YES.

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@ Chus.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

Yes.

that was hilarious when Creed said that.

"Thank you. I've never owned a refrigerator before."

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looks like Nosferatu

He seems to have no ability to speak extemporaneously. Everything he says are from prepared notes

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Good call. The "amazing moment" of the NBA drafting Austin wasn't that amazing with Silver sounding like such a robot.

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The way he is looking past what the Heat management is doing right now is pretty great too!

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Looking past? What do you want him to do, violate the CBA and step in?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

The Player's Union has to have an issue with it. Especially if The Big 3 take a substantial pay cut.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

Wade won't be taking a pay cut. Bosh probably won't either. There really is no issue with what Miami is doing.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

You don't think the current situation between the Heat management and players is worth investigating?

There is a report that the Heat players are having contract discussions with each other. Oh, but I'm sure that this is all completely independent from the team.

Reminds me of the Minnesota situation with Joe Smith, but the Heat are seemingly smart enough to not be leaving a paper trail.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Agreed. There is no way Wade opted out without knowing that he would get more money in a new deal. Last time around Stephen A Smith was the only one aware that they had all met prior to free agency and the trips were bullshit.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

It's nothing like the Joe Smith thing. Players are allowed to talk amongst themselves and agree to go play somewhere. Ray Allen already publicly said he's tagging along with LeBron. At different times Parker, Manu, and Duncan all signed below market rates to stay together and were praised for it. There's simply nothing wrong with players taking more control of where they want to play. This criticism is somewhat baffling to me.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

In general I agree with you when it comes to players taking control. That being said the comparison with the Spurs is wrong. The Spurs players didn't walk away from $40M. Their contracts had already expired.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

If you don't think there are deals in place with management already then we'll just agree to disagree. It seems fairly obvious to me that the players and management have been working together and it isn't just the three guys deciding to play together.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It doesn't sound like you agree with me. What the difference between walking away from it and leaving it on the table. Durant left almost $20M on the table in his last contract iirc.

And the Players Union doesn't even have a leader right now. They're really in no position to do much of anything. And I don't think Adam Silver has the power to tell the Heat management they aren't allowed to sign certain players at below market prices.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

That's probably true. And I still don't know what you want Silver to do about it. Nothing you described violates any contracts or terms of the CBA that I'm aware of.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I'm pretty sure that teams aren't allowed to be involved in negotiations for a few more days. It's at least worth investigation.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Who's to say he's not monitoring it?

The Bulls have been not so subtley courting Melo for months. You really think Bulls reps and Melo haven't talked?

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

He won't do anything.

They may have. However, there was a report that there are active contract negotiations with the Big 3, or Big 4, or Big 5.

If it came out about Melo then they should also investigate.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Taking a below market deal after your contract has expired is different than opting out of a contract with 2 years and $40M left to take a below market deal. In order for someone like Wade to do that he had to have some agreement in place with the team. That would be a violation of the CBA.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

He probably won't do anything. He would need concrete proof. But this sounds like you just don't like Miami and are mad the team is gonna resign LeBron. Teams in all sports have "secret" conversations before the day they're allowed to all the time. I really don't think that's gonna affect their decision and I don't think Miami is really doing anything wrong.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Actually, I don't think it would. What part of the CBA would it violate? Just the same thing Rick is talking about with negotiating before you're supposed to, and I'm sure every team does that. Wade personally is not doing anything wrong there. Kirilenko did the same thing on a smaller scale to go to the Nets but actually got less for it.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

I believe making deals under the table is a violation. That got Minnesota in trouble and would have gotten Cleveland in trouble if they admitted they let Boozer out of his deal because they had already agreed to a deal with him. The NBA can't prove it so nothing will happen. Proof is what made the league void the Juwan Howard deal to Miami.

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Be well

GO BEARS!!!

I think it is pretty clear what they are doing. They may be smart enough to keep the evidence hard to find but I think they also know that the NBA is never going to put itself into a situation where a major scandal about Lebron and the Heat is what dominates the coverage.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

That's probably true. I just don't think it's a big deal as I believe literally every team in every sport does something similar.

_________________
Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

Every team in every sport is involved in illegal negotiations with virtually every player on the team in one offseason?

I understand the Bulls may have had a discussion with Kirk Hinrich about the future but there are very few parallels to what is going on with the Heat right now.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Back Channels!

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Ecclesiastes 5:8