CJ McCollum explains why he gave up his starting spot to 19 year old Kingston Fleming, saying the team’s long term success depends on developing its younger players
Props to CJ for saying such things and acting accordingly.
Want him back?
No
Lol at this thread
Only if you take Scoot.
As a Blazers fan I’ll always love CJ, always seemed like a class act and gives good interviews. I hope he goes on to broadcasting when he retires, because the times he’s stepped into those roles he’s done a fantastic job
Dude I would love to have CJ in blazers broadcasts after his retirement
Dundun: best I can do is a cheap AI announcer with the voice of CJ from San Andreas
Ahhh shit here we go again
Yes please
He’s going into broadcasting this season. Amazon announced it the other day
Oh snap, not sure how i missed that. But awesome!
I think he majored in journalism at Lehigh.
I didn’t know Bron is running his own highschool.
Yaknow what…
Wouldn’t be surprised at all if he becomes a GM at some point if he isn’t interested in coaching, once his playing days are over.
Only thing I don’t like about CJ is he’s a bad negotiator when it comes to the CBA stuff
Never heard any players say that. So he must have been representing and negotiating on their behalf well.
Ay, P, they say I’m coming off the bench.
“I don’t know any franchise players that come off the bench. I don’t know any Olympian that comes off the bench. I don’t know any All-Star that comes off the bench. I don’t know any former MVP that comes off the bench. I don’t know any three-time scoring champion that comes off the bench… Why Allen Iverson?”
I don’t know any former MVP that comes off the bench.
AI didn’t learn his history - McAdoo and Walton both came off the bench during the 80s
Nah this was just peak 2000’s dumb coaches. AI was the Sixers best player, 5th in MVP, and averaging 30 and this is what the coach was talking about to the media. There’s a reason why Chris Ford never worked again after this quote.
A better contrast is the Carmelo Anthony quote.
Iverson was still a superstar, whereas McAdoo and Walton were far past their prime, right?
Yeah, that’s not quite the same. AI may have had an ego, but as a coach, managing the egos is part of the job.
Ginobili wasn’t quite on Iverson’s level and doesn’t totally match that description, but he was a star-calibre player who was willing to play off the bench and sacrifice for the team, and I will always respect that.
“i get paid the same to do less and still close games”
takes a certain level of humility and lack of ego a lot of players would lack in his situation regardless
Humility
Think it’s also good for his future contracts though knowing he’s not a locker room problem as he ages and understands his role to adapt. This is just good business regardless of his true feelings
humbleness
Humility?
Humblography
yes, thank you lmao
He’s just a nice guy with two kids and a wife
Julius Randle was all nba very recently lol. Of course he’s not doing that yet. He’s still playing to get paid and to g on a contender
People are unreasonable in their expectations for these guys and their outlook.
To be a bit nit picky here, is 4 seasons ago really “very recently”?
Julius Randle is a good player. May not have been a great fit on your team, but it’s a bullshit Reddit take to act like he doesn’t deserve minutes.
Stat padding on a bad team is gonna get him his next contract.
It’s also like, what’s he supposed to do on the Nets? There is stat padding but him and MPJ were brought in to just get points. With teams that have bottomed out and are rebuilding, a lot of those young players don’t have the tools to score like that yet. Clearly MPJ and Randle are there to just get points to keep the game more competitive so the youth can develop. If he isn’t scoring, you’re asking him to just do stuff that’s not in his wheelhouse and I don’t think the nets want him trying to be Jokic if he can’t actually do that.
Randle is also 32 and wants to win.. McCollum is on the verge of retiring. Seems like his priority is being healthy for his family.
Idk all the details there, but we’re they really asking him to reduce his role and he refused? He was what, 29 or 30, in the prime of his career making upwards of $30M.. recent all-NBA. I don’t really think they were asking him to come off the bench or reduce his shot diet to single digits
Moreso closing games he should not have as to not ruffle his feathers and not giving effort on defense where that was required.
He shouldn’t have to from his perspective. He’s still at the point of trying to earn a payday.
That’s fair.
ay C they said I humbled the ball !!
Easier said than done. Melo and Kobe could’ve said the same thing
“I’m a condescendingly incorrect redditor, give me upvotes”
In order to say this yourself, you have to care about upvotes as well lol
I mean, CJ is the head of the players union for a reason. He married a dentist. Obviously he’s a well rounded guy who has put some thought into his life and so I don’t think he’s looking at that way
He married a dentist guys!
Shows he married someone who had agency and some level of intelligence. Most players marry professional baby mamas.
We don’t know who “most players” marry.
Yeah that was weird
I’m guessing you’ve never played competitive sports in your life or have barely followed pro sports at all? Most athletes that get to CJs level have a lot of pride and don’t want to accept that maybe they’re not as good as they used to be, regardless of what they’re getting paid.
Wish Harden was like this. Cavs have best offense in the NBA when he isn’t in the court, and 26th when he does. Maleek and Proctor have been awesome too, fucking harden..
CJ moved out the way, now it’s time for Jalen to come off the ball
I mean he’s a vet, he’s president of the player’s union. He gets paid the same whether he’s starting or coming off the bench. Why not let the young guys get their chance and step in when the team needs him? It’s less work for him and he gets to be a team player.
Check is still going to clear either way lmao
Yeah, if only guys like Melo would think the same way. He could still be playing.
CJ was never Melo, not close. How many guys of Melo’s caliber willingly take a backseat like that?
True CJ has actually played in a conference finals before
Fair. But if McCollum wanted, he could play the seniority, superior card. Ultimately, I guess ego is a hard thing to overcome.
Dude has never even been an all star. Why would he even have an ego in the first place
He wasn’t Melo but he’s better than he’s gonna be remembered. 22 point scorer for a decade, one of the most consistent 3 point shooters during that stretch. Not a #1 guy and maybe not even a #2 but he has a career to be proud of.
That’s my nice guy with two kids and a wife! 😤
Cj going nuclear(family)
Flemming really feels like the skeleton key that would turn the Hawks from “interesting 6th seed” to “actual contender”
He offers the rim pressure we desperately need, it opens up a lot for our offense in the halfcourt.
There are still some growing pains though, as expected, so idk if it’ll be this year that he fulfills that potential.
He does not scream superstar tho. Potential all star? Yeah
His improvement since summer league has been very impressive. He isn’t being empowered to be a scorer, yet - but just look at his summer league highlights vs recent highlights. He couldn’t finish at the rim over the summer at all. He had no left hand in summer league or college, so teams just shaded to his right and stone walled him.
He’s already developed his left hand. It’s where most of his highlights finishing at the rim have come from in the last couple of weeks
His first step is just devastating. Multiple Hawks players that have played with Trae Young have said Kingston might be the fastest player they’ve ever played with.
And he’s hitting 40%+ from 3. Tbh I expect him to drop 40 at some point later this year as Quin gets more comfortable running the offense through him.
i didn’t know anything about him but caught a little bit of a hawks game and that first step POPS
he looks so tiny out there but the speed and quickness is instantly noticeable
He could maybe max out at that Kyle Lowry, Mike Conley, Fred VanVleet tier of PG, though, and that’s the kind of guy you want as a foundational piece of a great team
Yeah but his playmaking and finishing potential unlocks so much for everyone else
No, but really good PG who can fully unlock the true superstar is all he needs to be and I can absolutely see him reaching that.
I don’t know. There is a major difference between interesting “surprise” team and being a contender.
I’d argue mulitple levels, and not one single player will change that.
at some point you realize that you’ve made 280 mil and probably have gotten your last big contract. time to cruise
Classy self-aware guy.
Love CJ. We had to trade him because he was winning us too many games lol.
Props to CJ honestly
Well damn….. respectable.
Carmelo would never
Did Carmelo steal your girl or something?
He sabotaged Jeremy Lin’s career out of jealousy, forced a trade mid-season that hampered both the Nuggets and Knicks for years and acted like a cancer to every team he was on in his later years. Biggest waste of talent in the last 30 years except maybe Demarcus Cousins. I don’t know how he still has fans.
Jeremy Lin himself has asked people to stop talking about his link to Carmelo, so maybe you should try that? Believe it or not, neither of them know you and they won’t see this.
I don’t blame him after he sat on that couch and melo was lying to his face years later ☠️
he should go to Carmelo’s house instead of hate on here. that’ll be better.
Kingston is exciting and CJ knows ball. This is smarter to do now, than later when all your starters are out with blown testicles on a Draymond match.
Go back to Portland
Class
CJ has a selfish playstyle, but he’s such an unselfish teammate and a leader on every team he’s been on.
He’s always just gotten it.
That’s great but CJ closing halves is killing us. He’s been awful.
Lost to a 1-8 Bulls 🤦🏽♂️
I… did not know CJ was with the Hawks. Huh.Sorry, Jennifer
He was killing it for them last playoffs