Karma Is a B*tch? (Phoenix Suns Edition)

You may be looking at the title and think that his post is about Robert Sarver, but it isn't.  The focus is on Jae Crowder and JaVale McGee, two players that I'm not exactly sure why the Suns haven't made more of an effort to hold onto.  And I can't say that karma is coming for Phoenix, since the squad is still mad deep.  But the way that team from Australia bust their asses in a 'meaningless' preseason game did raise some alarms, at least with me.

And I can understand why now Cam Johnson may be preferable over Crowder, because Cam's look is a more marketable.  Everytime I see his face, I feel like pinching his cheeks or some shit.  But Crowder is like as near to a real rasta as you're going to get in the NBA.  He has straight-up dreadlocks and have been maintaining them for years.  And yes, there's a lot of funky hairdos in the associations these days, but few straight-up dreads.

In the old days, dreadlocks were associated with Rastafarianism, which is like a peaceful spiritual movement.  These days, as far as celebrities go, they're mostly worn by these low-morality rappers.  And you know, there's a big difference between, say Bob Marley wearing dreadlocks and Chief Keef.  And I personally don't believe the powers-that-be approve of true dreadlocks, like Jae Crowder's own.  And this is a belief I held onto ever since the NBA totally allowed the Cavs to abuse the hell out of Crowder some years ago, you know, like some baldheads vs. rasta type shit:

And since we're on the topic I also believe that one of the reasons the NBA hasn't favored the Suns, as good as they are, is because of Jae's look coupled with the prominent role he plays for the team, and I think this is something the Sun's braintrust eventually picked up on also.  So now he's looking for a new home, and he needs to go to one who is able to bear the brunt of his image.  And I personally think the best choice would be to go back to the Celtics.

And as far as Cam Johnson goes, I understand he's an exceptional shooter, but I wouldn't say he's a better shooter than Jae, not at this point.  Crowder has developed into one of the coolest-under-pressure shooters in the NBA, because, as verified above, he's seen it all.  And if Johnson ever gets there, it may take some time.  Like he really benefited coming off the bench last season, and I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up back there sooner than later.

JaVale McGee, he's like the present-day version of Robert Horry.  I don't know if Horry will ever make it into the Hall of Fame, even though he won more championships than any other modern player.  But what I do know is that every team Robert played on, he noticeably made them better, and the same can be said for McGee of the last few years, who won three championships and was placed on the gold-winning US National Team of 2020.

So what's happened is that the Suns lost a starter as well as a key bench player, and who knows exactly what they got in return?  There's this saying in the NBA, a quote that coaches and GMs used to throw around, that goes something like like standing pat is the same as moving backwards, or some shit like that.  I don't necessarily agree, but I will say that losing two keys players with nothing to show in return, no matter how good your bench may be, definitely isn't progress.  But it's like Crowder is still set to be traded, so it remains to be see what they get in return, if anything substantial considering how fucked up the relationship has now become.

CONCLUSION

Last season's Suns were like the perfect balance of vets and young players.  But it's like DeAndre Ayton may have already just about hit his ceiling, and as for Booker and CP3, they ain't getting no younger.  And there's other guys who can represent, though outside of Bridges and perhaps Biyombo they're all like offense.  So Crowder and McGee will be missed.  And no matter who they get back for Crowder, since good perimeters defenders especially are so rare it's likely, if it is a guard, it's going to be another offensive-minded player, unless maybe they go after somebody like Thybulle, who I don't think the Sixers would want to trade anyway.

The Suns almost lost Ayton because they didn't want to pay up, and they did lose McGee because he wanted more dough.  That was while Sarver, who's supposed to be some type of legendary cheapskate or something, was in office.  But now, money is also part of the reason why Jae Crowder is currently bouncing.  So now you see that the penny pinching wasn't all Sarver's doing.

Now That Robert Sarver Has Been Sanctioned...

 ...maybe the Suns will win a championship.

And what I mean by that is, anyone who has been reading this blog would know that I've held the belief over the last couple of seasons that the NBA simply does not want the Suns, as good as they may be, to win a championship.  Well, it wasn't until all of this Robert Sarver shit tipped over this past wedk that I finally came up with a viable conspiracy theory as to why, which is the powers-that-be not wanting a team with a controversial owner to win it all.

That said, I won't make like I'm intimately aware of Sarver situation, nor am I particularly interested even now.  The NBA is too parochial or patriarchal or however you want to put it, which is something I've been intending to write about for some time but prolly never will, because fukit.  You have these dudes making all this money, and if part of the deal is that you can't speak freely, I mean it doesn't look like they really have a problem with it.  And really all jobs are like that anyway, like there's only so much shit you can talk, even if with the NBA, sometimes their restrictions seem a bit extreme.

One thing I will say is this - I do know how it feels to work directly under a jackass.  What I don't really understand though it why people like Lebron James or even Chris Paul are chiming in on the matter.  Well, it depends on how close Paul and Sarver actually are, though I would presume that they don't really interact too much.  In other words, I would imagine that the people who really had to deal with Sarver's racism, misogyny or whatever are those who worked directly under or dealt with him like on a daily basis.  And the reason why Paul and Lebron wouldn't see $10mil as much of a penalty is because they've already been making that type of money since they were teenagers type shit.

CONCLUSION

Now, the Suns holding onto DeAndre Ayton and not actually making any upgrades this offseason doesn't seem as bad as it did before, because they already have arguably the best team in the NBA (tho they'll likely miss JaVale).  I wouldn't be surprised that if people keep at it, Sarver is removed from the organization altogether, besides maybe being as an investor.  Or, whatever it's going to take to put the Suns in good enough standing that they could represent the NBA as champions.