FanNation - The Republic of Sport

Oh there are so many stupid STUPID owners and general managers these days. So many franchises have been left in complete disarray because of God awful decisions that even a drunk with a grammar school education wouldn't have made. But who is the lowest of the low? Obviously the biggest villain right now is Clay Bennett and rightfully so. But his tyranny in robbing the people of Seattle of their team is more of a political evil than a managerial failure. He's in a class by himself. But aside from him, I'm counting down the 5 biggest dunces in professional basketball.

5. Steve Kerr (Phoenix Suns)
Do I think trading for Shaq was a bad move in and of itself? Not really. But come on Steve, you could have done so much better in shopping Shawn Marion. You mortgaged the second best long term investment for your club in exchange for a guy who is on his way out and has the 5th highest salary in the NBA. Nash is not the star he used to be and Shaq will continue to decline in the next two years. The future is not bright in Phoenix talent-wise. Furthermore, Kerr thinks he can be a backseat driver in running the team on the court. Again, I don't disagree that D'Antoni's coaching methods leave a lot to be desired. He simply plays up the strengths of his players without teaching them how to overcome their weaknesses, and Amare Stoudemire is not thriving in that environment nearly as much as he should. But Steve, nobody likes an armchair coach. Work on your people skills.

4. Glen Taylor (Minnesota Timberwolves)
Wow, what can you say about this guy? Not only did he drive his meal ticket out of town, but then he saw fit to bad mouth him afterwards. KG didn't deserve that. He's got McHale making back room deals with Danny Ainge to unload Garnett for, what did they get for him again? He blew the chance to build the franchise into a winner so many times and is now left with nothing. He could have at least secured someone who could sell tickets to Wolves' games. Instead that franchise is going to be stuck in the lottery for a very long time.

3. Mark Cuban (Dallas Mavericks)
You really seem to know what you're doing dude. The answer to the Mavericks' problem of not being able to grab their junk and get the job done obviously was to give up a ton of guys for an over the hill veteran who can't score or play defense. That was the worst trade I've seen in years. At least the Shaq deal was inventive and gave a big boost to the team's merchandise sales. Cuban's blind loyalty to Nowitzki is killing the franchise. He's not a guy that can carry a team and he never will be, no matter how many hours he puts in. Avery Johnson was not the sharpest knife in the drawer as a coach either, but getting rid of him won't change the team's culture. Cuban is delusional if he thinks his current roster could ever contend in the western conference. Perhaps he's been hitting a few too many circles with Josh Howard.

2. Isiah Thomas (New York Knicks)
Good lord what a trainwreck. What ISN'T wrong with that team? An $88 million dollar payroll for a team that is a laughing stock?! That's $25 million dollars in luxury tax alone, almost as much as a contract for one Stephon Marbury who obviously has no intention of even trying. And what kind of a bone head thinks he can be a coach and GM at the same time? No wonder no one respects him, including his own players. And what does Mr. Thomas do for an encore? Why cost the Knicks millions more in a sexual harassment suit of course. James Dolan let Isiah spend money like it was going to rot, and still keeps him in the organization even after finally being convinced that Thomas couldn't coach pee wee basketball, let alone an NBA team with an array of attitudes. It makes me think that Isiah has some incriminating pictures of Dolan or something.

1. John Paxson (Chicago Bulls)
Maybe I'm a little bit biased. Maybe I'm a little bit bitter. But for the love of all that is holy, this guy is the single biggest dumbass in an NBA front office today. Sure Reinsdorf is the devil, a guy who could afford to have a payroll of hundreds of millions of dollars, tax and all, and couldn't possibly care less about the team's success. But Paxson has done the complete opposite of common sense at every turn since he took the job. He stole a few draft picks from the Knicks, but his judgment is disgraceful. The Bulls need big guys? Let's trade away Elton Brand, let Tyson Chandler go, trade Lamarcus Aldridge for a vastly inferior Tyrus Thomas for the bonus of Viktor Khryapa, and then sink all the cap space into a big guy who can't score to save his life and shoots free throws worse than Shaq. The Bulls need a coach? Let's invest in Scott Skiles, a guy who is excellent at turning a terrible team into a mediocre one but will never be a real winner. Then let's fire him midseason and let an assistant take his place that the players don't respect, effectively conceding any chance to make the playoffs, and have no idea who will take over. The Bulls need to make a big midseason trade? Let's pull the trigger at the last minute and bring in some half wits that couldn't cut it as LeBron's teammates and toss out Joe Smith, the guy who was having the best season of anyone on the club. And who do we keep? A guy named Ben Gordon who is every bit as dumb as Paxson, who thinks that no matter how many times he tries to drive the lane against 4 guys at the end of a game leading to a dunk for the other team that maybe the next time he tries it he'll suddenly be 6 inches taller. And the crowning achievement of Paxson idiocy: his absolute refusal to negotiate during that brief window where he could have landed Kobe Bryant, the most valuable player in the NBA. Yeah, it was such a good idea to refuse to give up more underachievers in exchange for the guy who has come the closest to the talent of the guy that has his own statue outside the United Center. Pax, I love you for hitting all those big shots for us in the Finals, but as the boss you just plain SUCK! Just do us all a favor and quit.