Welcome to the league's greatest soap opera. 12/11/00 -- Every player on the Denver Nuggets roster declines to show up to practice due to head coach Dan Issel's politics and the way he treats his team. 12/11/01 -- After tonight's game, Issel got into a shouting match with a fan, reportedly yelling a racist remark. Ironically, it was Dan Issel bobblehead night at the Pepsi Center. Everyone knows I'm not the biggest Issel fan in the world, but I'm starting to seriously feel bad for the man. He's obviously a very proud individual and it's killing him that he's not helping the team be successful. The NVE trade request put a lot on him, and I think he had thoughts of resigning before tonight's incident. Now, I think it's almost unavoidable. He's losing control, he isn't having fun, and it's obvious it's time for both parties to go seperate ways.
gee they are making bobble-heads for everthing now, eh? You think the Nuggs have anyone lined up for the coaching job, interim or no? And will Issel have no real place in the upper office with KiKi there now?
To the day. We were all freaked out because it was ironic that Nick asked to be traded (openly) just 3 or so days before the year annerversary. This however tops that.
Bobbleheads are because we're celebrating 25th year in the NBA. 10 greatest players in team history. So far, it's been Dice and Issel, plus Alex English is next. I <b>know</b> we have interim coaches ready to go. I think this was almost expected. McLeod (former NBA coach) is an "assistant to the front office" and we have a bunch of other people that could take over. Prediction: Issel will resign sometime this week and walk away from the franchise, hopefully leaving us remembering Issel the player, not the coach/gm.
ah, that makes sense. I was thinking more along the lines of: get your coach bobblehead. Which would be funny, considering his not-so-great history as coach and gm. I think Issell walking would be best for the Nuggs.
Agreed Crisco. It should have happened one year ago today EXACTLY too. The players didn't treat him the same after that. Watching 'em in the locker room, Issel wouldn't even really talk to any of them. Right then was the beginning of the end of Issel's competitive fire. I seriously feel bad for the man. Step down Dan. Do it for yourself.
Just found out he reportedly yelled: "Go have another beer you mexican piece of s**t." My question is, if Issel resigns soon (assuming because of this mainly), what does that say about the league's dealing with Iverson and his rap album? Don't get me wrong, I think Issel should get in some sort of trouble for this, but it's gonna open up one big can of worms.
N4, Maybe, if he retires or gets fired, the Nuggets could talk Van Gundy into being the coach. That might stop Van Exel's trade demand & might help you guys resign LaFrentz without any of the negative crap that Golden State has gone through with the Marc Jackson situation.
Heres the full article Issel loses cool; team to look into incident -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services Nuggets coach and president Dan Issel might have let his frustration over Tuesday night's defeat land him in more trouble. Issel was caught on videotape by KUSA-TV in Denver shouting a racially explicit insult at a heckling fan as the Nuggets left the Pepsi Center court after a 99-96 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the Rocky Mountain News reported Wednesday. KUSA aired the footage on its late broadcast and warned viewers the sound bite was offensive and that Issel had used a racial slur. A KUSA cameraman shot the footage shortly after the game ended. "Hey, go buy another beer. Go drink another beer, you (expletive) Mexican piece of (expletive)," Issel said as the camera rolled. Issel left the building before the footage aired and was not available for comment. Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe did not immediately return a phone call from the Rocky Mountain News late Tuesday night. A Nuggets spokesman said the team had not been able to contact Issel and still was investigating the incident. Issel's job security has been in question since before last season. This latest episode could spell the end of a long career with the local NBA franchise as a player, coach, general manager and president. Issel was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. What is not clear is what the fan said to provoke Issel. Nuggets point guard Nick Van Exel attempted to usher Issel away from the confrontation. Issel resisted and shouted at the fan before assistant coach Mike Evans led Issel into the arena tunnel. The Nuggets spokesman said judgment should be reserved until Issel's side of the story is heard. More from ESPN... Hornets' road show not bad after win in Denver Lee Nailon scored 20 points, ... Van Exel reiterates desire for Nuggets to trade him Sick of losing, Denver ... ESPN Tools Email story Most sent Print story ESPN EXTRA Contest: Fan Frenzy Scratch and Win You could win a 36" Flat Screen TV instantly!
Nuggets call 12:30 press conference. Doubt it's to announce Issel's resigning yet, but it should be interesting.
<b>what does that say about the league's dealing with Iverson and his rap album? </b> The thing is Iverson never released his album. He said a few months ago that he had grown up and basically realized it was wrong. I give him credit for that. Now what Issel said was stupid, but he shouldn't be fired for it. It's no worse then what Jason Williams said.
4 game suspension without pay. Obviously there are people on both sides arguing about this. Some saying it's too lenient, others saying it's too strict. The simple fact is, the man has been with this franchise in some sort for almost 25 years now. Chad Ford of ESPN.com said something interesting. He commented on how the franchise didn't want to let him go right after this because it would seriously hamper his reputation in this town. Makes sense. Let him serve his suspension. Then, I wouldn't be surprised to see him resign less than a month after that.
To me it is different. When Iverson or say Reggie White or John Rocker stamp bigotry on their forehead, it was on their own time, in the offseason (well, not in Rocker's case), without any sorts of NBA "logo" or NBA fincanical support involved. Issel said his comment while in his team home arena, while he represent his team during the course of a league sponsored event. I also think a coach has more responsibility for stuff like that than players because the role is a little different, but that is my opinion. To me what Issel did is more in line of the Dodger or Padres owner about 15-20 years ago talking about African Americans not having what it takes to be good manangers. Granted it is not quite equivalent, because Issel's was in the heat of the moment (not in a deliberate setting) and he was responing to a heckler, but he is more representing of the league by both his role (as coach) and in that situation (at the NBA game itself).
Here's the story. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/nuggets/article/0,1299,DRMN_20_906191,00.html Issel loses his cool Nuggets lose, then coach fires epithet at a heckler By Michael BeDan and Aaron J. Lopez, News Staff Writers Denver Nuggets coach and president Dan Issel might have let his frustration land him in more trouble Tuesday night than any encounter with an NBA referee ever did. Issel was caught on videotape shouting a racially explicit insult at a heckling fan as the Nuggets left the Pepsi Center court after a 99-96 loss to the Charlotte Hornets. KUSA-Channel 9 aired the footage on its 10 p.m. broadcast and warned viewers the soundbite was offensive and that Issel had used a racial slur. A KUSA cameraman shot the footage shortly after the game ended. "Hey, go buy another beer. Go drink another beer, you (expletive) Mexican piece of (expletive)," Issel said as the camera rolled. Issel left the building before the footage aired and was not available for comment. Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe did not immediately return a phone call from the Rocky Mountain News late Tuesday night. A Nuggets spokesman said the team had not been able to contact Issel and still was investigating the incident. Issel's job security has been in question since before last season. This latest episode could spell the end of a long career with the local NBA franchise as a player, coach, general manager and president. Issel was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1993. What is not clear is what the fan said to provoke Issel. Nuggets point guard Nick Van Exel attempted to usher Issel away from the confrontation. Issel resisted and shouted at the fan before assistant coach Mike Evans led Issel into the arena tunnel. The Nuggets spokesman said judgement should be reserved until Issel's side of the story is heard. The evening already was somewhat tense for the Nuggets, who were playing their first game since their star point guard made national news by demanding a trade. Van Exel suited up for the Nuggets and finished with 18 points, 15 assists and seven rebounds in the loss, Denver's fifth in a row and ninth in the past 10 games. The crowd booed Exel mercilessly, which is to say a few faint, indifferent boos could be heard when he was introduced. The announced crowd of 13,912 -- a generous count -- did the same thing the first few times Van Exel possessed the basketball. By the time 23.1 seconds remained in the fourth quarter, Van Exel's sins had been forgiven. The Nuggets had the ball and a chance to win, which means Van Exel had the ball. Cheers. The final seconds are slithering away. Van Exel is working against Hornets guard Baron Davis. Van Exel no longer has the ball. Nuggets forward Zendon Hamilton has it. He is shooting it. Aforementioned crowd is groaning. Charlotte center Jamaal Magloire is dunking for the final margin. To review: Van Exel still wants to be traded. He has been saying as much since a loss Saturday at Cleveland, which prompted the smattering of disapproval. "I said it," he said after the game Tuesday. He had no idea Hamilton, who entered the game shooting .154, actually would shoot the ball. Van Exel passed it to Hamilton at the top right of the key, fully expecting to get it right back. "Yeah, I was real surprised," Van Exel allowed. And whoever is responsible for preparing the Nuggets for crunch-time situations -- Issel being the prime suspect -- did not do his job. Or Van Exel's teammates blew it. Van Exel was not specific in his postgame critique. "You are down one point at home with 23 seconds to go and you come out of the timeouts and you are not in the right positions to run the right play -- it's just frustrating," Van Exel said. The play was supposed to be a high pick-and-roll. Nuggets forward George McCloud was supposed to be open at some point. Or perhaps Nuggets center Raef LaFrentz. "When Zendon was there, it kind of caught me by surprise," Van Exel said. "I would love to take the final shot." Actually, he did. A shot from Denver's free throw line -- three-quarter-court as the final second evaporated. Air ball.
1. To be fair, he didn't actually use a racial epithet, like **** or ****** or *****. What he did was sandwich 'Mexican' between cuss words and (probably) said it in a hostile way. 2. Issel is not in danger of losing his job for the slur. If he was a good coach/gm, he'd do his penance and that'd be it. But he's not and may get canned for that. This business would only be a catalyst.
