“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”

[Kblaze8855]

“Maybe, but let him not vow to walk in the dark, who has not seen the nightfall.”

Not only is that great writing it forces me to ask….


At one time or another all of these players either asked to be traded or left their franchise in free agency for one reason or another.



Lebron
Kidd
Webber
Dame
KD
Kobe
Anthony Davis
Chris Paul
Kareem
Kwahi
Shaq
Wilt
Kyrie
Jimmy Butler
Vince Carter
Harden
Hakeem
Melo


The list of players who stayed and stuck out the down times with no verifiable requests to leave is shorter of course. Guys like Dirk, Steph, Bird and so on. Jordan who did bitch but never specifically ask out that I’ve seen credibly reported.

The people I listed who asked for a trade demand I either heard them say it with their mouth, or can show you the direct quotes in the paper that they did not dispute. Some press conferences. Hakeem, I believe was after a game he didn’t play. Flat out said he wanted to go.



Obviously not all of the people there for a trade demand had it granted(Kobe, Hakeem and others). You could also add magic Johnson though people do the same as Kobe and say asking for a trade doesn’t count if the team doesn’t do it. And magic at least you can say he was specifically trying to get the coach fired which he did so you can arguably put him on either one of these lists. I won’t argue because I don’t care about the specifics. I’m speaking conceptually. Some(Like Kareem) just had cultural issues. So I don’t care too much about who you do and don’t wanna count. I’m just talking about the final decision to do it. To ask out. To walk.



How many of the people we credit for never doing such things was ever in a situation to justify it? You imagine Dirk would hit a breaking point? If Steph had more than a season or two of down times when he was healthy and ready…would he break?

Would Jordan be with bums for a decade?

If you choose not to count magic, do you think magic just accepts being on a bad team? He certainly never was.

How much nightfall did the guys we often credit for bravery even endure?

Of the people who never asked out how many do you think would take the mid 2000s Lakers for years and stay quiet?

[Wardell Curry]

Of the people who never asked out how many do you think would take the mid 2000s Lakers for years and stay quiet?

Very very very very few. Less than you would probably even think. Maybe zero?

This idea that players just emotionally overcome bad rosters and just 'tough it out' and 'see it through' is a bunch of nonsense. Teams end up putting good players around them finally and that's it.

These are some of the most competitive guys in the world with higher levels of testosterone than almost everyone. None of them are going to just sit there and take being on a bad roster for their entire career.

[Wardell Curry]

If the Bulls don't get Krause and MJ shuts up, the Bulls stay losing his entire career because he was good enough to keep them in the hunt but not win.

If LeBron never goes to Miami, stays in Cleveland and shuts up, the Cavs stay losing his entire career because he was good enough to keep them in the hunt but not win.

And so the list goes.

[Xiao Yao You]

Stockton should have left the Jazz instead of being underpaid his whole career for an owner that was never all in

[FultzNationRISE]

Nevermind I misread the post.


But you better watch yourself talkin about this… King. This King of ours. To even make a thread about players who left their franchises, and then stick Lebron’s name right at the top is out of order. Idgaf what technicality you think justifies it. What Lebron does or doesnt do with his career is his business and not for a bunch of hens to gossip over.

Tread REAL lightly here pal.

[Real Men Wear Green]

I don't think the Warriors will be able to put a contender together again before the end of Curry's career. We will see how dedicated he is to G State vs. his desire to win because he is still good enough to be one of the top two players on a championship team but at 35 doesn't have many elite years left, may even be in his last one now.

[SouBeachTalents]

The guys least likely to do it are the ones Blaze already mentioned, Dirk, Bird & Curry. I don't think D-Rob would do it either, he seemed too polite :lol And while he eventually did bounce, KG deserves mention for putting up with such a terribly incompetent organization for over a decade, almost nobody would have tolerated being trapped in Minny on those teams for such an extended period of time.

I will say though, if someone you'd assume would be a lock for this, like Duncan, would've left the Spurs after already winning a championship if Doc didn't tell him his wife wasn't allowed on the team plane, all bets are off.

[tpols]

You can't compare potential energy to kinetic energy. One is a much stronger derivative of the other. The difference between saying something and doing it is 1000 fold.

When it comes to Kobe he wanted to go to the Bulls and play with Luol Deng. Not exactly a stacking the deck situation. He probably wanted to do it because of his obsession with passing MJ tbh. A Kobe title on the Bulls would be worth its weight in gold.

[Wardell Curry]

I will say though, if someone you'd assume would be a lock for this category like Duncan would've left the Spurs after already winning a championship if Doc didn't tell him his wife wasn't allowed on the team plane, all bets are off.

And there it is. The truth of the matter.

[tontoz]

One thing i know for sure is that the guys who stayed are more beloved by the fans. It seems like KD is still searching for that fan support that he left in OKC. No team will support you more than the team that drafted you. I doubt he took that into account when he made his decision.

[Da_Realist]

A good question would be, How many would do it three times?

[Duffy Pratt]

Here's a list of the guys, post 1976, who played for only one franchise, played for at least 10 seasons, and never won:

Darrell Griffith
Allen Leaval
Mark Eaton
Jeff Foster
Alvin Adams
Nate McMillan
Fred Brown
Nick Collison
Rick Smits

and...


Reggie Miller.

Interesting that three of these were Sonics, and two played for the Jazz or the Pacers. That's only 10 guys. Seven accounted for by three teams, all in small markets. And only one of them was an all-star #1 option.

I picked 76 as the cut-off because that's when free agency started in limited form in the NBA.

[tontoz]

Here's a list of the guys, post 1976, who played for only one franchise, played for at least 10 seasons, and never won:

Darrell Griffith
Allen Leaval
Mark Eaton
Jeff Foster
Alvin Adams
Nate McMillan
Fred Brown
Nick Collison
Rick Smits

and...


Reggie Miller.

Interesting that three of these were Sonics, and two played for the Jazz or the Pacers. That's only 10 guys. Seven accounted for by three teams, all in small markets. And only one of them was an all-star #1 option.

I picked 76 as the cut-off because that's when free agency started in limited form in the NBA.



Fred Brown, with the Sonics? They won the title in '79.

[tpols]

Here's a list of the guys, post 1976, who played for only one franchise, played for at least 10 seasons, and never won:

Darrell Griffith
Allen Leaval
Mark Eaton
Jeff Foster
Alvin Adams
Nate McMillan
Fred Brown
Nick Collison
Rick Smits

and...


Reggie Miller.

Interesting that three of these were Sonics, and two played for the Jazz or the Pacers. That's only 10 guys. Seven accounted for by three teams, all in small markets. And only one of them was an all-star #1 option.

I picked 76 as the cut-off because that's when free agency started in limited form in the NBA.


Kblaze ain't gonna like that. :lol

Reggie and Dirk are probably the two most loyal players of all time.

[Kblaze8855]

You imagine It’s news to me that Reggie Miller played only for the Pacers? I’d also ask where Stockton is but maybe I missed something in the criteria.

[Duffy Pratt]

You imagine It’s news to me that Reggie Miller played only for the Pacers? I’d also ask where Stockton is but maybe I missed something in the criteria.

Yeah, don’t know how I missed Stockton, and Fred Brown should be off. So 3 Jazz and 2 Sonics.

[SATAN]

KBlaze...I don't look at half of your threads because you never get to the ****ing point in the title.

[Kblaze8855]

KBlaze...I don't look at half of your threads because you never get to the ****ing point in the title.

There is no language in my contract concerning your understanding. Only your engagement. And I appreciate it. Dinner is on you tonight.

[Reggie43]

Pacers in the 90s had good teams with elite chemistry but outside Miller they never had a big name player to play by his side. The guys in the op probably would have requested to be traded if put in Miller's situation despite having a good enough team to compete for championships.

[Baller234]

Speaks to the power of having a great organization. On some level you really do have to sympathize with Krause and understand where he was coming from. Of course you couldn't win without Jordan, but the Bulls win fukk all if Krause doesn't put the pieces in place. A championship really is an organizational effort, and it's easy to be a "company man" when you work for a competent organization.

Shaq may be the odd man out in the sense that he was unhappy whether he was winning or he was losing. Twice he bailed out on a winning team.