Now that he got Donatas Motiejunas an offer sheet from the Nets, agent B.J. Armstrong can lodge back-in-my-day complaints on behalf of another client.
This time, it’s Draymond Green.
The Warriors forward has come under increased scrutiny for his unnatural acts, a new area of emphasis by the NBA’s competition committee. Green vigorously defended himself, but Armstrong goes even further.
Armstrong, via Sam Amick of USA Today:“The fact that everyone is trying to cover their positions or justifying why they did what they did, the (league’s perspective) was kind of disappointing from this viewpoint: Since I’ve been a part of this league, I can’t recall when they’ve actually made rules that have actually helped to improve the game of basketball,” Armstrong, whose client was given a Flagrant-1 foul when he kicked Houston Rockets star James Harden on Thursday, told USA TODAY Sports by phone.
“Every move has been made with some motive, to make the game look a certain way, to speed the game up, to do all of these things. But what, when the competition committee — whoever those people are — what have they actually done to improve the game of basketball? ... Not to put more people in the stands, not to make the game more appealing for people globally. What has been done to improve the game of basketball? That’s it. That’s it. That’s my only question.”
The competition committee is comprised of two owners, four general managers, three head coaches and a players-union representative.
To the bigger point: What improves the game of basketball? That’s such a subjective standard. Creating a pleasing product that appeals to customers seems like a good start. I sense Armstrong – who won three championships with the Bulls in the 1990s – believes it’s making the game look like when he played.
Yup, to Armstrong, those grind-it-out, clog-the-paint games of the 90s were preferable to today’s contest. And that’s a fine opinion. Even I have a fondness for those 90s games.
But most fans disagree, and the NBA is a business trying to attract fans – which makes Armstrong’s complaints absurd.
At least until you remember he’s just an agent sticking up for his client. Then, it all makes sense.