kidding me???
hes only our TEAM.

there’s no way monta is done he understands that he is the man when he gets back. I still think he should accept his fine because he deserved it. Honestly if a void happens and Monta is done with the warriors it will cause anarchy. I bought a Monta jersey the day he signed and he hasn’t even played in a game for me to rep it!

Dude Rowell better work this out. He better not try and act like a tough guy to the point where monta wants out. Monta is the future of this team, we need him. I am just praying that he doesn’t leave.

ARE YOU READY TO SAY BYE TO MONTA AND HELLO TO ANOTHER 12 YEAR PLAYOFF DROUGHT?! CAUSE I AM AND IT’S GONNNAA HAPPPEN WHETHER YOU LIKE IT ORRRRR NOTTT! F THE WARRIORS AND ALL YOU WARRIORS FANS. I HOPE ALL YOU BANDWAGON HOPPERS DISPERSE AND WE GET BACK THE OLD CORE GROUP OF FANS. DEATH TO THE WARRIORS…..FOR NOW. MUUAHAHAHAHA LOLZ

here we go again, If monta bounce were going to really suck and no one wants to play here anymore. Oh well I’m used to it. Been a fan since 94 and it nothing new to me.

You guys I swear… First off, Ray Ratto is naturaly Negative. Second, Tim Kawakami wants to be Ray Ratto…

Also why on god’s name would Ellis want to leave? YOu think anyone else is going to give an undersized SG who cant play Defense and is coming off a MAJOR injury to his jumping leg ( Monta is a 1 leg jumper ) 66 million dollars?

If this is true Monta is dumber, and more nieve then I thought! Right now he needs to know his role, and shut the f*** up! I mean he screwed up big time. He should be in the corner, making everyone pancakes, and topping off gatorades. I dont want to hear all this BS about him being the team etc..
How many games has he won without Baron? 0.

How many playoff games was he instrumental in? 0.

How many All-Star games has he been to? 0.

Stop drinking this coolade, and lets wait and see. He was an athletic freak, who hurt his jumping leg in a VERY severe way, lied about it, and is now being punished… deservedly so.

Who wrote that? Kawakami?

Man, I just wrote 3 paragraphs on this and IE crashed…

Anyways, I don’t think this situation should be dismissed so easily. This can seriously get out of hand. It’s not about “where would Monta go?”. It’s about not playing for a team that is wiling to hold something over a player for the length of their contract.

Monta made a mistake, owned up to it, and (although he doesn’t agree with it) is taking his punishment. That should be it, end of story. RR however, wants to hold Monta’s nuts in a vice for the next 6 years. Why would anyone want to work for an employer like that? If in Year 3, Monta has a down year where he’s a little slow and not getting to the hoop, RR can say “It’s because of your injured ankle, we’re voiding your contract”. Who wants to play for someone with that looming over their head.

It’s also not about him bitching about the fine. He’s willing to pay the fine and move on. It’s about RR holding his contract over his head for the next 6 years. The W’s face the risk of alienating not only their brightest star, but potential FA and their fans too. After all the losing seasons, busted draft picks, losing Agent 0, etc… the W’s finally have some hope. If they push Monta out the door because of this, I’m positive they will lose some fans for good.

Let Monta pay the fine and let the situation drop. I know it’s easy to say because it’s not my money, but there’s a whole lot more at risk than $66 mill. RR will put this team in the dumps if he forces Monta out the door. No one will want to come play for this team.

What is up with the Bay Area and the mis-management of its pro teams? It’s like the Sharks are the only well run team…

Like I said, I know why they are doing it. They spent $66 million dollars in the off season to sign Monta Ellis, not Monta Ellis with busted leg. We all know that. If they don’t put out this provision, and Monta comes back playing at 80%, they aren’t getting their money’s worth. If they want to do that, that’s fine, but they’ve got to realize that this comes with the price of potentially alienating your star player and every other free agent they choose to evaluate.

You’re missing the main point. The general public opinion is that RR did well to hold his ground and fine Monta for violating the terms of his contract, even though Mullin and Nelson disagreed. However, leaving in the threat to void his contract in the future is what’s going to be the PR nightmare of this situation. How do you qualify what “100% Monta” is? It’s not like you can put a 40yd time on him. Monta averaged 20.2 points last year. What if he averages 19.4 this year? Or 18.6 the next year? Is that enough to say that’s not a 100% healthy Monta Ellis? Insisting that this the option for voiding his contract be left open brings these situations to the table for the life of Monta’s contract. If you don’t think marquee FA are going to pay attention to that, you’re kidding yourself.

The W’s have every right to protect themselves financially. The question I have is at what cost? So let’s say Monta is pissed off, RR stands his ground and says “okay, we’ll void your contract, get the hell out of here.” The W’s potentially save themselves from paying $66 mill to a “possibly gimpy” player, but what does it do to 1) the team on the floor now and 2) the team’s reputation around the league?

You can keep harping about Monta’s leg and his athletecism and $66 million dollars, but that’s not the point. Yes, he messed up his leg, and yes, there’s a chance he might not be the same, and yes, there is a chance the W’s may lose out on their investment. But to what length should a team go to protecting their investment? It’s not all about the $66 million dollars. Think about what sort of a PR hit the team will take if Monta leaves? You might say “good riddance”, but how many other casual fans will say “Wow, first Gilbert, and now Monta? What the heck is this team doing?”

Think beyond the $66 million in the contract. The ramifications go way further than just Monta’s contract. It affects the team’s reputation, which directly links to future revenue, FA signings, etc… all of which are about the dollar. If they want to protect themselves, put some qualifiers in, like “if Monta misses XX number of games due to injuries related to the accident” or put the evaluation period in for the rest of this season (not the length of the contract).

There is some level of cooperation and good will that needs to be shown here. Yes, this is a business and it is a lot of money, but it’s not all black and white. If you don’t believe that, ask yourself, why did the Bulls buyout Jay Williams’ contract after he blatantly violated the terms of his deal by riding a motorcycle? Shouldn’t they have just voided his contract?

great post, very good points. This does go way beyond the money aspect, it is a reflection on the team and ownership. It’s never good when there is this much being written about management i.e New York Knicks

Plain and simple. As sjboy said, monta is not a person, he’s a product, one that we as warriors fans are paying for via tickets, merchandise, etc. With that being said, while im totally in favor of RR holding the right to void Ellis’ contract once he comes back and plays a few games, it would be ludicrous for him to hold that right for anything beyond this season. If Ellis returns around mid Dec/Jan., let him play out the season and we can evaluate his health. But by the end of this season, or even the start of training camp next season, there needs to be a final decision on whether or not Monta is a Dub or a UR free agent. Thats all the time i think Rowell should need to make a decision thats in the best interest of the organization. As of now, it is way too early to tell whether or not voiding monta’s contract is a sound move or not. Ellis needs to suck it up, and accept the fact that he is on notice for the remainder of this season.