| | NBA insiders (which is to say, people with the ability to say they are
insiders, which is to say, anyone with an imagination and access to a web
site) say that Donyell Marshall is about to be traded to Utah.
|  | | Donyell Marshall was one of eight NBA players to average in double figures in points and rebounds last season. |
Those insiders (which is to say, people who don't mind using themselves
as confirmation for their own rumors) say that Marshall will be part of one
of those hilarious four-team NBA deals that send Howard Eisley somewhere,
Danny Fortson somewhere else and Robert Pack to whatever's left.
Fortson is considered the gem in this group, although gem is a relative
term, especially since he is going to the Golden State Warriors, known mostly
for shipping their best jewelry to other cities.
Ahh, but Marshall is a lyrical name in this league, in that he was the
key figure in one of the worst Warrior trades of the last decade ... and
for those millions of you who don't pay attention to the Warriors, you'll
have to trust us that "one of the worst Warrior trades of the last decade"
is saying something.
Marshall was fetched from Minnesota for Tom Gugliotta in 1995, which on
its face was a bad idea, made worse by a long-term contract ($42 million,
that's how long) that locked him in to the steerage deck on the NBA's Andrea
Doria.
Gugliotta, of course, had come to Golden State as part of the lunatic
Chris Webber deal, which had sparked the Rony Seikaly deal, which helped
hasten Don Nelson's firing, which began with the Mitch Richmond deal and ... oh, hell, let's get to the point. Donyell Marshall, through no fault of his own save his own modest credentials, represented the horrific downfall of a
once incredibly average professional sports franchise.
That's a remarkable load to drop on one human being, but when you're
talking about sports, such burdens are tossed about with great ease and
considerable glee. We don't think about how it can affect a person's life, or
his psyche, or her self-esteem, or their entire futures.
I think the people at HBO make hour-long retrospectives about the
victims of our expectations.
On the other hand, Donyell Marshall did make $42 million, and he seemed
a nice enough chap, and he played as well as he could with the talent he was
given to develop.
Oh, and one more thing. He knew, as did we all, that the Warriors
without him would have been just as gruesome and unwatchable had the
Gugliotta trade never been made. He just happened to be proof on the hoof
that the Warriors went through almost an entire decade without putting a
single foot right, and you have no idea how hard that is to do.
I mean, even the Clippers have made the playoffs in the last few years.
But we digress. Marshall was already known as the guy who wasn't Jason
Kidd, Grant Hill or Glenn Robinson, so to be blamed for not saving the
Warriors from their well-deserved fate seemed to him, and us, to be
excessively gratuitous. In fact, he was quite the good sport about it, all
things considered.
Thus, to finally be traded, if in fact this convoluted meatpile of a
deal actually comes off, can be considered something of a reward for
Marshall. Not because he is being rewarded for years of devoted service, but
because, well, enough's enough. To be a Warrior for all six years of the
current ghastliness is more than enough penance, and to be a witness to some
of the greatest player vs. coach insurrections of the modern era is plenty
for a great book:
"Hey, I Didn't Trade For Me," by Donyell Marshall as told to Ernie
Broglio and Lou Cordileone, available at amazon.com, Borders, Barnes and
Noble and all other fine, semi-fine and downright seedy bookstores
everywhere. Published by Free At Last, Free At Last, Living In Salt Lake City
And Free At Last Press.
Ray Ratto, a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.
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