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Suspension reveals rift in Warriors front office

Mon 13th, October 2008

(Sports Network) - When an organization suspends its centerpiece, you can bet there will be some fallout.

Look no further than Oakland and the aftermath of Monta Ellis' 30-game suspension to prove that point.

Golden State Warriors president Robert Rowell laid the smackdown on Ellis Saturday after the star guard lied about an ankle injury sustained in an offseason moped accident. Ellis, who signed a six-year, $66 million dollar deal with the Warriors in July, severely sprained the ankle during a crash in late August.

Instead of coming clean and admitting a mistake, the 22-year-old showed his age and tried to convince everyone that he was hurt during a pickup game in his native Mississippi.

You can understand why owner Chris Cohan and Rowell were upset. It's not like $66 million dollars isn't a substantial investment, but 30 games and the subsequent paychecks for a lack of maturity?

By the letter of the law, there's little doubt Ellis violated Paragraph 12 of the NBA's uniform player contract, which prohibits any player from engaging "in any activity that a reasonable person would recognize as involving or exposing the participant to a substantial risk of bodily injury," including "driving or riding a motorcycle or moped."

Still, it's not like Ellis was on the verge of becoming the NBA's Pacman Jones and, considering general manager Chris Mullin and head coach Don Nelson, aren't on board with the punishment, it seems like the controversy accomplished little other than creating an incendiary device designed to set off a front office war between the basketball people and their bosses.

"Chris Mullin made it perfectly clear to both Cohan and myself that he didn't think this was a big deal at the beginning," Rowell said at a press conference while explaining his decision. "We happen to think it's a very big deal. We happen to think that it's a big deal for our fans, it's a big deal for our season ticket-holders, it's a big deal for our business partners, it's a big deal for the Warriors organization."

On the floor, the suspension is merely cosmetic since Ellis, who recently underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament, will not be healthy enough to play before his exile has ended. Off the floor it sends an ominous message to the locker room, since Ellis will be nearly $3 million dollars lighter after sitting out.

Mullin and Nelson, perhaps rightfully so, feel that is the type of thing that could harm team unity, something not worth the small financial windfall to the organization.

It also has to have the duo, who piloted the moribund Warriors to their first playoff berth in 13 seasons during the 2006-2007 season and ran up 48 victories as an encore last season, seriously thinking about a future beyond Bay Area basketball.