Ferg0dsakes

December 20th, 2022 at 2:00 PM ^

Obviously its moot in today’s age of NIL, but were there previous rules or “gentlemen’s agreement” between alumni in sports positions of power and schools?  I don’t recall if Rob Pelinka and/or Magic Johnson could/would/should be hanging around Crisler or East Landfill, respectively.

Joined: 10/10/2012

MGoPoints: 2536

mgobeeg

December 20th, 2022 at 2:05 PM ^

I hope this means he stops sponsoring the Pistons uniforms and some evil corporation with a much cooler logo can replace the boring ass UWM logo. 

Joined: 09/15/2009

MGoPoints: 282

Maize in Cincy

December 20th, 2022 at 2:23 PM ^

Crazy valuation, but if you have it you might as well spend it.  Don't think they are in a good spot to build a successful team around Booker though unless Paul can be healthy and play at a high level for a few more years.

Joined: 06/14/2015

MGoPoints: 18768

kehnonymous

December 21st, 2022 at 10:25 AM ^

They've pretty much hit their ceiling.  Even if Chris Paul keeps it up, he's never not going to get taller and that'll kneecap them in any seven game series. 

(Also, the team and their fanbase are just a bunch of little brother bitches who act tough but don't have what it takes, so they're perfectly on-brand for being owned by a Sparty.)

Joined: 11/25/2011

MGoPoints: 33256

St Joe Blues

December 20th, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^

Wow, so Staee may have the most alumni in the world who own major sports franchises, with Ishbia, Gilbert (Cavs), Gores ('stons), and Magic Johnson (Dodgers).

Not sure if Magic is an alum, but you know what I mean.

Joined: 01/08/2017

MGoPoints: 34072

Seth

December 20th, 2022 at 4:44 PM ^

They gave him an honorary degree and let him speak at my sister-in-law's graduation. His speech was an acrostic and hilariously embarrassing for all the graduates because each letter in S P A R T A N spelled out good advice for working at McDonald's. The graduates and their parents were frozen in horror, but about 5% of Breslin were Michigan siblings rolling in aisles with laughter.

 

Joined: 10/14/2008

MGoPoints: 149854

kehnonymous

December 21st, 2022 at 10:38 AM ^

As a lifelong Laker fan I've been witness to the good side of Magic (his career as a player) and the bad side (his career as a team exec), and he's a fascinating contradiction.

In some interpersonal situations he's amazingly charismatic - you could be at a party dancing with your wife and he could cut in and take over for you and you'd somehow walk away feeling ten feet tall.*  One Laker podcaster was talking about how he and some buddies were playing pickup ball at a gym and Magic told them they had to get out and everyone was all giddy at just being in his presence.

And then there are other situations where he's in front of a microphone and you legit wonder how the dude ties his own shoes.

(* - per Jeff Perlman's Showtime book, Magic infamously had parties back in the day where the rule was that anyone who hadn't paired up with a groupie had to leave by midnight but I'm guessing he ushered the blueballers out with consummate aplomb)

 

Joined: 11/25/2011

MGoPoints: 33256

bronxblue

December 20th, 2022 at 4:47 PM ^

Considering how much talk was around the buckets of money he was spending on Tucker's contract vs. the actual number he provided, this feels a bit similar where he's putting in a decent chunk but is relying on a lot of other less public sources of income.  Which is totally reasonable and not unexpected, especially since Forbes listed his net worth at $5.1B and this deal is for $4B, and that's usually not the type of ratio you want in a deal like this.

Anyway, good gig if you can get it.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 172085

Qmatic

December 20th, 2022 at 5:08 PM ^

Matt just screams “came from money.” He wants all the glitz and glamour of being a CEO but I’m not sure how well he is at actually running a company. With the impending real estate downturn, and his near penny-stock company currently, I’m not sure this is the route his father would have gone

Joined: 01/09/2013

MGoPoints: 33036

Leaders And Best

December 20th, 2022 at 6:19 PM ^

I am pretty stunned that Ishbia got the Suns. Given the Suns proximity to LA and Silicon Valley, I thought there would be other groups or billionaires that would outbid him, but $4 billion may have cooled some other potential suitors or caused them to hold out to bid on Las Vegas or Seattle at that price.

Not sure how Ishbia is going to make this work given the sale price. The other two MSU alums who own NBA teams (Dan Gilbert and Tom Gores) are generally regarded as two of the worst owners in the NBA with the likes of James Dolan and Vivek Ranadive. Can Ishbia avoid that fate or does he even care as long as the checks keep coming in?

Joined: 09/09/2009

MGoPoints: 22534