Today we had an opportunity to have breakfast with Mr. Bryan Colangelo. Maple Leaf Sports was kind enough to invite a handful of us to spend some time with the man who won Executive of year in 2007.
Here are excerpts of our discussion today. I will give him credit. He is a very polished speaker and knows how to come up with answers on the spot. Shows no fear. Very CEO like.
NB: “So, let’s get it over with right away – what happened with Chris Bosh?”
BC: “Clearly, Chris feels he has better chances of winning a championship in Miami – being a 3rd option on the team. He took less money to have an opportunity to make more in a bigger market. I guess he must have always wanted to do milk moustache commercials which he never got here.”
Sounds like they need to work on a closure. I don’t know why Chris left to Miami either – maybe I can tweet him for a response.
NB: “With Chris gone, who do you see emerging as the leader on this team?”
BC: “Just because someone averages 24-10 doesn’t make them a leader. There are lots of other guys like Jarrett Jack who are showing signs of locker room leadership that Chris never did.”
Ok. I will give him that one. He pulled a Derek Fisher on me.
NB: “In that case, weren’t you going to max $126 million to keep him here?”
BC: “Yes. We would have done that stupidly – just like any other team would. He would have been a great asset to the team that we could have moved if things didn’t work out in the future.”
I guess now I know why the Hawk’s gave Joe Johnson his contract. Don’t get too comfortable Joe. You are an “asset”.
NB: “Now onto Hedo – where did that go wrong?”
BC: “That was clearly a mistake on our part. That relationship did not work for us or Hedo. We have moved on from that mistake and learned that some players care more about the money than the game.”
I love when people own up to their mistakes. Now if only the chef that made my scrambled eggs too runny this morning apologized as well.
NB: “Do you think it will be awkward to have Jose back with the team after what happened?”
BC: “No. Jose and I spent a lot of time in Istanbul and he understands where we were coming from. He is still our floor leader and is committed to helping us be successful next year. Funny enough, Larry Bird keeps calling me for Jose. But his offers are too low for me to give up Jose. “
I hear you. This dude wanted to trade me Chris Duhon for Jose in my fantasy pool. I hate when people low ball trades. C’mon Larry, you know better than that.
NB: “How are we going to get tougher as a team? We were being labeled soft last year.”
BC: “Linus Kleiza”
NB: “Who? Ok onto the next…..who do you think our go to guy on this team will be”
BC: “Andrea I think will be the next guy to take this team to another level. He averaged 17pt last year while deferring to Chris a lot and he is not afraid to take big shots . Who knows, with Chris not being here. I can see his #s and production going up.”
NB: Big Gulp. “Excuse Miss, can I get a refill on my coffee please?”
Really. The ill Mago averaged 17pt with teams doubling Chris every night. Maybe teams will double Demar this year and Andrea can average 30pts.
To be continued – Look out tomorrow for Part 2. Its gets better.
Nav B.
P.S. Brokeankles is going to bring you lots of exclusives this season. Better bookmark us on your favourites.
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