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Behind the talks There's much more to the Ainge, Iverson stories
Posted: Thursday December 23, 1999 08:20 AM
NBA insider Stephen A. Smith spoke to CNNSI anchor Inga Hammond about the latest developments on the court: Inga Hammond: Some folks thought the Lakers would have problems when Kobe Bryant returned to the lineup - too many shooters, not enough shots - but this team looks to be even better... Stephen A. Smith: There's no question about it. When you look at Kobe, he's playing a very, very solid game for Phil Jackson in his triangle offense. Remember: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen once had a problem, and it took them two months to adapt to Phil's system. Kobe seems to be picking it up right away. He's averaging over 22 points a game, he's shooting over 45 percent from the field, 84 percent from the free throw line. He's putting forth some impressive numbers for the Lakers and if he continues to do this, they definitely can make a run for the NBA title. Hammond: Sunday was a miserable day for Toronto's Tracy McGrady; he was only 2 of 10 from the field. But he's still one of the hottest would-be free agents on the market next summer. The rumors are already starting. Do you think he'll be in Toronto when the trade deadline comes? Smith: Certainly Toronto has been looking to trade McGrady because he is approaching the last year of his deal. He wants the maximum $70.9 million; the Raptors are not anxious to give him that because they know they're going to have to give Vince Carter that in the future. So they talked to Philadelphia about trading him there for Larry Hughes. They've been talking to the Lakers, who'd love to have him and ship Glen Rice out to Toronto, but that's not going to work numbers-wise. Plus, if the Raptors don't want to give Tracy McGrady $70.9 million, they certainly don't want to pay Glen Rice $14 million a year, which is what he's asking for. McGrady could end up staying in Toronto this season, but I sincerely doubt it. They're going to have to move him. It doesn't seem as if he has any intentions of staying there. Hammond: New Jersey won its fifth straight at home with a victory over Atlanta Sunday and goes to 6-4 in the month of December. Stephen, the Nets' record is improving, but what about the team's chemistry, is it getting any better? Smith: No, it is not. Stephon Marbury has ruffled some feathers there just like he ruffled some feathers in Minnesota. He is not getting along with Keith Van Horn. Van Horn is very unhappy with Marbury; from what my sources tell me, Van Horn considers him selfish. And because of that, the Nets are now actually entertaining offers to ship Van Horn elsewhere. They've already invested so much money in Marbury; with the way that Marbury's been acting as of late, there are going to be very few teams which would be willing to take him on, especially at that salary. So the one commodity the Nets do have is Van Horn, and clearly he's not happy right now with the way things are going. Hammond: Last Monday Suns coach Danny Ainge said he wanted to spend more time with his family and Scott Skiles has taken over the team. Is there something more going on here? Smith: From what I'm hearing, I've spoken to numerous sources in the Western Conference, I was told Skiles had it out with Ainge approximately two weeks before Ainge left and basically said, "This is a country club atmosphere. I don't like it." He subsequently went to the Colangelos and told them it wasn't a good situation and that he wanted to leave. They told him to hold on, that changes would be imminent, and the next thing you know Ainge is talking about spending time with his family. Hammond: Allen Iverson was benched for the final 20 minutes of the 76ers' loss to Detroit on Saturday. You were there for his post-game blowup. What happened? Smith: I walked up to Iverson, asked him about the game, about how they gave up a 21-4 run to Detroit, about how they got blown out in the second quarter. And the next thing you knew, he was talking about how he didn't appreciate being benched, how that's never happened to him in his career and basically said, "if you don't like my style of basketball, if you don't think that I fit with this team, get me the hell out of here, send me elsewhere." The bottom line in all of this is he has never liked Larry Brown, not really, and Larry Brown isn't too fond of him. They deal with each other because they have to. And both are locked in for years to come.
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