End of the Ben Gordon era....from ESPN, Zach Lowe

[UconnFanInNYC]

3. The End of Ben Gordon
Gordon in 2009 was one of the few NBA players capable of instilling sheer terror in entire fan bases. He had a couple of absolute bananas games in the insane Boston-Chicago first-round series that season, and when his quick-release 3-pointer wasn’t dropping, he could get in the lane with a pump fake and some herky-jerky moves.

Everyone knew it was a stretch for Joe Dumars to pour big money into Gordon, but nobody expected this — a total demise on the court, and a reputation as such a locker-room cancer that Charlotte intentionally waived Gordon hours after the deadline by which a player must be waived in order to be playoff-eligible. That’s cold.

Gordon’s almost 31, so it’s natural for him to have lost a step. But that can be fatal for an undersize shooter who needs space, and it doesn’t help that Gordon often blatantly failed to try on defense. What a collapse.

 

[tykurez]

Can't disagree with that ... in hindsight, he probably wishes he stayed in Chicago. Detroit is is a death sentence of a team ... just hope Andre can keep powering his way through it.

 

[Joobie]

Great player...great shooter. I LOVED the epic battle that he & Ray had in game 6 of the NBA playoffs. Somehow or other, Ben drank some of that AI kool-aid. Thought he was all that & a bag of chips. That incident with the Charlotte coach last year didn't help him. When we went to Boston to catch a Bobcats game, Ben held himself back from the rest of the team. Didn't participate in the warm ups, wasn't present in the huddles. I had hoped that the coaching change in Charlotte would also change Ben's attitude. It must have gotten worse considering how they parted company. I got the impression that Ben thought he was too good for the likes of Charlotte. Hope he stashed some money away...

 

[caw]

Oddly would fit well with Detroit and Drummond. Their spacing is awful.

 

[Palatine]

Don't give up on Ben. He was overpaid, but at the right price he could be a valuable bench piece for someone. There are worse things then making one or two million for minimum minutes.

 

[FeedTheDove]

Great player...great shooter. I LOVED the epic battle that he & Ray had in game 6 of the NBA playoffs. Somehow or other, Ben drank some of that AI kool-aid. Thought he was all that & a bag of chips. That incident with the Charlotte coach last year didn't help him. When we went to Boston to catch a Bobcats game, Ben held himself back from the rest of the team. Didn't participate in the warm ups, wasn't present in the huddles. I had hoped that the coaching change in Charlotte would also change Ben's attitude. It must have gotten worse considering how they parted company. I got the impression that Ben thought he was too good for the likes of Charlotte. Hope he stashed some money away...

One of my all time favorite Huskies

 

[uconnfan68]

Don't give up on Ben. He was overpaid, but at the right price he could be a valuable bench piece for someone. There are worse things then making one or two million for minimum minutes.

The problem is that is a long line to pick from. A bad attitude or reputation is the last thing you want.

 

[Palatine]

The problem is that is a long line to pick from. A bad attitude or reputation is the last thing you want.

Scoring ability usually trumps attitude. Besides if he wants to extend his career, he can probably pick up more than a little change in Europe.

 

[8893]

Sounds tailor-made for the Knicks.

 

[jibsey]

Great player...great shooter. I LOVED the epic battle that he & Ray had in game 6 of the NBA playoffs. Somehow or other, Ben drank some of that AI kool-aid. Thought he was all that & a bag of chips. That incident with the Charlotte coach last year didn't help him. When we went to Boston to catch a Bobcats game, Ben held himself back from the rest of the team. Didn't participate in the warm ups, wasn't present in the huddles. I had hoped that the coaching change in Charlotte would also change Ben's attitude. It must have gotten worse considering how they parted company. I got the impression that Ben thought he was too good for the likes of Charlotte. Hope he stashed some money away...

Ben has made at least 80 million so far. I don't expect he will be selling pencils on a street corner.

 

[boog204]

Out of college, I honestly thought that Ben would be a 22-25ppg scorer... He had a combo of athleticism and shooting ability that is rarely found. Never thought he'd flame out the way he did

 

[Karmacop]

The timing of the waiver is horrible. The Bobcats basically extended the middle finger to Ben, by waiving him only a few hours after the deadline for being able to play in the playoffs for another team. Now, no playoff team will sign him since he can't help them in May and June, and most non-playoff teams will want to use open roster spaces to showcase young talent, not a 30-year-old shooting guard.

If you're an agent, you file this away -- this is what MJ and the Bobcats organization does to certain of its players that fall out of favor. Not a good message to send across the league. Every other team made sure to request waivers on players prior to this deadline, to make sure they stayed in the good graces of fellow players and agents alike.

 

[Joobie]

As a "Karmacop" you should understand what goes around, comes around. Ben stopped being a team player for the Bobcats. Sad when a player refuses to take direction from the coach, participate in huddles or be involved in the X's & O's. Sounds like Ben gave MJ & company the metaphorical finger long before they gave it to him. Not saying what was done was right, but it prolly WAS karma...

 

[Karmacop]

As a "Karmacop" you should understand what goes around, comes around. Ben stopped being a team player for the Bobcats. Sad when a player refuses to take direction from the coach, participate in huddles or be involved in the X's & O's. Sounds like Ben gave MJ & company the metaphorical finger long before they gave it to him. Not saying what was done was right, but it prolly WAS karma...

I'm not saying what Ben did (if accurately reported) was right on his part. But it seems kinda short-sighted on the organization's part to be so vindictive in return. Agents and players remember that kind of stuff.

 

[Kembacity]

Great player...great shooter. I LOVED the epic battle that he & Ray had in game 6 of the NBA playoffs. Somehow or other, Ben drank some of that AI kool-aid. Thought he was all that & a bag of chips. That incident with the Charlotte coach last year didn't help him. When we went to Boston to catch a Bobcats game, Ben held himself back from the rest of the team. Didn't participate in the warm ups, wasn't present in the huddles. I had hoped that the coaching change in Charlotte would also change Ben's attitude. It must have gotten worse considering how they parted company. I got the impression that Ben thought he was too good for the likes of Charlotte. Hope he stashed some money away...

I happened to go to that Chi-Bos playoff game 6, where it turned into a straight up shootout between Rayray and BG. It was one of the most amazing games I've ever witnessed, it felt like I was in a dream

 

[UConn990411]

Out of college, I honestly thought that Ben would be a 22-25ppg scorer... He had a combo of athleticism and shooting ability that is rarely found. Never thought he'd flame out the way he did

He wasn't far off. Then he got paid and packed it in.