Worst NBA Champions: Glen Rice

One of these things is not like the other things,one of these things just doesn't belong...
In 2005, Glenn Robinson "won" a championship with the San Antonio Spurs. In 2006, Antoine Walker "earned" a title with the Miami Heat. In 2008, years of barely repressed rage and uncontrolled vomiting related to these traveshamockeries led me to coin the term championship piggybacking.

But it wasn't enough...not nearly enough.

For the last year or so, I've been promising to make a list of the worst (read that: least deserving) NBA champions. That list begins today, and it starts with the 2000s. Which leads us to Mr. Glen Rice.

Rice was a three-time All-Star who made two All-NBA Teams (the Second Team in 1996-97 and the Third Team in 1997-98) and actually finished fifth in MVP voting in 1997 (behind Karl Malone, Michael Jordan, Grant Hill and Tim Hardaway). And the dude could flat out shoot. During his 15-year career, Rice hit 40 percent of his threes (which ranks 27th in league history) and he led the league in three-point percentage in 1996-97 (47 percent).

It's no wonder Jerry West thought Rice was the final piece of the championship puzzle for his Los Angeles Lakers, who already featured the best big man in the game (Shaq) and the best up-and-coming two guard (Kobe Bryant). West figured that Rice's outside shooting would be the perfect compliment to Shaq's inside play and Bryant's cutting/slashing/attack-the-basket game.

That's why The Logo traded away fan favorites Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell to get Rice, who had been languishing away on an incredibly dysfunctional Charlotte Hornets team (players were demanding trades, coach Dave Cowens resigned, his best teammate -- Anthony Mason -- was out for the year, Rice himself was coming back from elbow surgery, and the team owner George Shinn was on trial for sexual abuse).

And yet...Rice didn't really want to play for the Lakers. Seriously.

See, Rice was an All-Star and former (giggle) MVP candidate who was going from being The Man to being The Third Option (Maybe). Was he interested in winning? Yes. Was he interested in giving up shots? Hell no. As Ian Thomsen of Sports Illustrated put it:

The trade almost fell apart because Rice feared his scoring opportunities would diminish with L.A., reducing his value as a free agent. But the deal was finally consummated, according to Rice's agent, David Falk, when the Lakers agreed to ignore the 1999-2000 option year of the contract Rice had signed with the Hornets.

During his first partial season in L.A. -- the crappy crap lockout year -- Rice got enough shots (14.7 per) to average 17.5 points while knocking down 39 percent of his treys. Unfortunately, the Lakers were swept out of the playoffs by the Spurs. And things went downhill from there.

Falk says Los Angeles owner Jerry Buss informed him an hour before the 1999 draft that the Lakers would pick up Rice's option year, and under the terms of the contract they paid him $7 million last season. "Glen had had an operation [to his right elbow, in January 1999], and we wanted to see him play before we made any commitment," says Buss.

From that point, it became a war of words. Rice and his agent insisted that Buss had lied to him and thereby cost him countless millions, while Buss maintained he had never promised Rice anything. Meanwhile, some rumors had it that the Rice fiasco played a big part in West's decision to retire from the Lakers' organization. (Other rumors had it that Falk started those rumors.)

The whole situation was made worse by the arrival of Phil Jackson, who apparently didn't think much of Rice's game and wanted to bring in a Scottie Pippen-type player (preferably the actual Pippen via trade). Rice claims that Jackson's desire for Pippen led to a power struggle between Phil and Jerry for control of personnel decisions. Further, Rice complained that his minutes and shots were yanked because of Jackson's attempts to prove he was right.

Whatever the reason, Rice's 1999-2000 season was a huge disappointment. He averaged 15.9 PPG but shot 43 percent from the field and only 36 percent from downtown. Rice seemed increasingly reluctant to share the ball and started taking a beating for his inability to a) fit into Jackson's triangle offense and b) stay anywhere close to in front of his man.

Despite all that, the Lakers won 67 games and won the NBA title in six games over the Indiana Pacers. But Rice had an bad series. He was okay in Games 2 (21 points, 7-for-15 from the field, 5-for-6 on threes) and 6 (16 points on 5-for-7 shooting), but his shooting was turrible in the other four: 1-for-8 in Game 1, 3-for-9 in Game 3, 3-for-8 in Game 4, and 3-for-8 in Game 5. Rice wasn't contributing much else either. He had two one-rebound games and one game with zero rebounds. He also barely finished the Finals with more assists (10) than turnovers (9).

Rice's feud with Jackson actually came to a head after Game 3 of the Finals:

Rice had ended his interview session with these words: "If people don't think I can be out there doing things to get this team a win, then ... I shouldn't be here."

An NBA public relations official quickly ended the interview, hustling Rice away after he had spent the better part of 15 minutes explaining his frustration with being benched and offering insight into his less-than-rosy relationship with Jackson.

Meanwhile, beneath the stands at Conseco Fieldhouse, Jackson was sounding like another coach from down the road in Bloomington as he explained why he and Rice were supposedly on the same page.

"I play whom I want to play when I want to play them, and how they play and what I think is best for the team. That's it," Jackson said.

...

The Rice controversy is "not a distraction to us," Jackson said. "That's nothing to us."

Rice didn't agree, admitting "it plays with your head a little bit."

He was asked: Had he talked to Jackson about it?

"No, I have not."

Did he plan to talk to Jackson about it?

"No, I do not."

What harm would it do to simply discuss it with the coach?

"I've been down that road before. The best way is to go out there and let my actions speak for themselves."

But it didn't end there. Oh no. After that, Rice's wife got involved.

In an article published Tuesday in the Los Angeles Times, she claimed Rice was being used as a pawn by Jackson in his dealings with Lakers owner Jerry Buss and team president Jerry West.

"Jackson has never wanted Glen, he's always wanted somebody like Scottie Pippen, and this is his way of getting back at management for not letting him make a trade," she said. "This is Jackson's way of showing the people on top of him who is in control. It's crazy.

"It's all a mind game. It's all about control. Jackson did not get his way with the general manager or the owner about trading Glen, so who pays for it? Glen does."

Rice's wife, Christina Fernandez Rice, said she has counseled her husband to keep quiet about the situation until she thought it was hurting the team.

"How many players would have stayed as quiet for as long as Glen has? But finally, when the team is affected, you have to say something," she said. "Now if it was me, I would have already been Latrell Sprewell II."

That's right. Mrs. Rice inferred she would have choked Jackson down had she been her husband. And...Mr. Rice backed his wife.

Asked about his wife's comments, Rice said he agreed with them.

"Definitely. Why not?" he said.

Holy fuck. But wait, there's more.

Rice admitted he would not be 100 percent focused in Game 4 but said he would dedicate himself to addressing the deficiency in his game that Jackson said was the reason he removed Rice in favor of Fox in Game 3.

"I'm going to come out and be very aggressive on the defensive end," Rice said. "If I get beat, I never claimed I was the best defensive player on this team individually. Jalen's a great player, and when I get beat I expect the help to be there."

That's right, Rice said "when" he gets beat.

Oy.

Despite Rice's best efforts to destroy L.A.'s chances in the Finals, the Lakers won the championship anyway. And Rice got his ring. But by the time the ring was delivered, he was playing for the Knicks. This is what Rice had to say immediately after his ring arrived in the New York locker room:

"I was unhappy with the Lakers and things were so bent out of shape," Rice said. "When I was first traded to L.A. from Charlotte two years ago, I knew right away the big thing was they had Shaq and Kobe. I was coming off the best three years of my career, so I was not trying to slow down. I knew I had to sacrifice but I didn't know I had to sacrifice so much and sometimes be the only one sacrificing."

Rice said Lakers Coach Phil Jackson listened to him but would not talk to him. He said the Lakers' owner, Jerry Buss, lied to him about his contractual situation. Rice was used sparingly as the Lakers rolled last season.

The ring, indeed, is his, but somehow its circle is not complete.

"Being traded here gave me a chance to show some new things and play in a place I've always loved," Rice said. "I've had great games in the Garden before and I love the rims here. Some people here have told me now I get the chance to light it up for the home team instead of against them."

Rice "lit it up" in New York for exactly one season, averaging 12 points as (once again) the third option behind Sprewell and Allan Houston. After that, he was traded to the Rockets for one last shot at being a first option. Unfortunately, plantar fasciitis and a partially torn tendon in his knee ruined his two seasons in Houston. During the 2003-04 season, Rice finished his career by playing 18 games as...a Los Angeles Clipper. His final game was a seven-minute, zero-point "effort" in a one-point loss to the Memphis Grizzlies.

But he has a ring.