I knew nothing about Mike Malone before he came to Sacramento, but you could hear in the way he spoke what a straight-forward genuine guy he was. When he talked about basketball being about hard work, and trusting your teammates, and handling your business defensively in his first interview he won me over right away. It's a shame he never really got a chance to make his mark on this franchise the way he should have. Hiring PDA, in retrospect, was a massive mistake that undid the good decisions Vivek made in his first couple of weeks as team owner. Though considering PDA came to us initially through Mullin's recommendation, maybe this was bound to happen regardless. Mullin was a good player but a poor GM at Golden State, and had no business serving as special adviser to anybody except for the fact that Vivek was a massive Golden State fan and just didn't know any better. Larry Bird (one of the first names who came up in the initial GM search) and Malone would have been a great match I think.
Shareef seemed like a good guy too, and if he campaigned hard for Elfrid Payton and quit over it, he's got my respect -- not just cause I felt the same way, but because any scout who feels like their opinion isn't being valued should probably find somewhere else to work. Pete set this franchise back at least a year, but he's gone now. We've got an important draft coming up and some salary flexibility this off-season. I feel a whole lot better about Vlade being in charge because I know he at least cares about this franchise and he's got a lifetime of experience in basketball. I'm glad Pete is completely gone because his attitude was driving away the right kinds of people. After everything we went through to keep the team, the last year and a half has felt like some kind of sick joke, but I'm ready to put it all behind me. Brighter days ahead.
