Shawn Bradley Retires
This past week, word leaked out of the Mavericks organization that Shawn Bradley wants to negotiate a buyout of his contract to facilitate his immediate retirement.
And so, in the week that the 2004-2005 NBA season finally comes to an end we also see the end of Shawn's roller coaster NBA career. It is difficult to say which aspect of his career will be the most remembered. There are several interesting items from which to choose.- The "huge" contract he signed early in his career that increased the expectations and doubled the ridicule he faced?
Interestingly, his contract was one of several that helped lead to the fixed rookie wage scale to limit the ego problems that arose when rookies signed contracts for more than their veteran teammates.
It is often overlooked that by the time Shawn arrived in Dallas, while it was obvious to most that he would never live up to his original expectations as the number 2 pick in the draft, his salary was not very far out of line with what other starting centers were making by then. In fact, most starting centers were beginning to make a good deal more than that.
And when that contract was up, he signed a pretty reasonable second contract with the Mavs. Especially for someone who held down the starting roster spot for several years, even if it was his by default rather than by success.
- The elbows.
How many players, often teammates, were whacked by those flying elbows? Unlike some thugs in the league at the time (I wont mention names, but one that starts with 'K' and and ends with 'arl Malone' comes to mind) the injuries caused by Shawn were never from dirty plays intended to hurt somebody. They were usually just ugly plays. But boy did those gangly elbows fly!
- The blocks.
If he did nothing else in his career, Shawn Bradley blocked shots. You can not deny it. Shawn blocked a lot of shots and blocked shots tend to turn games around. 2119 blocked shots for his career while only averaging 23 1/2 minutes a game.
- The falls.
If he did nothing else other than block shots during his career, Shawn Bradley fell down a lot. And he usually took somebody else with him. Depending upon your point of view, this may have been the most comical or devistating part of his "game." He would get those arms flaily and his legs would get tangled up with somebody and down they would go. God may have made him seven foot six, but he never gave the poor fellow the sturdy legs to keep all of that height upright.
- Changing games.
I may not have seen another role player ever so consistently change the flow of the game every time he stepped on the court. Of course, sometimes he didn't change the game in favor of his team but he almost always changed the game. He either shut down the lane, or invigorated the other team who was infuriated that they were so disrespected that we thought Shawn Bradley could stop him.
Nothing made players like Shaq angrier than to see Shawn's goofy face headed their way. Sometimes he took them off their game. Sometimes they posterized him.
- The boo's turned to cheers.
One of my favorite things to watch at a Mavs game these last few years is the goofball in the stands who started ripping on Shawn as he approached the scorer's table. These guys were almost always the same. Probably just Cowboys fans killing some time waiting for their team to stop stinking up their league. Guys who only know the big names like Shaq and Jordan. Guys who wouldn't know a thing about Milt Palacio or Pete Chilcutt or anything about how a pick 'n roll actually works. They would throw insults at Shawn, reportedly one of the nicest guys in the league, before he even got on the court.
You could hear the crowd rumbling as Shawn reached the scorer's table, but this guy just had to say something funny. It didn't turn out well every time. But more often than most folks would think, ol' Shawn would get it right and the team would turn things around and get on a roll for a few minutes. Sure enough, the crowd would suddenly be cheering for Shawn louder than anybody else. And that goofball fan's buddy would turn on him and rub it in how well Shawn was playing and all the fans around them would laugh.
Of course, a lot of times, that goofball fan was proven right. Such is Shawn's legacy.
- The last dunk.
Unfortunately, Shawn's been posterized quite a few times in the league. Nothing gets a dunker more excited than the opportunity to dunk on his head. This last playoff run featured one of the fiercest dunks as Tracy McGrady made him look silly.
Looking back now, TMac's dunk may have ended Shawn's career. Coach Avery knew that he could not put him back out there during critical moments. Shawn's role was done and would never be the same again.
One thing that most folks don't think about much is that as his role evolved, or devolved, Shawn almost never got on the court in a good situation. He was clearly a defensive role player, which meant that the only time he was called upon things were already bad. The tempo was getting out of control, or the opposition was shredding our interior and exterior defense, or somebody was in foul trouble. Thing were rarely good when Shawn stepped on the floor these last few years.
His legend, as it were, probably won't mention it but every once in a while Shawn Bradley got the job done. And he did it wearing a Mav's jersey.
I've picked on Shawn myself, many times (and will probably continue to do so). And I do think it is time for the Mavs to move on. But there is a part of me that will miss him and all the commotion he caused on the court and in the stands.
Good luck with the rest of your life Shawn.
Posted by on 06/26 at 08:48 PM