I can only agree with you there, he's no longer the best shot blocking, rebounding SG in the history of the game. Would you prefer Miami give him 4/50?
As a fan of an eastern conference team, I would have preferred them to give him as much as possible for as long as possible. If I was a fan of the Heat, I would have wanted them to let him walk (Bosh as well).
Oh yeah? What team do you pull for?
Forgive Cliff, he doesn't understand the love affair that us fans of winners have with our stars who bring home championships.
Yep. I whole heartedly do not understand why someone would want to watch the team they root for suffer so a player at the end of their career can stack up a few more million.
Clearly.
Ruthlessly not resigning Wade after he opted out, or not signing Kobe after he returned from injury is shortsighted.
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Two different situations.
Wade was apparently a handshake agreement that if Wade opted out, Riles would do right by him in bringing him back and give the team more responsibility. Had he burned Wade, it would've likely had pretty major repercussions around the league and could've really hurt Miami long-term in terms of future free agent situations.
Kobe was coming to the end of his contract. LA really had no sort of obligation to re-sign him. It certainly makes sense as he's worth more to LA than any other team (see: Jeter, Derek), but the Lakers didn't really owe him anything.
They didn't pay him market value, or give him a sweetheart deal as a thank you for doing so much for the franchise. They completely obliterated their cap and any hope of winning with an insane extension that wasn't even in the same neighborhood as his FMV.
And that's kind of what Wade got too, but again, he did Miami a solid by opting out of his player option.