"New York Arrogance"

Doesn't matter where I play! As long as the money's green!"

Back in 1975 a couple of cats from the Bronx named DJ Hollywood and his partner Cool Herc started talking over the break beats of records in a rhyme flow at a joint called Club 357.  They soon began plugging their DJ equipment into the street light posts and the Block Party was invented. In 1980 the first recorded rap record was released on Sugarhill Records by the Sugarhill Gang and the genre known as rap music was born. Music execs said that is was just a passing fad and that it would only last a few years. Now it has been incorporated into our every day lives whether we like it or not. It's used to sell everything from food to sneakers and New York gets all the credit for inventing it.

Remember when cats from New York thought because they invented rap that they were the only ones that could do it? When guys from other parts of the country started putting it down they got mad and started saying that it wasn't real hip hop. New York hasn't ran the rap game since the early to mid '90's and boyz wanna to forget that Death Row was in the Finals too! But what blows me away is that if you didn't know any better you'd think that they invented basketball too.

That New York arrogance has kept them from winning a championship since 1973 when the Knicks won their last joint. That same arrogance cost them Jeremy Lin over the weekend. The Houston Rockets offered the restricted free agent a 3 year $25 million deal and all NY had to do was match it. The deal breaks down like this; in year one he would get $5 million, in the second $5.22 million and in the third $14.8 million. However, because of the NBA luxury tax that third year Lin would cost the Knicks $30 million. That New York arrogance kicked in and they decided that he wasn't worth that type of bread. So they signed Raymond Felton! Who? You heard me bruh!

I've been saying for years that players don't win championships, organizations do. That's why I wrote the Hot Joint entitled "The Firm." New York has been terribly run for years and that's why they can't win. Could they have won a title with Lin? Absolutely not! Could they have made a fortune with him on the floor? Absolutely!  Now all what I want to know is who was the genius that was doing the math and pulled the trigger on not signing him? He said that at no point would Lin be worth $30 million to the organization.

Do you know how many people of Asian descent are in this world bruh? Do you realize just how much money they just gave Houston because they were too arrogant to smell it? I heard Stephen A. Smith on ESPN yesterday, a New York cat, saying that the Knicks front office thought that Lin was dogging it during the playoffs on the injury and that he could have played.

However, he got the big head and wouldn't play in fear of risking further injury. Stephen A. then tried to compare Lin to D Wade who was clearly hurt during the playoffs but played through it. Bruh, D Wade is already rich and has made 9 years worth of bread. Jeremy Lin made the league minimum last year of like $652K that was prorated at that because he didn't play the entire season. He was picked up 20 games in!

 You can't be drinking that much New York Kool Aid to think that Lin would care more about New York than getting paid? If he'd done further damage to his injury we'd be talking about this cat's 15 minutes of fame and he'd be working a regular job now. In case you didn't know bruh, he went to Harvard! That means that he's smart. That dun was sitting on the bench during the playoffs counting that money while New Yorker's were trippin' that he wasn't on the floor. It's called professional basketball for a reason son.

Because of your arrogance you just hand delivered Houston more bread than they can count. Lin will be like a traveling road show, a TV ratings dream, an apparel company's gold mine  and a ticket salesman's treasure chest. Ya'll just gave all of that to Houston and they said with a huge smile, "thanks sucka's!" They made that $30 million up this weekend bruh! By the time that third year shows up they'll be so far ahead on money and popularity that they just might be ready to compete for legit superstar free agents that could help them compete for a title. Why, because cats may be willing to come to Houston because of the hype surrounding the popularity of the team. Why, because of the acquisition of Jeremy Lin years before.

 Is he a great player? Absolutely not but he'll start on the Western Conference All-Star team the next 3 years! Why, because of the Asian following that he's got and they make up the majority of the population on the planet bruh and the fans vote for the starters. Just ask Yao Ming what does it mean for Houston? Bread!!!

New York just gave away a gold mine because they thought it was 1980 and it was rap game. They thought at the time that because they invented it they'd always own it. Now 32 years later Jay-Z is the last man standing pulling a Kobe because he's got the entire city on his back. I can hear Rick Ross' "Everyday I'm Hustlin" or better yet DJ Khaled's "All I Do Is Win" joint bumpin' to remind boyz who's got the mic right now in the NBA and they ain't trying to give it up for a while.

Holla At Ya Boy!
Jay Graves
Get @ me on Twitter: @jaygravesreport