Howard the Schmuck

This is a few days old, but worth reliving regardless. (Found at 710 ESPN).

So (Howard) Shultz [sic] is going through his routine, 'Teamwork this, teamwork that, we are a team at Starbucks, our store managers operate these teams and this is how we're going to succeed.' Then (the emcee) says, 'What about teamwork on the Sonics?' and Schultz says, 'I was afraid you were going to ask me about that.'

And then he says teamwork on the Sonics did not happen; there's nobody who can tell Gary Payton what to do. That's what he said. He probably didn't think anyone at that dinner would be talking to anyone in Seattle anytime soon.

The story was told by ESPN's Lester Munson to Bob Stelton and Dave Grosby and reflected a conversation Munson saw Schultz have with someone at a book-signing event in Chicago recently.

Must be a nice, delusional world Howie lives in, where nothing is ever his fault.

I'll be the first to admit that GP was never the friendliest guy in the world, and I'm sure he made life beyond difficult for rookies and other young players. But to lay the blame for Howard's fiasco of an ownership reign at Gary Payton's feet is beyond laughable, it's shameful.

Howard, let me give you a piece of advice: If you're not going to own up to your failure to protect the legacy of the Seattle Supersonics, then do the next best thing: Shut up.