Golden State Suspends Monta Ellis 30 Games

The Golden State Warriors have suspended guard Monta Ellis for 30 games for violating Paragraph 12 of the Uniform Player Contract, it was announced today by President Robert Rowell. The suspension will take effect immediately and will extend through the team’s December 17th contest against the Indiana Pacers.

"The cooperation that we received from Jeff Fried (Monta’s representative) enabled us to be very diligent in collecting all of the facts surrounding the incident," Rowell said. "This 30-game suspension is a result of that. From this point forward, it is the complete focus of everyone involved to provide Monta with all the support he needs to have a successful rehabilitation, and to get him back on the court as an integral part of this team."

about 1 year ago Option27 35 comments 0 recs |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Comments

Holy crap.

That’s a lot of games to miss. What are the details about his situation? Besides his 11 million this year?

Everything I post is speculation. I have no insider information nor ideas deemed concrete enough by those who are self-elected to regulate post content.

by cranscape on Oct 11, 2008 3:44 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

That is a slap on the wrist.

Considering he will miss over half of those games to due the injury. While I don’t think they should have canceled his contract, the punishment should have been more severe. He could have ended his career or even died. I know if I were guaranteeing $66 million to someone, I would make sure they understood the importance of the fine print of the contract.

I think Jay Williams should go to every camp and serve as the horrifying reminder of the danger of these types of activities.

"The whole leverage thing, it's a difficult thing to gauge" -Paxson

by Dionysus2.0 on Oct 11, 2008 3:54 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Um...

He’s losing 3.18 million dollars. Hardly a slap on the wrist. What would you have proposed that’s more severe?

by tyger1147 on Oct 11, 2008 4:07 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

I was wondering that the dollar figure would be

I agree, it’s more severe than I thought. It also risks the Warriors looking cheap, which feeds into some bad perceptions about ownership that already exist.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 11, 2008 4:59 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

given that radmonovic

was fined 500k, or 10% of his salary – i don’t see this amount as a problem. he just signed a way bigger contract, will be out for longer, and is a more important piece of the team.

by Jaina on Oct 11, 2008 5:13 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It's about a hundred grand per game.

Although I did just read that they’re including the 4 pre-season games, which I assume they don’t get paid for. So that would lower it some. I’m pretty sure they only get paid during the actual season.

The real rub? As a 2nd rounder, Monta “only” made 400,000 last year. He probably spent a lot of his new contract on credit. He now has to wait another two months to get that first big-ass check. I’d say he got punished severely enough—if that’s actually how they’re doing it. Maybe they’ll be nice and pro-rate it so he actually gets paid.

by tyger1147 on Oct 11, 2008 5:46 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

We don't know the structure of his contract.

He could be paid 70% at the start of camp.

But that’s not really the point. When you consider it would have been within the team’s rights to cancel the entire $66 million, I would say suspending him for the games he will already be missing is a slap on the wrist. They should have actually fined him, I am thinking something like $6.6 million. That would actually make players think twice about breaking the terms of their lucrative contracts. The suspension is a hollow punishment, because he is already missing most of those games.

"The whole leverage thing, it's a difficult thing to gauge" -Paxson

by Dionysus2.0 on Oct 12, 2008 12:14 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

no doubt you appreciated the Bulls putting the screws to Gordon too

pissing off your best players isn’t a good long-term strategy.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 12, 2008 3:18 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

There is a difference.

Ellis jeopardized the success of the entire team with his foolish activities. He also violated his contract in the process.

I don’t feel the Bulls put any screws to Gordon. He turned down $10 million a year. They have a difference of opinion. The screws to Gordon would be refusing to play him this season, ala Tim Thomas.

"The whole leverage thing, it's a difficult thing to gauge" -Paxson

by Dionysus2.0 on Oct 12, 2008 3:27 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ellis signed a six year deal, he'll have plenty of time to get over it

On the other hand, he and everyone else would have plenty of time to continue to screw around if they’re shown there won’t be any consequences.

I don’t see much downside for the Warriors here. Ellis won’t be playing for that time, and he won’t be playing because of egregious off-court stupidity on his part that constituted a finable offense against his contract.

I agree you generally want to appear magnanimous, and you want to maintain good relations with your players, but if you’re all carrot and no stick you won’t get anywhere either.

by Sports2 on Oct 13, 2008 7:57 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

magnanimous

I guess on the other end, the Bulls were super nice to give Jay Williams a nice severance after his Evil Kenivel stunt….and we still call them cheapos :)

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 13, 2008 11:43 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly! Jay presented the perfect opportunity to appear magnanimous

The Bulls appeared to be the nice guys by offering him a generous parting gift, but they would have looked like scum if they’d dragged him through court to void the contract of a kid who would never play again.

Doing that would have been a PR disaster for the Bulls, so yeah, they didn’t do anything special. They appeared magnanimous… they were actually just making a sound business decision.

by Sports2 on Oct 14, 2008 8:48 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The money is the punishment.

Not the playing.

by tyger1147 on Oct 13, 2008 11:28 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

it says dec 17th

i’d be surprised if he comes back much before then, really.

i’m glad they’re basically telling him he can’t get paid until healthy, but it’s kind of silly to “suspend” him for games he is going to be out anyways.

by Jaina on Oct 11, 2008 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

but again...

…there’s a difference between sitting out due to injury and traveling w/ the team and getting paid, and sitting out due to suspension (and possibly not traveling or being allowed on the bench at home games) and not getting paid.

by tyger1147 on Oct 11, 2008 5:47 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Yeah not sure what else they could do to punish him

Make him watch Red Asphalt? He made a stupid decision and now has to pay big time, almost 3 million dollars this season, not to mention missing out on potential incentives due to missing almost 2 months of the regular season.

However, how is Monta going to play after hearing this news? Yes it was his own fault, but this is supposed to be their starting PG and, is basically their best player. Bad times in the Bay.

"I’m gonna rise up, gonna kick a little ass. Gonna kick some ass in the USA. Gonna climb a mountain, gonna sew a flag, gonna fly on an eagle. I’m gonna kick some butt, gonna drive a big truck. I’m gonna rule this world. I’m gonna kick some ass. I’m gonna rise up, gonna kick a little ass. Rock, flag, and eagle!"

by Ozzie Montana on Oct 11, 2008 4:30 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Warriors can't punish

Ellis for potentially damaging his long term career.

Riding a moped was just plain foolish. Hope he recovers.

Jay Williams should get into the NBA insurance business.

by NBA Observer on Oct 12, 2008 3:04 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

it's a contract violation...so yes they can

by NormVanBeer on Oct 13, 2008 8:23 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Permanent health problems?

Time will tell.

by NBA Observer on Oct 13, 2008 8:26 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

If only Larry Hughes could violate his contract . . .

by Big D on Oct 12, 2008 4:12 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

the more i read about this, the more it annoys me

monta may appeal his suspension.

i don’t understand why people don’t think what he did is a big deal. he gets paid more money in one season (and still will even with his suspension!) than i do in a lifetime, and he’s specifically requested not to participate in certain activities. and he works hard but i assume he loves his job. he didn’t even have to go to college to earn so much money. he doesn’t have loans that last a lifetime. if a “normal” person violates their contract, guess what? they probably get fired. the warriors have every right (and i’m not saying they should) to “fire” him, that is, null his contract. he broke the terms of his contract and will be out probably through the suspension if not more, thus he shouldn’t earn that salary if he’s not even working, due to being out for something he was not supposed to be doing in the first place! and people say they shouldn’t be so harsh because he’s their best player and he could bolt. or that his injury is punishment enough.

i wish these players would stop being such crybabies, and to please earn their paychecks. this guy has 66mil$ guaranteed coming to him? please stop whining about the 3 million dollars you and only you caused yourself to lose by violating your contract. plus, he lied about it, which is another problem in and of itself.

by Jaina on Oct 13, 2008 9:41 PM CDT reply actions 0 recs

Yup.

And you know what, it’s not a harsh punishment. If Ellis never plays another game, he’ll still get $63M instead of $66M. It’s not like it’s the end of the world for the guy.

by Sports2 on Oct 13, 2008 10:01 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

thanks for agreeing.

i really needed to rant badly about this.

by Jaina on Oct 13, 2008 11:17 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

yeah, but what's $3m to the Warriors?

means even less than it does to Monta.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 13, 2008 11:40 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

It does?

Aren’t the Warriors owners pretty cheap?

by Ozzie Montana on Oct 14, 2008 1:13 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

The Warriors only had $1.3M in operating income in 2006

That’s from Forbes’ most recent NBA valuation article.

So yeah, $3M could be pretty significant for them.

by Sports2 on Oct 14, 2008 8:51 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

if they're operating on a year-to-year basis

we’ll see if it’s worth it from a PR (public and player relations), now that they’ll be dragged into court. Whether Monta’s team is selfish or silly for doing so, they had to believe it was an option.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 14, 2008 9:44 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

it is rough to admit

that Monta Ellis is more talented than you. I got over it, by typing a lot. Beat that, Monta!

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 13, 2008 11:39 PM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

LOL, yeah, that's it, matt

i’m jealous of monta ellis! except i’m a woman who’s not even 5’4, so good luck getting to the NBA! damn those forces of nature!

i’m perfectly successful and have grown up getting anything i ever wanted, and guess what? my father didn’t need 66 million dollars to do that for his family… it’s an amount of money no one needs! 3 million is paltry compared to the entire sum!

guess you don’t get to rant unless you own this site, huh? then i could be bitter all day!

by Jaina on Oct 14, 2008 7:44 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

Just saying

considering this is about an NBA team, we should all check the ‘these guys make too much $$$ compared to Eddie Punchclock’ thing at the login screen.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 14, 2008 9:42 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

oh, i'm sorry.

i keep forgetting that such a large income often exempts one from being a good employee, the law, what have you…

it’s not the money, it’s the prima donna attitude that comes with it. i’ve made mistakes in my life and had to deal with the consequences, and to me, this is no different. whether he makes 5 dollars an hour, or 5 million a year, he broke his contract and deserves to be punished, and the overall percentage of money he is giving up is appropriate to what he did. he’s unable to work because of something he did that is specifically prohibited in his contract, thus the employer has every right not to pay him until he comes back.

that’s the whole point. i wouldn’t care if it’s a dollar, 3 million, or hell his whole contract. the punishment’s been laid down and it IS a big deal. why people are afraid to upset “poor” monta is beyond me.

by Jaina on Oct 14, 2008 10:19 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

well, it is different.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 14, 2008 10:29 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

and why is that?

the bulls gave jay williams a nice severance knowing they’d never have to pay him again. the warriors are still obviously hoping to get something out of their investment but deserve to get something back, since they aren’t seeing the benefits for several months. and after all, monta may be permanently slowed by this injury, we have yet to see how he comes back from it. he may not be the player he once was.

by Jaina on Oct 14, 2008 10:56 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs

maybe they can terminate the contract then

in a perfect world the suspension without pay makes sense. But it’s a players league and you can’t go pissing off the players. They have agents, who have other clients. And teammates. I don’t see this settlement being worth causing a rift between management and the locker room.

management sez: recommend fanposts/fanshots/comments! Click 'reply' when replying to a comment! Flag jerkfaces! Be a 'Nazi' when it comes to thread duplication!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Oct 14, 2008 11:43 AM CDT up reply actions 0 recs