September 19, 2002

Hey Gary, how’s it going? Not well, if your comments in yesterday’s Steve Kelley column are any indication. Apparently, the good feelings from last season’s 45 wins and playoff run have been lost in the harsh light of the summer.

As you well know, I’ve long been one of your strongest supporters. Last summer, Hoopsworld.com’s Steve Kyler wrote -- only half joking -- that I had some rope just in case the Sonics traded you for mediocre offers like Minnesota’s deal of Terrell Brandon, Wally Szczerbiak, and Rasho Nesterovic.

Sure, my website was probably silly and naïve, but I do like to think that the Keep GP’s words and letters from fans played some role in the Sonics’ decision to keep you in Seattle last season. And oh, how sweet it was when you proved everything we wrote correct last season, showing leadership ability and team-first behavior that, no matter what you said, was unprecedented.

That’s what makes this all the harder for me to say.

Sit down and shut up, Gary.

You clearly feel that Seattle management is disrespecting you by not extending your contract this summer. I respect your opinion, but I definitely don’t agree with it -- and if the fans I’ve talked to are representative, neither do Sonics fans.

“They're trying to make me out to be the bad guy and they're trying to make my agent out to be the bad guy,” you told Kelley of the Sonics. I’m sorry, but I don’t see how you can reasonably believe that. Before Kelley’s column, the Sonics had been essentially quiet on the matter. All Howard Schultz said was that not extending you should not be taken as a sign as disrespect. As insults go, that’s not quite on a par with how Sonics fans treated Vin Baker.

No, if anyone’s making you out to be the bad guy, Gary, it’s you and your agents, Aaron and Eric Goodwin. I know the three of you are only taking the path you think is best for your long-term financial position, but threatening to hold out and demanding a trade isn’t the best way to look good in the eyes of fans.

What’s the point of threatening a holdout anyway? I’m not sure exactly what you could achieve by holding out. If I’m correctly reading the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, a lengthy holdout would keep you from being a free agent after the season. The Sonics -- if they wanted to -- could keep you in town another season. Maybe they’d find a free agent they’d preferred, but you’d still be in no better position than if you simply kept your mouth shut and played out the end of your contract. In fact, you’ll probably be worse off; teams are going to be wary of a player who shows such a disturbing willingness to sell out his team.

I guess your objective is a trade, but I wouldn’t count on one if I were you. Sure, Schultz said, “We don't want anybody here who doesn't want to be here,” but I’m confident that thinking is based more on passion than the Sonics’ actual best interests. The only possible benefit to a trade for the Sonics would be if they could add a player like Vitaly Potapenko to the deal and improve their cap space for next summer. Otherwise, even if they decide to replace you, they’re better off taking the cap space your expiring deal would create than trading you for players.

Do you even want a trade, really? I know this is presumptuous, but it seems like your preference is to finish your career in Seattle. A trade only seems preferable to playing this season with the Sonics as a lame duck.

Then again, I’m not sure I know why you think that’s the case. Look around the league at your peers. Have the Indiana Pacers extended Reggie Miller? The New Jersey Nets Jason Kidd? In both cases, no, but do you think those teams don’t want those players back? Going back, look at David Robinson last year. The fact of the matter is that players of your age and experience don’t get contract extensions -- those are reserved primarily for young players coming off their rookie contracts.

“Why not reward me? Why can't they just go ahead and give me a new contract and then I can be the leader for the young guys and we can bring other guys in and we can go ahead and go after a championship together?” you asked. Let me respond to that with a question of my own: “Why can’t you wait a year?”

You can see the Sonics’ thinking, right? What if you get injured or your game drops off next season? Better then not to have a long-term guaranteed contract in your hands. “To me, what they're telling me is that I'm too old,” you told Kelley. Well, that’s not what I interpret. They’re saying you are getting older, and that changes the dynamic of a contract -- you can’t disagree with that. After all, the same reasons the Sonics are reluctant to make a decision now are why you want to sign an extension. Those are understandable as well, but don’t you believe in your own game? Don’t you believe your play will continue to be up to your impeccable standards next season?

Then there’s this quote: “Why create a problem when you don't have to have one?” It too could just as easily be asked of you. If it weren’t for this extension issue hanging over their heads, the Sonics could complete an extremely successful off-season.

This whole letter has basically been a suggestion, but let be more specific. Here’s what I think you should do. Shut your mouth and show up early to training camp. Keep doing what you’ve done on the court, and continue your good off-court behavior from last season.

Make it so that the Sonics have to re-sign you next summer by continuing to play the best basketball of your life. Make them the bad guys by saying nothing even if they decide to flirt with free agents like Kidd. That way you’ll have the fans -- and me -- on your side. Whether they say it or not, Sonic management has to be paying attention to what fans think. They don’t have a strong enough fanbase to do anything else.

No, Gary, Sonics management is not making you the bad guy. But you have the chance to make them the bad guys. As the company that pays you to promote its shoes says, “Just do it”.

Sincerely,

Kevin Pelton

Kevin Pelton has served as beat writer, columnist, editor, copy editor, and webmaster for SonicsCentral.com since its inception. He also writes a weekly column for Hoopsworld.com and is a student at the University of Washington in his spare time. The Candid Corner is updated every Monday. Kevin can be reached at kpelton@sonicscentral.com. All opinions expressed in this column are solely the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of other columnists or the SonicsCentral.com staff.

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