[The Athletic] Blazers owner Tom Dundon doesn’t care that others say he’s cheap
But instead of worrying about defensive strategy, or his rotation, Splitter was worried about the team masseuse. By order of new owner Tom Dundon, all members of the Blazers’ traveling party — with the exception of players and coaches — had to check out of their hotel at 12:30 p.m. in an effort to avoid late-checkout fees.
Splitter, the team’s interim head coach, had just heard an earful from the masseuse, who had nowhere to provide treatment for the players ahead of that night’s game. And she wasn’t the only one complaining. Splitter eventually called a confidant, and vented his frustration.
“I told (Splitter) he can’t be focused on this while he is about to coach his most important game,” the person Splitter called told The Athletic. “And he was like, ‘But what if the masseuse decides that she doesn’t want to do a good job because she’s angry and then she doesn’t do a good job on Deni (Avdija)? Then it affects me, too.‘”
To wit: The Blazers are the only NBA team in the playoffs who are not traveling their two-way players, a move to save on hotels and food first reported by The Rose Garden Report. Also, the team’s traveling party of support staff was trimmed — the award-winning team photographer and digital reporter did not travel with the team for its playoff series in San Antonio. And as Splitter has done an admirable job as interim coach — he was thrust into the position before the season’s second game when Chauncey Billups was arrested by the FBI in a gambling probe — Dundon has conducted a phone-book’s worth of interviews with college and pro coaches, breaching the etiquette that sitting NBA coaches are usually afforded.
When he bought the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes in 2017, he made several cost-cutting moves, including firing the team’s broadcasters and skimping on the salaries of coach Rod Brind’Amour and his staff. Yet, in the wake of those moves, the Hurricanes have become one of the NHL’s elite teams.
Armed with the confidence that his approach works, Dundon sent out an edict to Blazers managers shortly after he and his investment team took over on March 31 after 81 percent of the $4.25 billion sale closed.
“The directive was ‘Why are we wasting money? Let’s think about this prudently,‘” a team source told The Athletic. “Essentially he was saying, ‘Let’s make things like (the traveling party) be about who needed to be there, not it-would-be-nice-if-they-come.‘”
“The amount of disrespect (toward Splitter) that’s going on is beyond description,” a league source said. “It’s like, every day a new name is coming up. It’s the most vicious thing I’ve encountered in 30-plus years.”
Reports have said the Blazers have tried to low-ball offers to college coaches, as well as an offer to Splitter with a modest raise from his current salary of $850,000 as interim. However, multiple sources said Dundon has not made an offer to Splitter.
If Dundon has made one thing clear in his first month as owner, it’s this: He cares more about winning than he does people’s opinion. He vows he will spend on the roster — a source said he is already committed to dipping into the salary tax next season to land a star player — and has been matter of fact about his disdain for frills, his popularity be damned.
When asked at his introductory news conference whether he cared if he was liked, he said “on the list of things I care about, it’s lower.”
“I ought to tell you, I don’t think he gives a rat’s ass what is said about him,” the league source said. “Most owners care. They insulate themselves because they care very much about their image and profile. He doesn’t give a f—. He doesn’t even flinch with this stuff.”
The team source says that indifference is one of Dundon’s “superpowers” — he isn’t easily influenced by the sway of public opinion.
“He is unapologetic,” the team source said. “All he cares about is what is good for the team and what makes the team win. Which means he is going to be OK making tough decisions.”
As for the fans? When they arrive at the Moda Center for Friday’s Game 3 against San Antonio, there will not be the customary free T-shirt waiting on the seats. When team president Dewayne Hankins announced the no-shirt decision, fans were up in arms, chalking it up to another cheapskate move by the new owner.
On the contrary, Dundon was thinking about the players and how he could create a competitive advantage.
“Tom’s point of view was how do we get even more home-court advantage?” a team source said. “So he wanted to experiment a little bit with something that could create noise, and where 19,000 are waving something when the Spurs are shooting free throws. That’s better than a T-shirt.”
Time will tell if Dundon’s approach will be better than to what this once-proud franchise had become accustomed. But everyone agrees, it has been an uneven start.
“His heart is in the right place,” the team source said. “He is going to build this thing into a winner, I know it. And I know three years from now, or five years from now, people are going to love it.
“But over the next 12 months, they are going to hate it.”
Source: The Athletic