Legal Commentary

Say what, Richard Justice?

By Tom Kirkendall

The Chronicle's primary sports page columnist, Richard Justice, is gushing over the Houston Rockets' management now that the local club has seized first place in the NBA's Southwest Division going into the last ten games of the regular season:

[Rockets General Manager] Daryl Morey has been perfect. Two years ago, he took over a playoff team, a team that had just won 52 games, and he did something remarkable with it.

He made it better. He did it without having a high draft pick or spending on a big-ticket free agent. He just evaluated talent better than some other teams evaluate it.

His hiring is a tribute to Rockets owner Leslie Alexander, too. Actually, everything the Rockets do begins with Alexander. [ .  .  .]

He’s this city’s best owner by miles, .  .  .

Of course, this is the same Richard Justice who less than two years ago was derisively calling Alexander "Clueless Les" and Morey "Boy Wonder."

So, which is it, Richard?

Well, the reality is neither.

Alexander has actually been a quite mediocre owner who had the good luck to inherit a strong roster when he bought the team. That group promptly won two straight NBA titles for Alexander in the mid-1990's.

However, under Alexander's management, the Rockets now have failed to win a playoff series in 12 straight seasons. That is a streak of futility that is matched by only a few other NBA teams.

Although Justice didn't think so at the time, Alexander does appear to have made a good decision in hiring Morey, who has rebuilt the Rockets' roster over the past two seasons despite having to deal with Tracy McGrady's bloated contract. But geez, can't we at least have a playoff series victory before deeming Morey the basketball version of Billy Beane?

How did someone such as Justice -- who lacks any meaningful ability to analyze sports -- become the Chronicle's top sports columnist?

Full post as published by Houston's Clear Thinkers on March 25, 2009 (boomark / email).