The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
NBA Finals
Nuggets vs. Bulls
Recap: George Karl versus the Bulls has a history. A long one. Karl, in his previous stint with the Supersonics (RIP), guided that team to the 1996 NBA Finals where his team was defeated by Michael Jordan, the first of the second three-peat for the Bulls. The Nuggets had no true superstar and the Bulls had only one, Derrick Rose.
Rose had lost the year before to Kevin Durant and had gotten THIS close to getting the Bulls their first title post-Jordan. Rather than go out and get another superstar to pair with Rose the Bulls fine-tuned their team in the offseason. This was the proving ground for two schools of thoughts in the NBA … could you win a title without a superstar or could you win a title with only one?
Game One of the Finals didn’t go the Bulls way in any shape or form. They lost 89-84 but that real story was the injury to Taj Gibson, who suffered a broken back on a bad fall during a rebound. Gibson would be out for the rest of the series and the Bulls championship hopes looked dashed. Without Gibson, the Bulls placed rookie Trevor Mbakwe from Minnesota into the starting lineup in Game Two. Mbakwe was the oldest player taken in the draft at 25 and many thought the Bulls should have tried for someone younger.
Mbakwe had heard all year how he should have been a second round pick and should have come out earlier. Mbakwe took all that and obliterated the frontcourt of the Nuggets, going for 21 points and 13 boards. As Rose, Deng, and Noah all chipped in 18 points the Nuggets could only watch as Mbakwe made their frontcourt look dumb.
Game Three, back in Chicago, with a chance to win a title on their home floor if they won the next three games. Karl and the Nuggets had been resilient all year but they wouldn’t be able to handle the Bulls gritty defense and the energy the home crowd fed them. Behind another stellar performance from Deng and Rose, the Bulls won 99-93.
The Nuggets were down 2-1. They had taken a licking and didn’t get up off the mat quite as well as they should have. They needed this next game and they fought for it. The Nuggets and Bulls both came out slow but in the second quarter Denver began to pull away. By the beginning of the fourth the Nuggets had a hard fought four point lead.
Cue Derrick Rose going into beast mode, scoring 15 of his 28 points in the fourth and blowing the Nuggets away at the most crucial of moments. The Bulls would win 92-88.
Game Five. Chicago. The city was rocking and this was going to be one of the best games in any NBA Finals. The Bulls and Nuggets exchanged runs all night long and in the fourth the Nuggets would take a three point lead with four seconds on the clock. Chicago held its breath collectively as the Bulls inbounded the ball to Kirk Hinrich, who would nail the tying three and send the game into OT.
In OT, the Bulls and Nuggets would continue their fight but it was Kirk Hinrich who would nail two more three balls and a technical to give the Bulls the win, 104-103.
Derrick Rose has cemented his legacy as a champion. Now the only question isn’t if he’ll win, but how many more he will get.
Winner: Bulls 4-1
Finals MVP: Luol Deng
Playoff Averages
21.8 PPG, 8.7 RPG, 3.7 APG, 1.0 SPG, 1.0 BPG
.470 FG% .404 3PT% .771 FT%
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
The Legacy of Derrick Rose would of taken a hit with Luol Deng winning the Finals MVP!! Great read mate, only problem is there isn't enough hours in the day for you to post heaps so we have lots to read each day hahaComment
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
great read man...now we want some juicy story postseveryone is curious to know whats going on after that cliffhanger you left us with! GREAT JOB
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
Should be getting some updates up tonight or tomorrow ... the offseason has arrived and a new era is about to begin for the NBA.Comment
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
6-7-14
The skyline was something to behold, even after all these years. It wasn’t as though this was his first time traveling to LA. No, he’d been here a lot over the course of his life. Most of the time visiting for a game he had to play that night at the Forum … those were some fun days.
Made infinitely more fun when he won.
He picked up his wine glass and held it to his lips for a moment before setting it down. His mind drifted back to his playing days, when he used to take the court and amaze everyone around him. He missed those days. He missed playing.
But he didn’t miss it as much as he did this time last year. Last year he was a losing owner. This year he was a winning one and winning truly did make all the difference.
“Michael, sorry I’m late,” said Magic Johnson as he beamed a smile at him. Magic always had the biggest smile in any room. Michael had come to respect Magic since their playing days. When they played together the two got along but Michael always saw Magic as a player who was too in love with the spotlight to really compete as hard as he possibly could.
LA had that effect on people.
“Magic, it was nice of you to call … though I’m wondering why,” Michael said before he took a sip of his wine. It wasn’t often Magic called to get together. For as friendly a guy as he was, Michael and he had different views on basketball. For Magic, winning came second to having fun. For Michael, winning was first always.
Magic waved a waiter over and ordered himself some dinner. Michael only observed. He had worked hard to get back to his playing weight but Magic had enjoyed life outside the NBA … of course, Magic had other health concerns as well that may have affected his weight but Michael didn’t really care about that.
Magic’s other health concerns could have been prevented if Magic had taken care to be as smart off the court as he was on it. But he never discussed such things outside his own inner circle … people didn’t like to hear harsh truths in today’s world.
“I wanted to ask you about your GM … how’s he doing?"
Michael narrowed his eyes and set his wine glass down. Magic smiled disarmingly but Michael knew better than to believe this was an innocent question. “He’s doing as well as can be expected,” Michael offered.
The truth was that Ronnie Gold was not doing well at all. He was living in that hospital, at the side of his would-be-wife, every day. Ronnie had become a shell of himself and wasn’t interested in getting back to work. He wasn’t interested in basketball at all.
Liz continued to rot away on that bed in a coma, completely dead to the world, and Ronnie was just as dead as she was. The guilt had overwhelmed the young man and Michael had done everything he could to shake him out it. The situation was becoming untenable.
The offseason was now in full swing and the team had decisions that needed to be made. There was no assistant GM to fall back on and Michael was in charge … he wasn’t sure he wanted to be. Letting go of the control had been tough but it had been necessary to build his team into a winner. Part of him didn’t want it back for fear that the team would suffer from it.
Magic‘s smile didn’t dissipate. “But he could be doing better,” he said bringing Michael back to the moment.
“Yes, he could be … what are you getting at?” Michael asked bluntly.
“Let’s enjoy dinner first and talk about old times … then we can talk business.”
Michael didn’t like to be evaded. He pushed his chair away from the table and stood. “I’m not in the mood for dinner.”
Magic’s smile finally disappeared. He motioned for Michael to sit down. “If you want business first, fine, we can do that,” he conceded.
Michael couldn’t help but be pleased internally. Magic was a point guard at heart, always looking to please those around him. He sat back down and looked at Magic expectantly.
The former Lakers star took a deep breath. “We’re going to fire Mitch. We’re going to fire D’Antoni. We need someone to rebuild us on the fly and make us a playoff contender this year. We want Gold.”
Michael shook his head. “You don’t know what you’re asking here.”
“I do, trust me Michael, I do. We’re aware Gold isn’t exactly in fighting shape but that’s because the state his girl is in.”
“And there’s nothing the doctors can do about it.”
Magic shook his head. “Not the doctors where you are. But in LA we have the best medical facilities available.”
“We’ve explored those options –”
“And we’re willing to do whatever it takes to see her well. We’ll fly in specialists from around the world to get her recovered and back on her feet.”
Michael stared at him. “You want him that badly that you’re willing to pay those exorbitant prices?”
Magic nodded. “Look, I know you don’t have the same love for the Bulls as I do for the Lakers … I know this all appears overkill. But this franchise has missed the playoffs for two years in a row and we’re not getting better, we’re getting worse. I can’t stand to see this and neither can the Buss family … they’ve asked me to ask you if you’re willing to pitch this to Gold.”
“And if I’m not?”
Magic sighed. “We’ll be disappointed but we won’t hold it against you. He’s a talent, Michael, and you know as well as I do that talents like his don’t come along often. But he’s broken and he’s not getting fixed anytime soon. He can go on to do bigger and better things with us than he could with you and we both know that.”
Michael fixated his eyes on Magic’s. He looked hard at him. He wanted to make sure Magic was leveling with him.
It appeared as if he was.
“I’ll pass along the offer … I’ll let you know soon,” Michael finally said. He didn’t have to say anything. He didn’t have to pass along the offer. But he knew that he owed Ronnie that much … in the span of half a season he had put the Bobcats on the map. Ronnie could go on to do great things.
But only if he could snap out of the funk he was in now. The Lakers offer might be enough. If Ronnie wasn’t going to do it for basketball reasons he might do it for Liz.
Michael wasn’t sure how he felt about that. He didn’t want to lose Ronnie.
But he also knew that staying in Charlotte, where all that happened, wasn’t going to help him.
It would be Ronnie’s choice.
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
6-8-14
“What?”
Michael Jordan looked over Ronnie once more, his eyes soft. “You heard me.
The Lakers want you as their next GM.”
Ronnie wiped the sleep off his face but it didn’t work. He was still sleepy.
He still wanted to fall back into bed. But it was nearly noon and he was scheduled to visit with Liz in two hours. He had to get up.
He rubbed his face, making a mental note to shave, and stumbled behind the bar in the kitchen. “I apologize for the house … haven’t had a lot of time to clean.”
“It’s fine, really,” Michael said as he sat down at the bar. He moved some dirty dishes over to far side and looked at Ronnie expectantly. “It’s a big step.”
“Uh huh,” Ronnie said as he tried to find a clean coffee cup. He couldn’t. All of them were dirty … Christ, how long had he been since he did the dishes? He shook his head as he reached under the sink and grabbed some Styrofoam cups. “I’m done with basketball.”
“You know that’s not true.”
Ronnie poured out two cups of coffee and handed one to Michael. “I’m out. I told you that months ago.”
“I don’t believe that.” Michael took a sip of his coffee and his face scrunched up in displeasure. “Old filter?”
Ronnie sipped his coffee and made a face. “Yeah … sorry.”
“They’re willing to give Liz the best care money can buy.”
Ronnie stared at his cup. “And then I’d owe somebody something.” He looked up at Michael. “How’s that working out for you?”
Michael’s eyes hardened. “Different circumstances. The Lakers will agree to a contract with you and everything will be in writing.”
“Even if that’s true, which I doubt it, how can I even begin to run the Lakers? They’re one of the two greatest organizations in the NBA and one of the best in sports.”
“You can do it.”
“I’m your employee,” Ronnie argued. “I said I’d be here to build something special. One playoff appearance and three wins doesn’t qualify as done in my book.” He rubbed the stubble on his chin and shook his head. “What can they do for Liz that we can’t do here?”
“They’re going to fly experts in from around the globe, Ronnie.” Michael leaned forward on the stool. “They’re going to cover it all.”
“And why does that matter? She’s … she’s fine here.”
“No, she’s not.”
The two stared at one another in silence. Michael was right … she wasn’t fine here. She wasn’t getting better or getting worse. She just was there, stuck between life and death.
“I remember you telling me that she grew up in California.”
Ronnie nodded. “She did … she had family in L.A., visited them a few times during the year. When we first met in Arizona she insisted we go visit there.” Ronnie took his coffee and poured it down the drain. “I actually hated driving there … traffic sucked. But we were stuck in it so long we really got to know one another.”
“You should go,” Michael offered quietly.
Ronnie looked at him with surprise. “Why? I’m building something here.”
“You don’t want to be here anymore. You can’t function here anymore, Ronnie. Look at this,” Michael said as he waved his hands around the house. “Does this look like you’re building something here?”
Ronnie closed his eyes for a moment. “I can make it work here.”
“You’re haunted by what happened to Liz.” Michael stood up and straightened his suit jacket. “You can’t function here anymore. You need to move on and so does Liz. It’s best for you and best for her.”
“What are you saying?”
Michael smirked at him. “I’m saying your resignation is accepted. I’ll have your office cleaned out and your stuff brought to you … take the job.”
Ronnie bit his lip. “Thank you,” he managed to say.
Michael Jordan waved him off. “No, thank you. I’ll see you off when you fly out.” He left the house after that.
Ronnie stared after him. He wasn’t sure if he made the decision or Michael Jordan did.
But it didn’t matter. Michael was right, he couldn’t function here … he had to go. He had to move on.
Liz had to move on.
He only hoped she’d get better.
It was the only reason he even cared about basketball anymore. It was a means to an end.
Work for the Lakers and save Liz.
He felt his face and felt himself smirk for the first time in months. “I better shave.”
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
lol the Lakers...wow didnt see that coming great postsComment
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
Yep, the Lakers. It was a tough call but the storyline went into that direction and it just fit well there. LA has missed the playoffs the last two years and had the fortune to land the #2 overall pick in the 2014 draft ... #1 overall went to the Celtics. The NBA is about to embark on a renewed Celtics/Lakers rivalry as new blood is about to take over.
Rebuilding the Lakers is gonna be tough, but I look forward to taking the team back to contenders. Not sure how long it'll be before they are (the West is WAY more brutal than the East) but things should be interesting.Comment
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
LOL, I harbor no love for the Lakers, not after Kobe ran Shaq out of town. But Kobe will be retiring soon and with him goes my dislike of the Lakers, so there we go. Plus, the guy I'm taking in the draft is a quality (IE Likable) dude so he can help make the Lakers a good team to cheer for.Comment
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Re: The Gold Standard: The Ronnie Gold Story
LOL, I harbor no love for the Lakers, not after Kobe ran Shaq out of town. But Kobe will be retiring soon and with him goes my dislike of the Lakers, so there we go. Plus, the guy I'm taking in the draft is a quality (IE Likable) dude so he can help make the Lakers a good team to cheer for.)
MIAMI HEATComment
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