Tag: Earl Watson

In Watson’s first year leading the …

In Watson’s first year leading the bench in Phoenix, Sarver asked about the state of the organization and where Watson thought it could improve. Watson told Sarver that it suffered from a lack of diversity. “I don’t like diversity,” Sarver replied, according to Watson and a basketball operations staffer with knowledge of the interaction.

Earl Watson: Damian Lillard was approached by super team

Earl Watson: Since @Dame_Lillard won’t say it, I will! Before Dame’s last extension he was approached to join a super team! He immediately called me & I’m assuming it’s because he respects me! I asked him, “what do you want to do”?! He didn’t waste a second before he responded, “Big EJ, I want to stay in Portland, build it with my teammates & beat every mf super team”! My response was, “Real ones do things others are afraid to endure”! He didn’t waste a second before he responded, “Big EJ, I want to stay in Portland, build it with my teammates & beat every mf super team”! My response was, “Real ones do things others are afraid to endure”!

Earl Watson: So to the media, stop the …

Earl Watson: So to the media, stop the bullshit analytics on why @Dame_Lillard is not a superstar in playoffs wins, point minus etc… if not you’ll drive top players to link up just to shut you up & kill the game! Dame doesn’t control FA,draft or attractiveness to the city he was drafted to! Lastly, whether he does it this season or next whenever… Thank you for pissing off the wrong one! @Dame_Lillard feeds on the doubters, haters, attention seeking whatever! True Oakland & True Warrior! Portland has a Real 0ne! ???#familia

“I wouldn’t even say it was somebody …

“I wouldn’t even say it was somebody offering me to go to another team,” Lillard said. “It was just something that was constantly being mentioned to me, like ‘You should do this, you should go here.’ And I just said, ‘That’s not what I wish to do.’ Where I was drafted, I live there comfortably, my family is comfortable, it’s a great organization. … The grass ain’t always greener. For me, I feel like we can build something and get it done in Portland. And I really believe that. I don’t just say it to say it.”

Suns passed on trying to draft Jayson Tatum because of ownership

The Athletic’s Jay King reports the Phoenix Suns passed on drafting Boston Celtic star forward Jayson Tatum because of ownership.

One. Another. Then, 38 more — it’s safe to say then-Phoenix Suns head coach Earl Watson was satisfied.

Hosting a prospective Jayson Tatum for pre-draft workouts in 2017, the former UCLA standout was convinced he’d found his man for the Suns No. 4 overall pick of the 2017 NBA Draft, reports the Athletic’s Jay King.

It was recently revealed on the “All the Smoke” podcast hosted by former UCLA teammate Matt Barnes and fellow ex-NBAer Stephen Jackson that Tatum initially hoped to be drafted by Phoenix.

The now-Boston Celtics standout was on the show to talk a variety of issues, and when discussion of his college days led to his arrival in the league, this bombshell tidbit shook out of the conversation.

King went straight to Watson to get his end of that tale, and the former Suns coach related his version of events.

“[Tatum] drilled 40 straight off the first shot,” Watson explained. “Forty straight. So I immediately turned to the owner and the GM. And I said, ‘What else do we need to see?'”

Evidently, a lot.

“I was pushing Tatum,” Watson offered.

“We had to move up for Tatum, we had to get Tatum. And ownership chose Josh Jackson. … I knew the two players were dynamically different, but my vision was what’s the best fit for Devin Booker. Booker and Tatum, I think a combination like that right now would have been completely different than anything in the NBA at that age.”

Such a combo would get almost anyone excited, though admittedly we’re looking backwards with the sort of 20/20 vision on the Duke product’s future that was admittedly far from settled yet.

Suns owner Robert Sarver, however, saw the situation quite differently; “We don’t need another Devin Booker,” he is remembered as saying by Watson.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” the ex-Suns coach claimed. “I could see it quick like I saw it in Devin Booker quick, when people questioned it … And the owner stopped him [during the shooting drill].”

“I don’t know how many more he could have made, but the owner stopped the drill. And you don’t stop that drill. You just don’t. You just sit there and you admire it and you stay out of the way. So the owner stops the drill and says, ‘That’s nice. What else can you do?'”

“I’m like, ‘What? What? The workout should be over. This is our guy,'” Watson added.

While the Suns would have had to have convinced the Los Angeles Lakers to pass on their darling of that draft, point guard Lonzo Ball.

And while they’d telegraphed their intention of taking Ball for weeks, it’s not out of the question that competent, committed ownership could potentially have managed to swing such a deal.

Mercifully for the Celtics and their fans though, Phoenix stumbled on this particular prospect.

[lawrence-related id=34083,34064,34038,33969]

Already, Watson was sold on pairing …

Already, Watson was sold on pairing Tatum with Suns star Devin Booker. In Watson’s vision, the two wings would split time on and off the ball. They would make the Suns competitive early in their careers while possibly growing into one of the NBA’s best duos. Watson wanted Tatum badly enough to hold what he called “uncomfortable” conversations with team owner Robert Sarver, trying to convince the organization it should do whatever it took to draft the Duke star. Sarver preferred Josh Jackson, Watson said, but Watson kept pushing back with a different idea. “We need to fucking get Tatum,” Watson recalled saying.

“I told him it was limitless,” Watson …

“I told him it was limitless,” Watson said. “I had no problem building through him and Booker and playing the type of basketball where everyone touches it and moves it and swings it around.” In the car, according to Watson, Tatum shared that he wanted the Suns to pick him, that he felt most comfortable with Phoenix and believed in the coach’s vision. On the All The Smoke podcast, Tatum said the Suns were indeed his No. 1 option at the time. Leading up to the draft, he essentially knew Markelle Fultz and Lonzo Ball would be the first two overall selections. After Boston traded down into the third pick, Tatum hoped to fall to fourth and head to Phoenix.

In a phone interview with BET on Friday …

In a phone interview with BET on Friday (Dec. 13), Watson, who said he’s “been doing things in the [Kansas City] community since 2001” when he was first drafted to the NBA, confirmed his generous offer to the Lamb family. “It’s the first time I ever came across a situation like this and it moved me because we’ve been seeing this across the country and to have it happen in your own backyard and it gets notoriety [in the media] it moved me because a lot of times you don’t hear about it, you just gotta get word of mouth in the community,” he told BET.