Fast Break: The McDyess Fiasco: Problem Personalities Need Not Apply in Denver

Cruising the internet, I have found a large number of Colorado “basketball fans” who are happy that Antonio McDyess wants to embarrass the Nuggets franchise by refusing to play for them after he was traded from the Pistons, along with Chauncey Billups, for Allen Iverson. The Nuggets have been trading for and then spitting out very solid but not superstar players for years and years, and McDyess was spit out of the Mile High City in June 2002.

McDyess is at least a quality 6th man power forward with a lot more heavy duty pressure playoff experience than that young whippersnapper Linas Kleiza, or than Kenyon Martin for that matter. That the Nuggets need him is obvious, though no one least of all me is going to say that the Nuggets are going to be able to get the other pieces to build a playoff winning team any time soon. But you have to start somewhere.

And it seems that the Nuggets can not even start somewhere let alone see the light at the end of the tunnel for their quest to build a team that could win a playoff. Not only does the player himself not want to play for them, because he perceived he was run out of town on a rail in the middle of the night, but many of the “fans” are glad that McDyess does not want to play for the Nuggets.

The Colorado fans are commonly posting that McDyess has this or that personality defect, and so they are glad that he will not play for the Nuggets. Coach George Karl is notorious for thinking that personalities determine the fate of basketball teams. Coaches, especially ones who would already have been fired if they were coaching for another franchise, generally reflect the opinions and outlooks of the higher ups in the organization.

Meanwhile back in Detroit, many ironically like McDyess’ personality. Some even see “the perfect gentleman” type personality in the native of Mississippi and the University of Alabama. They desperately want McDyess back on their squad for what he has proven he can do for a deep playoff team, regardless of his personality. They’re loyal like that in Detroit.

But in Denver the wheels turn round and round the center points of the personality and the style things. “If we could only get the right personalities on our team, we could finally match up with the great teams of the West” they intone. They are looking around all the time and everywhere for personalities and styles, not so much for capabilities and strategic fits. They look at the waiver wire and see a player who they think has a “good personality” and they say “Man, if we get him, his personality will do our team a lot of good.” They look around at prospective free agents and rule out ones with bad personalities. There was never a chance in hell that Ron Artest would ever be allowed to become a Denver Nugget last year.

But Chauncey Billups? What are many in Colorado saying about him? “Oh, he’s such a nice man. So he must be just the man we want on our basketball team. Yes, he will get us a playoff win or two, I’m sure of it. He’s so nice and all, and his style is nice too. His style is pure; he’s a pure point guard. That’s what everyone is saying in the Denver newspapers.”

Laugh out loud, Denver.

The impulsive and immature personality of J.R. Smith on the Nuggets? Let’s listen in to Colorado “fans” as they discuss the New Jersey native known as “The Chosen One”:

“He’s really a good boy; just someone who needed some direction and a lot of bench time and some good talking to. By refusing to start him, we are putting the fear of God in him by God, and we are molding him into being a starter in the future, maybe 6 years from now or so”

Laugh out loud, Denver.

When, if ever, are the majority of Colorado fans going to learn that nice personalities are nice and nice styles are nice and cream puffs are nice, but basketball players can still be great with fairly rotten personalities and with fairly strange styles and with immature styles?

How many years is it going to take them to learn that? How many decades? Or should it be: how many centuries? How many losing seasons will they have before they come down from this obsession with personalities and styles? Will Carmelo Anthony stay when his contract is over and continue to have his personality and style raked over the coals? Will he ever do cornrows again?
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