“I’m tired of being viewed as the good guy. After a while, you just kind of get taken advantage of in these situations. I’ve been known as a leader, and I am a leader, but a leader can be as disruptive as he can be productive, especially when you carry a strong voice and people rally around you. This is about me now. This is about me, and teams should know that right now.”
That quote was by Chauncey Billups. As he prepares to have his name entered into the NBA’s amnesty waiver wire, he has a message for teams considering putting in a bid to secure him for the rest of the season: You’ll regret it.
It goes without saying that quote is one of the most self-centered, egotistical things a professional athlete can say. He is hopeful that if he goes unclaimed(since the Knicks recently put him on waivers), he will be picked up as a free agent. And for what?
“I just don’t deserve the treatment that I’ve continually gotten,” Billups said. “Historically, these things never happen to the supposed great players and good guys. They continually happen to me, and it gets old. Listen, I feel I’ve been blessed in the game, and I’ve been given back, but these things start to wear on you. But there’s not another guy in history who keeps dealing with this, getting thrown into these things to make the money right. I really believe it’s because people take my kindness and professionalism for weakness. They think I’ll be OK with this. I won’t be OK with this. I’ve saved my money. I may just retire if I don’t get my freedom here.
“I want my freedom. My goal is to control my own destiny. And as you’ve seen in my career, I’ve never been in a position to do that. I know some teams out there are saying, ‘Oh, Chauncey will be great in mentoring’ and I’m tired of that. I’ve got a few good years left to play, and I’m not trying to come in and sit on the bench, or be a mentor. I’m not going to be that guy. I want to go somewhere and win. I want to choose.”
So to be fair, he just wants the chance to win. And he may have gotten some raw deals in the past. He may even be the greatest player in the NBA. Admittedly, I don't keep up with that sport. But this just seems like the wrong way to try and go out on top, or at least petition for a good free agency deal. It seems so selfish and ungrateful, it really doesn't make me want to root for the guy. No like Ray Bourque who basically wanted the same things. Bourque played with the Bruins for his entire career, but asked to be traded to have a chance to win the Stanley Cup. And he did shortly after a trade to the Avalanche.
For anyone unfamiliar, Captain Joe Sakic broke tradition by giving up the Cup before doing a victory lap himself.
With Bourque, you know that he really regreted not winning the Cup in Boston and that the decision on asking for a trade was hard. You also got the understanding from the Bruins that they loved this man so much, they were willing to give up their star player, a career Bruin, so he could have his chance at hockey immortality. And not just give him up, but put him in a position to thrive and be a champion. That says a lot about the Bruins and a testiment to Bourque that a team would do what was in his best interests, particularly to the extent they did.
Initially, Bourque requested a trade to a team on the east coast such as the Philadelphia Flyers, and Flyers' general manager Bobby Clarke offered the Bruins Andy Delmore and Daymond Langkow for Bourque. In reality, Bruins general manager Harry Sinden was finalizing a trade with the Colorado Avalanche, under the condition that it could not be leaked to the press. Sinden badly wanted Bourque to have a chance to close out his career with a Cup win, and told Bourque, "This may not be your first choice, but this is the team I feel is best." On March 6, 2000, Bourque was traded to Colorado with fellow veteran Dave Andreychuk for Brian Rolston, Martin Grenier, Samuel Påhlsson and a first round draft pick.
"That was all done for him. It was a thank you," said Sinden, who drafted Bourque with the eighth pick in 1979 and then helped broker the deal that sent him to Colorado. When the opportunity arose to join the Colorado Avalanche at the trading deadline in March 2000, Bourque deliberated, then decided to join the Stanley Cup contenders.
The Avalanche fell short in 2000 and Bourque made a decision. His decision lead to one of the greatest moments in NHL history.
On June 12, 2001, three days after the Cup victory, Bourque exercised his right as a player to bring the Cup back to Boston for an emotional rally in Boston's City Hall Plaza, attended by some 20,000 fans. Can you imagine a player who was traded away coming back for a victory rally in his former city?
Better yet, can you imagine if Chancey Phillips gets the deal he wants, wins the NBA championship, then tries to host a celebration with his former team? After statements like his, I don't see that happening.
“I just don’t deserve the treatment that I’ve continually gotten,” Billups said. “Historically, these things never happen to the supposed great players and good guys. They continually happen to me, and it gets old. Listen, I feel I’ve been blessed in the game, and I’ve been given back, but these things start to wear on you. But there’s not another guy in history who keeps dealing with this, getting thrown into these things to make the money right. I really believe it’s because people take my kindness and professionalism for weakness. They think I’ll be OK with this. I won’t be OK with this. I’ve saved my money. I may just retire if I don’t get my freedom here."
That statement versus this statement:
"It's not so much what I accomplished personally," Bourque said. "It's just some of the special guys that you played with over the course of your career. Playing in Boston. Just learning what it was to be a Bruin from guys like Terry O'Reilly and Rick Middleton. The whole history of the players and the team. It was a phenomenal experience for me."
He was such a credit to the hockey community that his number was retired. Obviously by the Bruins where he played 20 years, but also by the Avalanche where he played just a season and a half.
I know this is a little bit off subject from my normal talks about the NHL and its rules and what not, but it bares saying.
This hockey good guy is better than that basketball "good guy".
