams, so I don't have to tell you how talented and experienced that group of guys is. I also don't have to tell you how much Chauncey Billups meant to the Pistons and all of the things he did to help make Detroit the Eastern Conference monster that they are. I also don't have to tell you about Detroit's struggles since losing that heartbreaker of a Finals to the San Antonio Spurs. I won't bring things to a painful point here, but just think about the kind of team the Pistons really are.
On the flip side, look at where the Celtics have been recently. In case you didn't catch it, let me fill you in. The Celtics were on a duck boat tour through Boston showing off the Larry O'Brien championship trophy before hundreds of thousands of loving fans. More recently, the Celtics hoisted their 17th championship banner to the rafters of the Garden, and then proceeded to use defense and teamwork to pummel the Cleveland Cavaliers into submission on opening night. Even more recently than that, the Celtics pounded those new look Pistons in a bone crushing 88-76 thumping in Auburn Hills, Michigan.
Now, let's talk about where these teams are going. Sure, adding Iverson is great because he's a great player, and I have no doubt that the Pistons (with or without you) will find a way to win some games as the little guy becomes more integrated into the system. But do you think that this incarnation of the Pistons is better than the one you had last year, or even the year before that? You probably can't say it, but I can: NO! Even if you rejoin your old squad in 30 days, I don't think that you're going to help them where they need it most (keeping AI in front of his man). I also think that the AI move is indicative of a different set of priorities for the Pistons. Rather than focusing on winning a championship now (something that I think is pretty important to you), it seems like Joe Dumars and the Pistons brass are more interested in salary cap flexibility down the road. Think about it, after this year AI will be gone and 'Sheed may be out as well. Do you really want to languish in Detroit while the front office shuffles personnel in an attempt to make a big run at a free agent two years from now?
Now look at where the Celtics are going. At this point, they seem on track for a top playoff seed and another trip deep into the month of May. Call me crazy, but I don't think that Danny Ainge is considering a major roster shake up at this point, and I'm pretty sure that the players, the coaches and the rest of the front office are still committed to winning now in Boston. Using the same principles that were so successful last year, the Celtics have already set a tone defensively for this year. They're a group of veteran guys who share the ball and play hard every night. Sounds like a recipie for success, no? It is, but forgive me for saying this, the recipie would be much better with a little bit of McSpice.
Now look at everyone else who stands in between Boston and another Eastern Conference championship. The Cavs couldn't do it last year and won't this year if LeBron shoots a worse percentage on his jumpers than I do. The 76ers, Raptors and Magic are all paper tigers who can only give the Celtics paper cuts, so to speak. And your Pistons? No offense, but you guys couldn't do it last year after two draining seven game series for Boston, and this year will be no different (except that the Pistons could get bounced before the Conference Finals with their new line up). So, knowing all this, are you sure that you only want to play in Detroit this year?
I don't mean to be stirring up the shit (not too much, anyways), but when you consider the rosters, the circumstances, your own personality and your goals for the year, and everything else (not to mention that the celtics can pay you twice as much as the Pistons), I think you'd be hard pressed to find a better suitor for your services than the Boston Celtics. You've seen and experienced their brand of basketball firsthand, and you know better than most what a group of capable, talented, hardworking and skilled group of veteran ball players can do with a little bit of personal sacrifice, now imagine what it would be like to take a duck boat tour of Boston while being bombarded with congratulatory cheers and adulation from an entire city.
All I ask is that you really think about it before you decide where you're hanging your hat for the rest of this year. I hope you make the right choice.
-DT
