Michael Malone coached in New York in the early 2000s, so he knows what bad basketball looks like, making his NBA All-Star Game comments even more scathing.
Nowadays when you hear of professional athletes and investing, you assume it's the usual multi-million-dollar deal with a brand or maybe even purchasing a stake in a business.
The story is as old as professional sports. Star athletes make it big one day but never plan for tomorrow. Then bad things happen after they can't play anymore and we hear about them in the media. Donte Greene, who played at Syracuse University during the 2007-08 season before leaving for four seasons in the NBA, has just been added to the list of sports figure tragedies.
In pro sports, it is not uncommon for former players criticize those still in the game, for one reason or another. Sometimes the commentary is founded and on other occasions, it is jealous griping. When the targeted commentary comes from a well-educated, NBA legend with a background in communications, and they are directed a player constantly in the middle of controversy, those opinions are delivered with a little more clout.
The NBA is coming off a massive financial year, with revenue topping $10 billion for the first time and basketball-related income reaching $8.9 billion, another record.
Sources tell 600 ESPN El Paso that Jamal Bieniemy has hired an agent and he has notified the NBA that he will forgo his final year of eligibility to play professionally.