Russia - Like it or not, Kirilenko has big contract and nonnegotiable coach

From: abclocal.go.com
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J.A. Adande

Andrei Kirilenko says the money -- some $63 million worth of money -- isn't the issue here, when of course money is always an issue. The thing is, money isn't the issue. Kirilenko wishes this were just a matter of money. Money is negotiable. Jerry Sloan is not.

Kirilenko told the Russian newspaper Sport Express that he is so unhappy playing under Sloan in Utah that he's willing to "go without" his Jazz contract, which pays him $13.7 million this season.

"Big money is obviously good, but I am prepared to make less," Kirilenko said, according to the translation in The Salt Lake Tribune. "The size of my salary doesn't mean that much for me. The main thing is to play with a spark."

He said he doesn't want to be a "robot" in Sloan's system. He longs to play in Europe, where he can be the man. Except he isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Unfortunately for him, neither is Sloan.

It doesn't matter that Kirilenko's words follow the critical comments about Sloan in John Amaechi's book "Man in the Middle," which portrayed most of the locker room --- including Karl Malone -- as being tired of Sloan's coaching style during Amaechi's stay in Utah.

I asked Kevin O'Connor, Utah's senior vice president of basketball operations, whether all this would have any impact on Sloan's status, and he said, "I wouldn't even need to comment on him. That doesn't need to be discussed."

Sloan is the closest thing to a tenured professor there is in pro sports. This will be his 20th season as the Jazz head coach. And he's coming off one of his most triumphant seasons. A team that wasn't supposed to go anywhere wound up in the conference finals. This was thanks to the return to form of Carlos Boozer, the emergence of Deron Williams ... and the steadfastness of Sloan.

The Jazz rained on the carnival that was the Golden State Warriors' playoffs. The business suits beat out the shorts and sandals. And that was thanks to Sloan imposing his will on his team, then on the series.

The Jazz had been caught up in Golden State's running-gunning ways. Utah shot 53 3-pointers in the first three games. Then, in the pivotal Game 4 in Oakland, the Jazz took only eight 3s. It was as if Sloan had issued an edict that anyone firing up jumpers would have to take a bus back to Salt Lake City. Only six of Utah's first 41 shots came from outside the lane. The Jazz outscored Golden State in the paint, 50-32, and took a 3-1 series lead.

Yes, the Warriors were having more fun. It was impossible not to contrast the outright love they professed for Don Nelson with the grudging respect the Jazz showed for Sloan. The Utah players sounded as if they were dutifully eating their vegetables, while jealously gazing across the table at the desserts the Warriors had piled on their plates.

Still, the Jazz players did what they were told. And they were better off for it. "We know for us to be successful we have to play our type of basketball," Williams said.

It's structured, and yes, it can be restricting. It's also the method the Jazz used to finish off the Warriors in five. They even got 16 points per game from Kirilenko, brought back into the fold after his timid play and five-points-a-game opening round against Houston.

It was during the Houston series that the Kirilenko/Sloan relationship was fractured forever. Kirilenko was so frustrated with his play and his limited role that he broke into tears while meeting with the media. That doesn't mesh with Sloan's M.O.

Hug it out, let your emotions go, have a good cry -- could you imagine Sloan ever saying any of those things? I bet Sloan doesn't even have a box of Kleenex in his house.

It doesn't help that Kirilenko apparently doesn't buy into the one trait Sloan values above all: hard work. In a Salt Lake City radio interview Friday, Williams questioned Kirilenko's work ethic and said he is usually the first to leave after practice, while others are working on their jump shots.

It's clear the Jazz will go as far as Boozer and Williams take them. Everyone else is just along for the ride. That includes Kirilenko, who emerged as The Man with the post-Stockton/Malone Jazz team of 2003-04 and apparently can't handle the revised pecking order. Especially after he had the run of the yard as the star of Russia's national team in the EuroBasket competition this summer and was the MVP of the tournament.

Now, he's openly fantasizing about leaving the Jazz and playing in Europe. (Given the exchange rate these days, he's probably better off getting paid in euros.) Kirilenko knows it's not as simple as just leaving Utah, though, because FIBA and the NBA honor each other's contracts. He knows the Jazz front office isn't eager to buy him out because whatever amount was negotiated still would count against the team's salary cap. And even if Kirilenko's entire salary were to come off Utah's books, that wouldn't be much of a break. Cap space doesn't mean as much in Utah as it does elsewhere. Until skiing becomes the next NBA fad, Salt Lake City won't be a top free-agent destination.

Meanwhile, Kirilenko diminishes his trade value with every blog post or interview. The more he tries to force Utah's hand, the more likely O'Connor is to get phone calls that begin, "How would you like Wally Szczerbiak?"

So for the time being, he's stuck. And if Kirilenko does want to go elsewhere in the NBA, he should be wary of following in some dubious footsteps. There's a steady trend of players who have left the Jazz -- including David Benoit, Howard Eisley, Bryon Russell and Donyell Marshall -- only to see their stats decline when they got to their new teams. There hasn't always been a huge drop-off, but the point is that it's rare to see someone's numbers take off after he leaves, so you can't say Sloan's system keeps holding players back. (One notable exception was Shandon Anderson, but he paid a different price: no playoff appearances in his first four seasons away from Sloan and the Jazz.)

O'Connor and the Jazz aren't talking about buyouts or trades. Their training camp media day is Oct. 1, and they expect to see Kirilenko there.

"Our stance is this: He's got a contract, we expect him to honor it," O'Connor said.

We know this much: Sloan will be there. It's up to Kirilenko to show up and deal with it.