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| ALSO SEE Aldridge: Nuggets' ways not too golden
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 | Monday, October 4 Front-office politics get dirty Special to ESPN.com | |||
A good friend once told me, in a bit of advice that I'm sure has been repeated infinite times in the history of the world, that before making somebody else happy, you have to make yourself happy.
This friend -- who shall remain nameless for privacy purposes, not to mention he doesn't want a lot of people seeking his advice -- of course was talking about the tenets of life, not the tenets of the NBA, of which I am not sure there are any, other than make all the money you can. In any case, my point in this ramble-a-thon is that while I understand that the NBA is a multi-million dollar industry, and while I further appreciate the decree that you have to take care of No. 1 first, the lack of integrity rampant in the league never ceases to amaze me. I am not talking about the normal transgressions of the players -- those are easy; those are in your face. What I am talking about is the grisly undercurrent of hirings and firings in upper administration, the rumors and innuendo that only those in the inner circle know -- or care -- about, simply because they don't affect the scores or the highlights. I'm talking about the careers and lives tossed aside carelessly and effortlessly without regard for feelings or logistics, simply because somebody wanted to take a step up, or do somebody a favor or -- most likely -- make themselves out to be the good guy. I was in Dallas one night talking with then-Sonics coach George Karl, and I knew Karl had once been close with Mavs coach Don Nelson. So I asked Karl, what were his feelings now about Nelson, the man who befriended him, the man who gave him a chance in Golden State, the man who subsequently fired him and who since has become something of a laughing stock? Karl said he was not sure how to feel about Nelson, simply because he thought that Nelson had helped revive Karl's career and he thought the firing in Golden State had more to do with Karl's relationship with the Warriors' owners than it did with wins or losses. Later, Karl came to find out -- although he never confronted Nelson on the matter -- that general manager Nelson fired him and took on the coaching duties himself because he was going through a nasty divorce and needed the additional income to pay off his soon-to-be ex-wife. How do you explain that one to the local fan base? But don't necessarily feel sorry for Karl. After exclaiming last season how he and Milwaukee general manager Bob Weinhauer were best buds and how it was so different and refreshing than his tumultuous relationship with Sonics GM Wally Walker, Karl essentially assumed total control and gave Weinhauer the ax this offseason. You know who he hired as a replacement? Ernie Grunfeld, the man who was sold out by Knicks president Dave Checketts because, even though Checketts signed off on the Latrell Sprewell trade and the deal that sent Charles Oakley to Toronto for Marcus Camby, somebody had to take the fall for the Knicks' slow start last year. Yeah, I know, it's part of the business, and this league is so incestuous, symbolically speaking, that eventually everybody will wind up with a job. But the personnel move that, as Avery Johnson would say, really stuck in my craw this summer was in Denver, where Dan Issel fired coach Mike D'Antoni, supposedly a great friend, and hired -- you guessed it -- himself. Do you know how bogus this was? D'Antoni trusted Issel so much that when Issel told his supposed inner sanctum about his plans and word leaked to D'Antoni before the actual move was made public, D'Antoni didn't believe it and instead defended Issel, saying the two had talked only two days before and Issel had assured him of his job. It was no secret in Denver that Issel wanted to coach. When he was hired as GM, he told owner Charlie Lyons he wanted both duties. Lyons wouldn't let him after the Bernie Bickerstaff experiment, so Issel hired D'Antoni, whom he had asked earlier to be his top assistant. But when Lyons was bought out this summer, Issel saw his chance. Why give a good friend a chance to take the credit for bringing the Nuggets back to prominence when Issel himself could recapture the glory he lived in 1994, when Denver upset Seattle in the first round? And if Issel waited, and D'Antoni -- with a nucleus of Antonio McDyess, Nick Van Exel, Raef LaFrentz and Ron Mercer -- had the Nuggets at a respectable .500 record by the millenium, it would be impossible for Issel to fire D'Antoni. So Issel took the pre-emptive strike, in the hopes that if Denver has a decent team, everybody will forget about the underhanded move made quietly in September and will laud Issel for the fine job he's done. When my friend gave me that advice, it was out of kindness and caring. I don't think he would have appreciated me turning around and firing him. Of course, he is not in the NBA. Frank Hughes covers the NBA for the Tacoma (Wash.) News-Tribune. He is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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