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FEATURED 2023 NBA Offseason Thread

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Freshb651 said:
People hoopin in low tops isn't Kobe's influence, he got it from Gilbert Arenas. If you're talking influential players the list is much longer than Mt.Rushmore(4). Magic,Bird,Pistol,Wilt,Hakeem,Garnett,Isiah,Iverson,Reggie Miller,,Harden,Westbrook,Kyrie,Lebron,Steph,,Spud Webb/Mugsy,Pippen(point forwards) etc....
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Ahh you one of those. No, they both got it from soccer. And last time I checked Gilbert didn’t have a signature shoe(just checked he did but nobody wear/wore those). So yes they got it from Kobe. None of those niggas trying to be Gilbert.

Lil Wayne wasn’t the first lil or nigga with dreads in rap. All the “lil’s” with dreads is because of Wayne though. It’s a simple concept.
 
Yikes just read that article that Sam Vecenie and James Edwards were talking about on the Game Theory podcast

Christian Clark for NOLA.com wrote about Zion and his Step father Lee Anderson....definitely a weird and concerning dynamic
 
AZTG said:
Post the article fam
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At Zion Williamson’s introductory news conference with the New Orleans Pelicans in June 2019, four people sat on stage and fielded questions: owner Gayle Benson; executive vice president David Griffin; then-coach Alvin Gentry; and Williamson, whom the New Orleans Pelicans had picked No. 1 in the NBA draft the day before.

The event lasted nearly an hour. It appeared to be over after Williamson and Benson held up his jersey for a photo opportunity.

Then Lee Anderson headed toward the microphone.



Noah stands behind his dad Lee Anderson as Lee pleads with parents to look after their kids during a community event to promote the basketball camp and reduce city-wide violence, at the Dryades YMCA in New Orleans, Saturday, June 11, 2022. (Photo by Sophia Germer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)

Sophia Germer

Anderson, Williamson’s stepfather, said he told Williamson before the draft lottery that New Orleans “would be a great place to go.”

“Zion and I had this conversation about playing in New Orleans before the lottery,” Anderson told the crowd. “Nobody in the world knew that. But we had this conversation.”

Yet despite those public comments, multiple people who interacted with Anderson in the coming months came away with the impression that he had wanted Williamson to end up in a bigger market than New Orleans. One high-ranking team staff member even began openly predicting during Williamson's rookie season that Williamson would not finish his career in New Orleans.

Anderson has appeared to have a significant amount of influence in Williamson's career so far — certainly more than the typical NBA parent. In the four years Williamson has been with the Pelicans, Anderson has functioned as his personal coach, his representative in contract negotiations and his crisis management consultant, sources in and around the team have said.

Earlier this month, on the heels of an online controversy in which Williamson was accused of being involved in a love triangle, Williamson donated money to Jefferson Parish Schools. Instead of commenting solely on Williamson's charitable actions, Anderson decided to address the online controversy head-on.

“Believe half of what you see and nothing you hear,” Anderson said.

As he said this, Williamson stood behind him and appeared to laugh, and a Pelicans staff member who was in attendance became visibly exasperated.

When reached for comment, Anderson said he has coached Williamson but let his certified agents handle his contract negotiations. Anderson said any claims that he ever wanted Williamson to end up in a bigger market than New Orleans were untrue. He also said he has merely wanted to support Williamson during difficult times, as any parent would.

'I will bless you with your children'

Anderson played college basketball for the Clemson Tigers in the late ’70s. He appeared in 16 games across three seasons. He scored 16 points.

Anderson said last summer that his chances of carving out an NBA career were derailed after he was hit by a vehicle.

“I was two weeks from going back to the (Los Angeles) Lakers camp,” Anderson said. “And I was hit by a car. I couldn’t figure out why the Lord allowed that to happen to me. Before they placed me in the ambulance, me and God were having a conversation. He said to me, ‘This was not my plan for your life. This was not my plan. I will bless you with your children.’ ”

Anderson married Sharonda Sampson, Williamson’s mother, and began working with Williamson on his basketball skills when he was 4 years old. Under his tutelage, Williamson blossomed. Williamson started to gain national attention online for his skills and jaw-dropping athleticism in 2016. He became famous in January 2017, when the rap artist Drake posted an Instagram picture wearing Williamson’s No. 12 Spartanburg Day High School jersey.

Merl Code, who was a marketing representative for Nike and Adidas, said Williamson began supporting his family financially when he was in high school. Williamson’s parents coached his AAU team, the South Carolina Supreme. Code wrote in his book, “Black Market: An Insider’s Journey Into the High-Stakes World of College Basketball,” that Adidas gave the team $60,000 for travel expenses.

“In reality, we kept paying for the travel directly,” Code wrote. “So that money basically went into their pockets.”

Williamson surprised the basketball world when he chose Duke over Clemson. Anderson said his alma mater had blown a “mile-and-a-half lead” in the race for Williamson’s commitment.

Williamson’s college experience at Duke was wonderful. Williamson had immense respect for then-coach Mike Krzyzewski. He led the Blue Devils to a 32-6 record.

Williamson did not want to leave Duke after one season but was pushed to declare for the NBA by forces around him.

“If I could come back for a second year, I would, but unfortunately that’s just not the reality we live in,” Willliamson told SLAM in 2019. “The reality we live in is (that) my ultimate dream is the NBA. It’s what I’ve been dreaming about as a kid, so I have to pursue that. And I have to take care of my family.”

Lack of clarity around injuries

At Clemson, Anderson befriended a teammate named James “Chubby” Wells. Wells went on to represent a handful of NBA players in the mid-2000s, including former Pelicans employee Ramon Sessions. The plan was for Wells to represent Williamson, but that fell through after Wells failed the agent certification test administered by the NBPA, ESPN reported.

Anderson said this was "not factual" when reached for comment.

Williamson eventually signed with CAA Sports, the behemoth agency that represents other premier players like the Phoenix Suns’ Devin Booker and the New York Knicks’ Jalen Brunson. Austin Brown, Williamson’s CAA agent, is highly regarded in NBA circles. But close observers of Williamson’s professional career wonder how much influence Brown has.

Last summer, Williamson signed a five-year contract extension with the Pelicans worth $194 million. It was not a typical “max” deal. Weight clauses were one of the unique features. Williamson’s contract stipulated that he would have periodic weigh-ins over the life of his contract. The sum of his weight and body fat percentage were supposed to be below 295. If they were not, the Pelicans could waive him and save a significant amount of money. Anderson played a large role in negotiating this extension, multiple league sources said.

Anderson denied having any involvement in Williamson's contract negotiations.

Williamson has missed an average of 53.5 games per season since he came into the NBA four years ago. The Pelicans have often been criticized for lying about the severity of Williamson’s injuries. Williamson famously missed the entirety of his third season after he and executive vice president David Griffin said Williamson would be ready to play on opening night. Part of the problem, multiple league sources said, is that Williamson’s inner circle has asked the team to not be transparent.

In 2020, Williamson left his teammates in the NBA bubble for more than a week. The Pelicans said he needed to tend to a family medical matter. While no one disputed that point, the Pelicans never disclosed that Williamson had suffered a hamstring injury as well.

Two years later, Williamson decamped to Portland, Oregon, with members of his inner circle while he was rehabilitating a right foot injury. When he returned to New Orleans in March 2022, Anderson did an interview with Baton Rouge broadcaster Jordy Culotta. Anderson said Williamson was healthy and campaigned for the Pelicans to let him play even though the team had yet to clear him.

“I think it’s burning him to the core for him to get back out there and help his team win basketball games,” Anderson said.

After that incident, several of Williamson’s teammates, including guard CJ McCollum, implored Williamson to start speaking for himself. But Anderson frequently continues to speak publicly for Williamson to this day.

Earlier this month, Williamson donated $250,000 to Jefferson Parish Schools. Williamson explained that after-school programs played an important part in his childhood. He understandably did not address the online controversy he was involved in. Anderson, however, chose to.

"Believe half of what you see and nothing you hear," said Anderson, who was standing in front of a microphone again.
 
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