Thank you for turning out this season and thanks for caring so much in good times and in bad times.
Here is a great article about the enthusiasm in the fan base and about our team this year. We have so much still to improve upon but we are making steady progress towards our goal of competing for a playoff spot; making the playoffs; and hopefully winning a championship. Our business operations now are world class as well. Thanks for noticing Washington Post. It is very much appreciated.
Click here to watch a fun video created by the Washington Mystics. Then go to WNBA.com and vote for your WNBA All-Stars. We have several talented players on the roster. As they say in Chicago, “Vote early and vote often.”
This has been a very tough year for the Washington Wizards: A year of injuries; a coaching staff released; and a team that is playing young athletes that are all new to the NBA. The team is struggling and is into a rebuild in that, at times this season, it plays 2 of its starting 5 players compared to last season.
But in basketball, a rebuild can happen quickly. Next season, a Gilbert Arenas and Brendon Haywood can come back refreshed. A high draft pick can come in and make a statement and play big minutes. A trade can be made to add a starter. Suddenly a new five man unit is comprised; a new set of back ups is more seasoned and has young legs; and the team is easily transformed.
Last night reminded us all of the excellence in our core. Caron Butler, who has missed some games, came back and hit the buzzer beater. And for a moment, we were reminded of how well this team can play. Stars can hit big shots and we can win close games.
The Wizards will fight on this season but my bet is that the turnaround will happen fast, as soon as next season. We are all pulling for the franchise. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
Show up. Play when asked. Say, “Thank you. I am fortunate to be a professional athlete playing in the NBA.” Regardless of how bad the atmosphere is, support your team and your teammates and play the game. Enjoy life and your career. Time is short so get out there and play and earn that paycheck. The world is ending. Real people – good people - are getting laid off from work and having their homes foreclosed. No one will empathize with a professional athlete making $21 million per year and one who doesn’t want to work to earn it.
Wow. Talk about bad timing and bad optics and bad PR. Just play the game. Smile and realize how fortunate you are to be a professional athlete. No one will sympathize about hurt feelings. For $190k per game, get on the floor and play and enjoy. How bad can it be?
Now the rebuilding can begin.
We have to get a high draft pick in the off season. Hopefully a great young player will be added and can become a cornerstone player for us. We have to use trades where we can add youth and get more picks and prospects. We have to use free agency to add veteran presence. And our young players that got lots of playing time this season after the Olympic break will just mature and get better and better.
We want to rebuild this team the right way. There will be no quick fixes or shortcuts. We are looking at long term solutions. We want to build a great team and one we can be proud of. That is the plan. Does it sound familiar?
We believe in the WNBA as do our fans and the community.
Slowly and surely, we will rebuild the team with excellence. We will also rebuild the team to be young, aggressive and play great team-oriented basketball.
We have a separate and committed staff that focuses just on the operations of the team. They are housed in the Verizon Center and they are all about Mystics basketball.
Here is a nice article in the Washington Times about our efforts of late. Thank you for your ongoing support.
The Washington Mystics made a big trade. The team needs to get recast around young players and we need to keep getting picks, prospects and young players who were drafted high – in quantity - to improve.
We have been a middling team for far too long. It is time for us to articulate our plan; have a strategy; and build from within. We want to win a championship and we want to have a good, consistent team for the long term here in DC.
One day, early in the morning while visiting China, I went for a walk. The streets of Beijing were quiet except for a basketball court about a half a mile from the Forbidden City. There three full court layouts were filled with kids playing hardcore hoops with about 500 kids awaiting the “next” game.
China loves basketball. There are NBA stores everywhere. You see ads with Kobe, LeBron and Gilbert on buses and on big signs everywhere. You see Chinese students walking around with jeans and NBA jerseys.
When the Houston Rockets play on television, China stands still.
More than 300 million people play the game. Think of that. The entire population of the United States is 300 million.
The opening game between China and the US could have the largest audience ever for a sporting event. CCTV and Shanghai Media Group reach a billion plus people in mainland China alone. Wow. The US had better come to play.
Wow - this is an amazing situation - a team in Greece can pay more money for an NBA player than an NBA club. The Euro is so strong this year that everything that is made or sold in America seems like a great bargain.
The global economy in countries such as China, Russia and Germany is strong. The Canadian dollar is still strong to par. Get ready for a lot more real estate to be sold to people and organizations from around the world. Get ready for a lot more surprise signings in sports a la Jaromir Jagr playing in Russia instead of New York and now Josh Childress going to play in Greece. At the end of the day, no matter what anyone says, it IS always about the money. And right now, other economies are just so much stronger than our economy.
Congratulations to Roy Hibbert for being picked in the first round of the NBA draft by Toronto and then getting traded to the Indiana Pacers and to Patrick Ewing, Jr. for being picked in the second round by the Sacramento Kings. Jeff Green went high in the draft last year and ended up in Seattle and now two players were drafted from the team as seniors. Georgetown basketball is back. Kudos to these young men for staying in school and graduating as seniors and having their pro basketball dreams come true as well. Hoya Saxa.