Apparently Dallas Mavericks forward Shawn Marion gets no respect.
Just days prior to the NBA season tipping off on Christmas Day, Marion seems to be miffed about the lack of respect his team is getting, according to ProSportsDaily.com.
Marion feels that the defending champions aren’t getting their just due.
“We’ve gotten to the point where everybody started overlooking us and talking about everybody else and I kind of got (mad) about it,” Marion said. “Y’all trying to take something away from us that we’ve worked hard for and we took.
Memo to Marion: You are a member of the defending NBA champions. Act like it.
I can’t remember the last time a player on a championship team was vocal about being overlooked just days away from receiving a championship ring. That should be all the respect he needs.
The San Antonio Spurs have long been disrespected even after two and three championships. But the Spurs loved flying under the radar and actually preferred it.
As for Marion, he just painted a big red target on his back and on the backs of all his teammates.
As for the defending NBA champions being overlooked. Plenty has changed since last season. Tyson Chandler is off in New York and Caron Butler is teaming up with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin in Los Angeles. They’ve replaced those players with Lamar Odom and Vince Carter, both much older and as a whole they are downgrades.
The average age of that roster and especially their potential starting lineup is getting up there. Jason Kidd, Marion and Vince Carter are well past their primes and don’t have many years left, while several teams in the West are now younger and improved.
Oh, and one more thing. It looks like Marion thinks by winning the NBA Finals, the Mavericks are now world champions.
“We earned everything we did last year. Everybody on this team earned the right to be addressed as world champions, so everybody needs to address them like that.” Marion also took issue with the Miami Heat once again securing national attention and being listed as the favorites heading into this season.”
They may have earned being called NBA Champions, but until you beat the likes of Spain, France, Argentina and several others, you don’t deserve being called or “addressed” as any more than that.
For Spurs fans, you have to love Marion’s mindset so close to the start of the season.
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