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Let's rehash the Derrick Fisher controversy

BluesRocker said:
I am sure that it has been talked about at lengths around here, and I know how mad it makes the seasoned posters around here to talk about old subjects. But since there are a lot of new people and this is the nature of a message board, here we go.

There is all the this talk about whether to boo or not to boo Deron, or former players. And I have heard other posters in here bring up the Fisher booing.
I take the position that we shouldn't boo Deron, and it would be B.S. to do so. But Fisher is a different story. Now, to an outsider it may seem that Jazz fans are messed up for booing him for leaving. And it would be if he didn't leave the way he did.

Here is my version of what happened and I would like to see what the rest of you think.

I remember the day when the press conference was held for Fisher to announce that he was asking out of his contract so he could care for his daughter. A lot of people in the main stream media I bet missed this. I think that they would have a different opion if they heard what was said. 1. During the press conference Fisher had everybody sold, including Larry Miller, that he believed his career was over. He was asked repeatedly if he thought he would play again and he made it clear that it was doubtful. 2. He claimed that the only care he could get was in New York and New York alone. And that he was going to need to be with his daughter during that time. He claimed that he could not adhere to the demands of the traveling that being in the nba requires. He had Larry Miller in tears and just about everyone else at that press conference. I remember really feeling bad for the man at the time. It was a very emotional press conference. Heck, he even had the commisioner convinced that this was necessary.

Literally three weeks later he was signing with the Lakers!

HuH?

What?

Derrick I thought you were done. And what about being with your daughter? L.A. isn't closer to New York than Utah.

That is what Jazz fans were thinking!

I think that Jazz fans really felt burned by this. And so did Larry Miller. To me that man used his daughter's health problems to get back to the Lakers and he knew what he was doing. His daughter wasn't miraculously cured and nothing could have changed three weeks later. So that is why he gets booed around here. Not because Utah fans are terrible people. I hate that the media didn't do their homework on this.
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1. That's a definite lie. https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=6283486&itype=NGPSID&keyword=&qtype= Fisher NEVER said he was done playing basketball for good.

https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=6285059&itype=NGPSID

"This is what I have to do to go forward and manage her care," he said. "I have no plans to retire from basketball, but her care is what we have to consider first and foremost, and we'll go down the line in terms of steps we need to take care of in that arena first."

2. Again. False. You are lying. https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=6287603&itype=NGPSID

The retinal cancer that his daughter is battling has not worsened, but Fisher said both Tatum and her twin brother, Drew, who has not developed the cancer, will require regular medical care for another 32 months, through the duration of the contract.

That care, which requires a combination of specialized pediatricians, pediatric oncologists and pediatric ophthalmologists, was not available in Salt Lake City, even at the Huntsman Cancer Center, Fisher said.

He added that only a "handful" of cities fit for both Tatum and Drew's care and for Fisher to continue his basketball career. At the same time, Fisher questioned how many teams in those cities would be interested in a soon-to-be 33-year-old guard.
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I remember reading somewhere the cities that were in that handful. Can't find it yet. LA was, of course, one of them. Off hand, I think Seattle was another one. New York was only for chemotherapy. It was the after care that opened a few extra cities up.
 
Zulu said:
I have been mum on what happened, until the other night during the Lakers game when Harpring was talking about his conversation with Fisher and about all the frequent traveler's miles he has racked up going back and forth from LA to NYC. That pissed me off!
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Um...you do realize he was in New York for a different reason, right?
 
franklin said:
For the record, I didn't read anything you wrote other than the title.

I hated the Jazz signing Dork Fisher but I rooted for him while he was here. I didn't care how or why he got out of his contract because it meant a Laker out of the locker room. I felt whole again.
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Jazz didn't sign Fisher. Golden State did. Jazz traded three players you wouldn't even remember for him.
 
Darkwing Duck said:
1. That's a definite lie. https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=6283486&itype=NGPSID&keyword=&qtype= Fisher NEVER said he was done playing basketball for good.

https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=6285059&itype=NGPSID

"This is what I have to do to go forward and manage her care," he said. "I have no plans to retire from basketball, but her care is what we have to consider first and foremost, and we'll go down the line in terms of steps we need to take care of in that arena first."

2. Again. False. You are lying. https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=6287603&itype=NGPSID



I remember reading somewhere the cities that were in that handful. Can't find it yet. LA was, of course, one of them. Off hand, I think Seattle was another one. New York was only for chemotherapy. It was the after care that opened a few extra cities up.
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Did you actually hear the press conference for your self? Ya he left the door open that he would play again, and he left the door open for treatment centers elsewhere besides New York. But his tone was much different. Anyone listening to that press conference would have gotten the message that he was to go to New York and put his career on hold indefinitely. He signed with the Lakers way too soon for any of that to change that soon.
 
BluesRocker said:
Did you actually hear the press conference for your self? Ya he left the door open that he would play again, and he left the door open for treatment centers elsewhere besides New York. But his tone was much different. Anyone listening to that press conference would have gotten the message that he was to go to New York and put his career on hold indefinitely. He signed with the Lakers way too soon for any of that to change that soon.
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The timing of the signing was the only issue. His tone was that he didn't think anyone would want to sign him. Kupchak called him immediately. Fisher obviously didn't contemplate the implication of signing so quickly with the most hated team in Utah. I think his seeming obliviousness to why Jazz fans would be upset at his quick signing with the Lakers is the most concerning thing.
 
You mormons talk all about family but i guess if you aint mormon you dont matter right? LA has better medical hospitals then salt lake city. Get over it.Geez
 
And to be exact. It wasn't even 3 weeks later that he signed with the Lakers. It was 17 days. All the while his girl was getting treatment in New York. What? He couldnt play in Utah and get the treatment in New York. I say again. Utah is closer to New York than L.A.
 
BluesRocker said:
And to be exact. It wasn't even 3 weeks later that he signed with the Lakers. It was 17 days. All the while his girl was getting treatment in New York. What? He couldnt play in Utah and get the treatment in New York. I say again. Utah is closer to New York than L.A.
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His girl was getting chemotherapy in New York. His girl was getting after care in Los Angeles.
 
If it wasn't about getting out of Utah to go play in L.A., and he was so worried about being with his daughter, then he should have sat out at least a year. Or waited til months later to sign with a new team. To me, it wasn't so much about the fact he signed with the Lakers. It was that he signed with any team so soon. If he plays on any team that year. It would mean that he would be doing a lot of traveling. And he wasn't sincere with his doubts on his return. 17 days! That's it! That's all it took for him to decide that it was cool to continue traveling around the states and playing ball while his child was deathly ill.

I challenge you to find the audio from that press conference. You might see things differently
 
BluesRocker said:
If it wasn't about getting out of Utah to go play in L.A., and he was so worried about being with his daughter, then he should have sat out at least a year. Or waited til months later to sign with a new team. To me, it wasn't so much about the fact he signed with the Lakers. It was that he signed with any team so soon. If he plays on any team that year. It would mean that he would be doing a lot of traveling. And he wasn't sincere with his doubts on his return. 17 days! That's it! That's all it took for him to decide that it was cool to continue traveling around the states and playing ball while his child was deathly ill.

I challenge you to find the audio from that press conference. You might see things differently
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Like I said, the timing is the biggest issue. One did expect him to sit out a year.

But he ended up in a city where more than half his games were in a city where he had care for his daughter, instead of 3 or 4.
 
In fact. 17 days was the time difference between release and signing. I'm sure L.A. didn't approach him on the 17th day and say hey we have an offer, and that's when he made his mind up. He knew long before he signed with L.A. where and what his plans were.
 
The Thriller said:
Lets talk about the most important issue, is LIED still available?

Fisher-Lied-thumb-599x398-20446.png
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FYI: she's married.
 
BluesRocker said:
In fact. 17 days was the time difference between release and signing. I'm sure L.A. didn't approach him on the 17th day and say hey we have an offer, and that's when he made his mind up. He knew long before he signed with L.A. where and what his plans were.
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Like I said, I'm 100% certain Kupchak contacted him immediately. Fisher was released during the moratorium period where no one could sign. I'm sure they started negotiating soon afterward. I'm also pretty sure Fisher's first choice would have been L.A., so he jumped. Upsetting for Jazz fans, but not egregious.
 
I never understood why folks got worked up about this. Fisher leaving was good for Fish, and Fisher leaving was good for the Jazz. I think the Jazz were actually happy to get out of paying him the balance of his salary. I mean look what they had to do to get out of Harpring's money.

It was a win/win situation, I think a lot of panties need to be unbunched.
 
I always wondered if Larry Miller contacted the commish when all this came down. I had no problem with Fisher getting out of his contract, but due to the unusual circumstances here the commish SHOULD have been involved from the get-go to put some stipulations on Fisher playing in the NBA. AT LEAST he should have been barred from signing with another team that season. I think everyone involved and the media too got caught up in the emotion of the situation and kinda forgot the NBA is still a business. This situation was flat out poorly handled from that standpoint.
 
I also remember an article regarding the Lakers where THEY contacted the NBA to ensure there were no stipulations in them signing Fisher. The tone of the article strongly implied Kupchak was incredulous there were NO STIPULATIONS AT ALL; they could just sign him whenever they wanted! Don't have a link, but I do remember reading it.
 
NotDeadYet said:
I always wondered if Larry Miller contacted the commish when all this came down. I had no problem with Fisher getting out of his contract, but due to the unusual circumstances here the commish SHOULD have been involved from the get-go to put some stipulations on Fisher playing in the NBA. AT LEAST he should have been barred from signing with another team that season. I think everyone involved and the media too got caught up in the emotion of the situation and kinda forgot the NBA is still a business. This situation was flat out poorly handled from that standpoint.
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