Dallas Mavericks center Shawn Bradley has informed the team of his intention to retire and is negotiating a buyout of his contract.
Bradley and the Mavericks, according to team sources, are close to finalizing a buyout arrangement. The 33-year-old has three seasons left on his contract at $14.5 million.
It's believed that Bradley, who struggled with knee and hip injuries this season, is leaving the game after 12 years for health and family reasons. He and wife Annette recently had their sixth child.
With Bradley possibly in need of additional surgery, Dallas is expected to forward his case to an independent doctor for review. If Bradley's injuries are determined to be career-ending, the balance of his contract would drop off the Dallas payroll after one season. If the injuries are not deemed career-ending, his contract remains on the Mavericks' cap.
Bradley was the No. 2 pick of the 1993 NBA draft by Philadelphia -->Chris Webber and Penny Hardaway -- after playing just one season at BYU and spending two years completing a Mormon mission in Australia.
Dallas was the third team that tried and failed to establish the slender Bradley as a franchise player. After two-plus seasons of unmet expectations with the 76ers and two partial seasons with New Jersey, Bradley joined the Mavericks in one of former coach-general manager Don Nelson's first major moves and spent the past 8½ seasons in Dallas.
Bradley's role, though, has gradually diminshed with the Mavs. After preseason knee surgery, Bradley averaged career lows in points per game (2.7) and blocks per game (0.8) in 2004-05 and appeared in just seven of Dallas' 13 playoff games under new coach Avery Johnson, for a total of 27 minutes.
Bradley will retire with career averages of 8.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks, having led the league in blocked shots twice.
Nothing good came out of this #2 pick. What a bust. But it was fun watching him go against Muresan though.
We needed the next big thing to Shaq, I guess the Gm during that year was stupid. 7 footers have failed us miserably, can anyone say Yao Ming what a bust he has been I thought he was suppose to edge over shaq, he and Mcgrady did squat while the Heat got into the western conference finals.
We needed the next big thing to Shaq, I guess the Gm during that year was stupid. 7 footers have failed us miserably, can anyone say Yao Ming what a bust he has been I thought he was suppose to edge over shaq, he and Mcgrady did squat while the Heat got into the western conference finals.
I wouldn't exactly call Yao Ming a bust. He hasn't improved as much as Amare in his three years in the league, but he's gotten better and is arguably the second best center in the league behind Shaq. If he can get a break from basketball for a few months then I think he can come in and last longer and contribute more. Yao and McGrady may have not gotten past the first round, but I think they will be annual contenders for the NBA title for years to come.
Just like many People are projecting Chris Webber and Allen Iverson to be, the only difference is that these two have been in every round possible and these two morons only have been in the first round. Dumb trade by Houston
Just like many People are projecting Chris Webber and Allen Iverson to be, the only difference is that these two have been in every round possible and these two morons only have been in the first round. Dumb trade by Houston
The players Houston gave up didn't get anywhere but the first round either. Tracy McGrady was better than any player they gave up and they have a bright future with Tracy and Yao because they are both young and excellent players.
Agreeable there young, but Mcgrady's older he should know what playoff time is about he has 3-1 teams go down in 7, that's perposterous He needs to kick it into a higher gear if you want to ever see that team in the NBA finals.
Yao and McGrady are among the best players in the NBA at their positions. Yao is far from being a bust. He isn't the most dominate player in th eNBA and probably wpon't be as good as hyped, but he is definately one of the top 3 centers in the NBA now.
I remember watching the draft that night and seeing Bradley highlights. I thought to myself this guy is going to be a bust. He was just that. He was yet another big mistake for the franchise. He was a project that at that time we didn't need to take on. We should have went with Penny, Webber or Mashburn.
Former Sixer Bradley Retiring
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