Well that didn’t take long.
It took only a little over 24 hours for the bad blood to brew between the Rockets and Mavericks following Chandler Parsons’ arrival to Dallas.
Welcome to the internet, where a major aspect of it is social media. Mix that with a choice comment or two, and bam! You have yourself a news bit. While most times in life a few words can be brushed under the rug, this is the internet in 2014 where each word and the tone it is said in is broken down like the Zapruder film.
Parsons spoke with Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports to express his thoughts on signing with the team as well as the whole free agency whirlwind.
“Honestly, I was offended by the whole process. They publicly said that they were going out looking for a third star when I thought they had one right in front of them. I guess that’s just how they viewed me as a player. I don’t think I’ve scratched the surface of where I can be as a player and I think I’m ready for that role.
“You can’t knock them for always trying to get better. [Houston general manager] Daryl Morey is very aggressive, is a genius, a great GM and I have nothing but respect for those guys. And they are looking to make their team better. That’s what they were doing. I just thought I could be that guy that could do that.”
I can see Parsons’ point. He worked hard to improve each year and be a vital part of the youth movement. He was there before Harden and Howard after all- and the only member of the 2012 squad still left. Parsons’ was a steal at 38th in the 2011 NBA Draft and was set to make under a million next season as a Rocket had they picked up his option. The guy simply wanted to get paid, but may have overvalued his worth. His displeasure with Houston’s longing for a third star isn’t a surprise, as Adam Wexler of CSN Houston brought to light:
As I told @MikeMeltser last nite, Chandler Parsons said “I was offended,” last month, even b4 FA began: see 1:30 mark http://t.co/MzQOmfCN0N
— AdamWexlerCSN (@awexler) July 15, 2014
That chip on his shoulder is what drove Parsons to be the player we see today. You can’t hate on a guy for taking advantage of getting paid. If the money is there, you strike while the iron is hot. Mavericks owner Mark Cuban did what he had to do, injecting new blood into his roster and hoping Parsons can turn into the star he thinks he can be. Cuban is no dummy. Like Daryl Morey did to the Knicks in 2011 with Jeremy Lin, Cuban set up an incredibly difficult contract for Houston to match.
“The Mavericks are a smart organization,” Morey said on SportsTalk 790 AM in Houston. “They obviously wanted to get him. That structure of that [contract] is literally one of the most untradeable structures that I’ve ever seen. That’s why it came down to a bet of Harden, Howard and Parsons being the final piece, because we would have had no ability to do anything after that. And Harden, Howard, Parsons could have been good enough. I think Parsons is a tremendous player and is going to keep getting better. “The question is, is it better with that core or is it better with Ariza plus the hundreds of moves that might be able to upgrade us in the other scenario. And there’s really no moving — that core was going to be the core that we had to have, because if we ever wanted to move off and go after the other stars, if we ever wanted to go after a different core, it wasn’t going to be possible.”
The good news for Houston is the ire from fans redirected itself from Morey’s inability to keep Parsons by picking up his option to Parsons’ comments:
I’m sure this wasn’t Chandler Parsons’ intent, but if he were trying to go WWE heel tonite, he’d be making MONEY. People pissed. Hilarious.
— Sean Pendergast (@SeanCablinasian) July 15, 2014
If this were WWE, Parsons’ fuel to the fire would be the verbal chairshot to Houston. His aligning with rival owner Cuban would be similar to Steve Austin’s alliance with WWE CEO Vince McMahon at WrestleMania X-7. This image of the duo out clubbing after the offer sheet was signed last week was all Rockets nation needed to get their blood boiling.
Soon after, it created the hashtag #HoustonAthletesThatDidMoreThanChandlerParsons. Steve Francis, Scott Brooks, Case Keenum- hell even brand new rookie Clint Capela was included.
As much as Parsons saw himself as that third star, Morey felt a more established piece such as Bosh or Anthony would allowed the Rockets to contend in the brutal Western Conference. For all the offense taken by Parsons towards his former team, did someone forget to tell him the Mavericks were courting Anthony at the very same time Houston was? The team’s direction was changed drastically when Bosh chose to stay in Miami. Without his signing first, the team would either have to overpay to keep Parsons (a 1500% raise), or let him walk in order to remain cap flexible for trades or future free agents. They obviously chose the latter.
While nothing Parsons said was outwardly disparaging, the uproar was swift and sudden- catching the former Gator off guard.
In talking to Chandler Parsons he was surprised there was backlash to his comments. Did not back off, but also cited that he praised Morey.
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) July 15, 2014
From here Dallas will look to build off Parsons and hope he progresses to the level of the amount of money he is set to make. If not, Houston was right all along. Houston’s new focus will be on Rajon Rondo and Kevin Love. Late Monday night even saw rumblings of the team look into acquiring Mike Miller, with a longshot at Ray Allen. And it wouldn’t be complete without a word from who else- Dwight Howard. This tweet from July 12th sounds a bit ominous if you ask me:
@ketOflow we good. The H&H boys gonna lead the way.
— Dwight Howard (@DwightHoward) July 12, 2014
Read into it as you will. It’s the internet in 2014.
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