Source: Local6 Mullin & Nellie felt the suspension was excessive, and the owners feel it's justified. I think you have to trust Mullin & Nellie's gut feeling here since they've been a part of the NBA locker room as players. On the otherhand a message had to be sent by ownership to it's players (aka their employees) that these violations of their contracts have to be taken seriously. Who's side do you take here?
I can see both sides. Nelson and Mullin have to deal directly with the players a lot more than Rowell and Cohan do, so it's only natural that they would have a more personal relationship and probably more empathy. Plus both Mullin and Nelson were players earlier in their careers. I definitely see the other perspective too though, because mopeds are specifically forbidden in every player's contract and Rowell and Cohan of course are primarily concerned with money. The truth is his stunt will probably cost the Warriors more than the $3.5M he will be fined in reduced attendance (especially in a down economy), tv/radio ratings, hiring of fill-in players, and probably pushing them off the playoff cusp (which brings in big revenue if you make it in). Ellis then lied about what happened. You can't afford to set a precedent by letting something like that just go by without a harsh fine, or next time you are screwed. They had to make a strong statement.
I can see both sides, however the argument that they have an obligation to the fans and stuff, wouldn't that obligation be better upheld if Monta was allowed to just come back when he is healthy again, and just fine him for all the games he will miss?
Essentially they are fining him for all the games he'll miss, which they estimate to be around 30 games. However, Mullin & Nellie feel the ownership is going overboard because it's going to end up costing Monta $3.5Million. Prior to this fine, the highest amount was the $250K Radman had to pay for his snowboarding incident.
The thing is Radmo isn't a star and he's not getting the majority of the team's salary cap money to play like Ellis is. Monta Ellis had just recently signed this contract. I'm in the belief that his agent and his employers must have gone over what provisions in his contract were super important to obey. Now if he were a scrub, his contract would have been voided for sure. An example has to be made, especially with Ellis' pay scale and his expected level of involvement/responsibility within the Warriors organization. Yeah Ellis' character makes this incident almost totally forgive-able, but he's got to be a man and realize there are consequence for doing something you were told explicitly not to do. And then what did he do? I'd like to believe he was being reckless this one time rather than being retarded.
I'd say the punishment was fair but why the hell would Rowell come out and say that Mullin and Nellie disagreed? We just paid him 66 million to be a star, a leader, the centerpiece, then he gets injured AND lies about it. Doesn't even come clean until they really push and prod him to. Suspending him 30 games isn't too excessive considering he'll probably be out longer than that. The 3 million or whatever looks like a lot to punish him but why the hell should he get the money for those games after he injured himself in a banned activity AND lied about it RIGHT AFTER he got his new contract? Its tough but not unfair IMO. I'm more concerned that Rowell is already getting ready to can Mully/Nellie (assuming Nellie would leave if Mullin is fired) when they've lead us to our most successful seasons and brought together our most talented teams in 15 years.
Okay, well, I think the fine was justified, given the hefty contract. He's getting fined 5.5% of his total contract -- that's probably the same percentage as Radmonovic's 750k was of his total contract. But, as far as sides, as a fan I side with Nellie and Mullin, because Cohan and Rowell have sucked a$$ as ownership/FO and mean nothing to us GS fans, while Nellie and Mullin are pretty much the saviors of this franchise. Maybe we'll bring back Garry St. Jean and Dave Cowens? Or Brian Winters? Those were the glory days...
