I hate all of this talk. I hate to think that AK will be wearing another uniform going into next season. I really hate that it has come to this. I have a couple of thoughts…

Number one:

If I am Larry Miller and I have to make a choice between Jerry Sloan and Andrei Kirilenko I am choosing AK. I would not have said this five years ago, as I tend to agree with the Millers philosophy of protecting your coach, but it is not five years ago. Isn’t Sloan the guy that will not commit to coaching the team beyond the next season? Isn’t he the guy that says he may wake up one morning and decide that coaching is no longer for him? Every offseason we wonder if he is going to retire and if he is honest, he would tell you that he wonders the same thing.

The question is: why would we trade one of the most unique talents in the league to protect a coach that may or may not be around next year? Nobody talks about this and it drives me nuts. Furthermore, I believe that with the right coach the Jazz, as they are presently constituted, have a serious chance of winning it all.

I am a realist though, and I know that Sloan is not going anywhere.

Number two: I think Jazz fans are too hard on AK for complaining. People tend to think that making millions of dollars makes you immune to being normal. I contend that it is normal for people to complain when they are not satisfied with their work… especially highly competitive, ultra-driven, professional athletes. Picture that you are on the fast track at your place of employment, that you love what you are doing and that you have shown serious value. You provide leadership, you are the one negotiating and closing the deals. Your company decides that they think you are hot stuff and give you a raise; you are on top of the world.

Can you picture that?

Now imagine that two new guys are hired and you are blatantly demoted. Instead of negotiating and closing deals you are the guy taking notes in the meetings. Not only are your responsibilities taken away, which completely ticks you off, but your boss humiliates you in front of your coworkers, belittling you because of your salary, something that you legitimately earned. No normal person would just let that slide and be a “team player.” You would be miserable and you would let a few people know.
Not only would you let some people know, but you might not try as hard as you used to. After all, your contributions are no longer appreciated like they once were. They may tell you that you are an intrigal part of the team and that your notes are needed to be successful, but no matter how often they tell you that, you know what you are capable of and you long to contribute at that level again.

Andrei is no different. It is not about the money, it is about contributing. At the expense of sounding like Chris Crocker, we should all leave AK alone and let him handle this. I would prefer he not do things through the media, but he is just reacting in his way and everyone reading this, given the circumstances above, would react in their own way.