Sports Columnists

By CDS

April 18, 2007 11:46 AM | Link to this

Yeah. Let’s call the guy and have him laugh in our face about coming here just like most other free agents have done.

I would love to see him be GM here. Too bad our owners are morons.

By Jon Koncak's Wallet

April 18, 2007 11:48 AM | Link to this

West would be great, but why would he want to work for the five empty headed monster that is Hawks ownership? Let’s start with firing Billy Knight. A vacancy at GM would be an improvement over that imbecile.

By Ronnie

April 18, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this

We need players that are willing to play hard every night. I don’t this Hawks teams improving at all. Why would Mr. West would even think about coming here, we don’t even know who’s going to own this team. And let not forget this team can figure out how to draft a basketball player High School or College.

By Chas22

April 18, 2007 11:57 AM | Link to this

WOW!!! this is UNCHARTED waters for Terrance Moore…wanting a WHIT person to replace a black….has to be a misprint.

By yeah right

April 18, 2007 12:04 PM | Link to this

West is 70 years old, and is retiring. You hire a GM to be the backbone of your franchise, and he’s just too old to start over again. A consultant somewhere, perhaps as a #2 decision maker maybe, but not the guy wheeling and dealing.

The Hawks should be courting Kiki Vandeweghe, who will likely replace West in Memphis. Unfortunately for everyone involved nothing is going to happen with the GM situation until the ownership mess gets straightened out. What respectable candidate with options would choose to come into a situation where your bosses might get booted any day?

By Travis

April 18, 2007 12:06 PM | Link to this

Hmmm this will never happen. It makes too much sense. The Hawks ALWAYS do the opposite of that. I think the owners must get some kind of hidden tax relief from the league for being such constant losers.

By Reality Check

April 18, 2007 12:14 PM | Link to this

But Terence, He’s white?

By brent

April 18, 2007 12:22 PM | Link to this

West has entirely too much class to take a job with the bumbling Hawks. Who would want to work with Steve Belkin…an obvious jerk.

By kreedham

April 18, 2007 12:23 PM | Link to this

I don’t think he would want to be GM here or anywhere. I think at age 69 he wants to wind down. However I think he would be great as a consultant/advisor.

By G'Vegas Dawg

April 18, 2007 12:26 PM | Link to this

Terrance must not read the articles published in the Atlanta Urinal and Constipation. Last week Dan Reeves said it best, “a consultant is like a guy that knows a lot about women, and alot about sex, but, he can’t get a date”. Nice article T-Money.

By Ripdog

April 18, 2007 12:28 PM | Link to this

No offense but isn’t he about 70 by now. Let that man enjoy his retirement and not have to put up with these idiot owners we have in Atlanta.

By Gumby

April 18, 2007 12:43 PM | Link to this

TM you are an idiot. Why would West head East and come to Atlanta to work for such an albatros of a franchise. We have a one-headed monster in Billy Knight as a general manager who couldnt find his butt with both hands. When the Falcons had an opening you said Dan Reeves would be a great fit. Now why would Jerry West who by the way is the logo for the NBA come to Atlanta, a city of losers, and be an executive for one of the biggest losers in NBA history, a doormat, one of the most insidious laughingstocks of all times. The Hawks have a solution and that is for Dominique Wilkins to become head coach, but make him a player coach and the Hawks would quickly become a contender. Dominique is younger than Scotty Pippen and Scotty is coming back to play in LA for Phil Jackson. Bring Dominique in, let him play for the Hawks as a player-coach so he can teach the younsters how to play at a high level in the NBA. Jerry West will come to Atlanta if Dominique is playing for the Hawks. If the only superstar you have is Joe Johnson you couldnt lure Jerry West to Atlanta. But if you have Nique AND Joe Johnson playing here you might get Jerry West to come to Atlanta to work in the front office. TM your idea isnt all that bad, it just requires one prerequisite to make it work and that is fire Mike Woodson and BRING IN DOMINIQUE WILKINS FIRST AS A PLAYER-COACH.

By I Hate Racists

April 18, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this

Terence must not remember that Jerry West is a white guy.

The Terence Moore WE know and love would NEVER advocate hiring someone based on his/her actual QUALIFICATIONS for a job.

Look for “Reverend” Al and “Reverend” Jesse to call for Terence to be fired immediately, ESPECIALLY if there is a camera and microphone involved.

Racist Jerks, all 3 of them!

By Tyger

April 18, 2007 12:44 PM | Link to this

Jerry West is on the decline, let him retire with class and grace.

He failed in Memphis despite inheriting a playoff roster built by BK.

There’s no indication whatsoever that he would be an improvement over the status quo.

Chest thumping over championships with Magic/Kareem/Worthy or Shaq/Kobe dont hold water here, there are no such saviors.

By chuck daddy

April 18, 2007 12:47 PM | Link to this

This is obviously based on Memphis’ unqualified success over the last half dozen years. Let’s see……Who’s their best player? And who drafted him?

By Cracker boy

April 18, 2007 12:51 PM | Link to this

But Jerry West is a cracker like me!

By Real Talk

April 18, 2007 12:53 PM | Link to this

They need to sell even sports franchise in Atlanta! We can’t win squat here! The Hawks are all losers! Listen guys! T-Lue is the starting PG! We are talking about T-Lue!

Please!!!!

By Peerless' Mama.

April 18, 2007 12:55 PM | Link to this

Some of you people should be ashamed.

You should remove your hoods before calling Mr. Moore a racist.

Here’s an idea: DON’T READ HIS STORIES if you hate him that much.

By Aaron

April 18, 2007 1:06 PM | Link to this

Excellent.

I think the Hawks would benefit greatly from his consultation. I believe in the team. Jerry West would enjoy working with a team that is solidifying chemistry.

Atlanta is an extremely viable venue for high profile sports. A winning team would help revitalize surrounding areas and that means $$$ for everyone.

By Who cares

April 18, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this

Perless’ mama-why don’t you remove the hood from your BUTT! Blacks can make any statement they want and get away with it, yet a white person is persecuted for having an opinion-isn’t that the pot calling the kettle BLACK! Bk tore Memphis down and Jerry built them back up. who cares about basketbrawl in the ATL any more? The thrashers are the new Winter sport. Sell the Hawks-move them to OKC. We don’t need basketbrawl and their thugs and thuggery music. when those clowns stop insulting and hitting fans, and then force Al and Jesse to apologize for their actions and the actions of EVERY NBA player. As for Terrence-he’s always been hater of the light skinned man-has he changed his ways or is he looking to set someone up for failure and then say “the white guy could not do itpwe need a black man.” At this point-I would be happy if there were NO basketball in Atlanta. Just a dumb sport where the object is to score as many points in 48 minutes-they don’t even play a full 60! Game must have been made up by some drunks with a peach basket and a kick ball in Boston.

By Matt

April 18, 2007 1:18 PM | Link to this

Peerless’ Mama,

Agreed. The people (or person) who posted those messages should be ashamed.

By doc

April 18, 2007 1:26 PM | Link to this

gee tm, i want to be kind and keep from calling you stupid, ignorant, irrational but for the life of me that is what i am left with. look back at the greatness of jerry west as you annointed him over the past five years. he came to the griz and did only one thing to change what billy knight had built for him before he was canned to get in his greatness jerry west.

now what did mr. gretaness do? he fired the coach that bk had hired and brought in a guy with little steam left to coach and it ended up a 50 win year with billy’s guys who incidentally you want fired. funny he won gm of the year for the hire and couldnt do anything else except undo what billy had built with a poor return on the efforts as he coudnt convince shaq to come to memphis since it didnt have the bright lights though it had as good of a tax break as those moving to florida. the trade you spoke of with jatson williams brought him a guy who he gave back at no cost to the heat so the heat got two guys for nothing just by the patience of waiting mr. greatness out. yes, there are two of the top seven guys for the heat that were in griz uni’s without spending a draft choice or a player in return. that is great management of resources isnt it?

funny, mr. greatness thinks there is a need for two guys to replace him. yeah, that is what he is advising (consulting) his soon to be former boss to do since he has done such a great job taking a team from 50 wins to 21 and the best chance in the lottery for 2007. maybe if west isnt available we can put a call in to see if danny ainge is available next.

jerry west was one of my favorite players and is a classy guy who dealt with tremendous egos in la. that is where he should have left his legacy but his ego got in the way the same one who thinks his job has a need for two people. he had the same adverse conditions to work within regarding ownership restrictions but with better players than the guy you want him to replace.

what has he done? he has ended up with fewer total wins and few bodies left behind to improve the situation. for those that call the hawks roster imbalanced look to the griz to see a franchise in real trouble if they dont get the big prize that still hasnt declared. west will stick apound for the lottery hoping to be there if oden is available and claim him as his own. maybe a lucky charm he is, after all if that comes to play but that is all.

now the irony of this is you have spent a huge amount of effort saying why billy’s coach should be kept. now what do you think that mr. greatness is going to do as a first suggestion when he comes through the door of the hawks building. when you cant change all the players and things have gone stale and there has been very little improvement in what makes a difference, wins and losses. you fire the coach of the guy hired before you is my bet. tm, you just dont make much sense from article to article.

By SkinnyJ

April 18, 2007 1:27 PM | Link to this

West cites the Grizzles’ ownership fight as a reason for retirement. Why would he leave that type of situation only to come directly into another one? Idiot.

By St. Bernard

April 18, 2007 1:28 PM | Link to this

West will be in New York within the month. I am not even sure if the owners could hire him if they wanted to. Can they sign free agents? Can they do anything until this mess within themselves is settled?

By KB

April 18, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this

Yeah. This makes sense. Jerry has already replaced Billy once. Jerry won with Billy’s players. Jerry made horrible draft picks, traded off Billy’s players, and built the league’s worst team as a result.

Jerry West is nothing but a name, people. He did nothing in Memphis except tear apart what Billy Knight built.

By tp

April 18, 2007 1:36 PM | Link to this

In my opinion, I don’t think the owners of this franchise care about Ga fans. I believe their main objective is to embarrass the State of Ga. What other reason would a franchise draft mediocre players and give up two 1st round picks for a player who had to come off bench to get playing time. It would be difficult for me to give two 1st rd picks for Tracy MccGrady than to give them up for Joe Johnson. By the way, are Knight and Johnson related or something.I only have a high school diploma and a trade school certificate, and I can do a better job than Billy Knight. He has a degree in college plus he played in the NBA and don’t know nothing about building a winning team. If he had any knowlege about the game he would have traded for Jason Kidd because he is smarter and can lead by example. Like I said before, the owners of this franchise don’t care about Ga fans.

By John

April 18, 2007 1:38 PM | Link to this

I agree that the Hawks need Jerry West or someone who is as competent in the front office. Perhaps both the owner and the general manager need to change. I do not believe that there is a real concern or urgency to win … have not been for years. Oh, by the way, I am black but have no intention of participating in the black vs white scenario.

By Educationless Mama

April 18, 2007 1:49 PM | Link to this

Peerless Mama (aka Matt):

Unless you have been reading Mr. Moore’s ‘commentary’ consistently over the last couple of decades, you should better inform yourself on this writer’s history of divisive race-based ranting and diatribes before blindly you throw yourself in front of a train for him.

If you two (or individual) knew Mr. Moore’s cumulative bias printed in this city over the years, you would have at least some comprehension over why so many people on here think this is a belated April Fool’s prank by Terence.

FYI: We come this site to read about S-P-O-R-T-S. We have no (direct) control over which bigot(s) the AJC hires to write the articles.

We have enough haters and racists in this world already without “Peerless Mama/Matt” adding his/her/their blind hatred to the mix.

Increase the Peace !!!!

By big tone

April 18, 2007 1:58 PM | Link to this

THERE WILL NOT BE A GENERAL MANAGER NOR COACHING CHANGE WITH THE HAWKS UNTIL THE OWNERSHIP REGIME IS IRONED OUT!

By marcus3x

April 18, 2007 2:10 PM | Link to this

What did JERRY WEST do for MEMPHIS that was so great?

By Clyde Jr.

April 18, 2007 2:14 PM | Link to this

FIRE BILLY AND WOODY

By Al Hayes

April 18, 2007 2:14 PM | Link to this

The man is making a nice suggestion and some of you clowns put race in it.

By artie

April 18, 2007 2:38 PM | Link to this

Jerry is too smart to that a job with the Hawks!!!!

By Still Defiant

April 18, 2007 2:43 PM | Link to this

Wait…so Perless Mama and Matt are wrong for saying people who make racist comments are wrong even though you think Terrence Moore is racist as well?? Even if Terrence is racist, does that excuse others from being racist? Whew, ya’ll never cease to amaze me. Continue on with your comments. No wonder people still think the South is backwards.

By Ken Strickland

April 18, 2007 2:50 PM | Link to this

TERENCE MOORE, you seem to have a short memory. Jerry West turned us down once before, taking the Memphis job, because of Hawks ownership problems. Why would he agree to inherit an even bigger, and more complicated, ownership mess. Also, West’s ego might not allow him to follow in BKnight’s footsteps a second time. That’s especially true after he was less than successful the first time around.

Jerry West will never again be as successful, as a GM, as he was with the Lakers. He is, and will always be, a Laker at heart. It’s in his blood. He can never duplicate, for any other franchise, the passion, respect, and loyality he developed for the Laker organization over his career. We can hire him, but would we be getting the former Laker GM, or the former Memphis GM. There is a tremendous difference between the two.

Don’t let your disappointment with Billy Knight possibly cause you to make an even bigger mistake, hiring Jerry West. Be careful what you wish for.

By Bro-Man

April 18, 2007 2:51 PM | Link to this

You guy’s who are critizing Terrace Moore and calling him a racist. Most be Republican or at best racist yourself. Can’t we all just get along!

By ClownSanderson

April 18, 2007 2:55 PM | Link to this

Jerry West is reaching retirement age as West is closing in on 70. West did not do anything with the Memphis Grizzlies except get them in the playoffs a couple of times. The Grizzlies didnt exactly set the world on fire while West was running their front office. The Hawks should consider bringing in Clyde Drexler since Clyde got kicked off of dancing with the stars. Clyde the Glide has an incredible basketball IQ as well as a wonderful basketball mind. Clyde should be coaching somewhere but because racial diversity hasnt trickled into the NBA a lot of qualified blacks are still unemployed. Give Clyde a crack at running the Hawks from a head coach perspective and fire Billy Knight and Woody Woodpecker. I tell you what…if all else fails why not hire Terrence Moore as the next head coach of the Atlanta coach. Terrence certainly wouldnt be any worse than what we already got in Woodson.

By mavid

April 18, 2007 3:05 PM | Link to this

wow, failing to mention that West took over for BK in Memphis and really screwed it up is a fundamental flaw in this article.

By Larry

April 18, 2007 3:11 PM | Link to this

That would mean that the owners figured out that Billy Knight doesn’t know how to put together a team. My youngest son has more common sense than the owners combined. Moreover, Jerry West has already dealt with a team where the owners don’t know what direction they want to take the team, surely he wouldn’t put himself through the same frustration.

By cityofdecatur

April 18, 2007 3:15 PM | Link to this

Patience everyone the hawks keep improving never read that tm wants to replace a black with a white only to bring in a white consultant. chill everyone tm is still race obsessed and always will be. and at this rate in years we will have a winning record. whine on tm.

By CSI Atlanta

April 18, 2007 3:18 PM | Link to this

Gumby….DOMINIQUE WILKINS is 47 & HOF. Let that PLAYER-Coach bit go!!!!

By Jim

April 18, 2007 3:23 PM | Link to this

What makes you think he is interested in any position? Maybe he just wants to actually retire. He’s been at it a long time and deserves to retire.

By Roderick

April 18, 2007 3:36 PM | Link to this

Here we go again… what did he do in Memphis

By John from Jackson

April 18, 2007 3:42 PM | Link to this

Hang in there Terrence. You’ve come a long way since Mt. Healthy.

By xx

April 18, 2007 3:51 PM | Link to this

The spirit group is killing the Thrashers and Hawks. Just what Atlanta needs two more franchises that have losing traditions.

By demobigot

April 18, 2007 3:54 PM | Link to this

of course, we all know that absolutely no democrats or african-amercians hate other people because of their races. each of them is nothing more than peace, love and innocent purity personified.

riiiiiigggghhhtttt….

terence is wanting to take away the job of a vibrant young black man and give it to some old white guy who wouldn’t want to come here anyway. yeah that sounds intelligent to me.

as was referenced repeatedly this past sunday, jackie robinson was a republican because he didn’t trust democrats (imagine that!) and didn’t like the way many of them treated him.

btw, bro-man = dumb man

By Charles

April 18, 2007 4:22 PM | Link to this

Sorry, but there’s no way I’m going to pay good money to watch professional basketball. Until the “thug” and “hip-hop” environment of the NBA changes I’m not watching. It’s a sad commentary of what has happened to some of the youth in America.

I’d rather watch the brave men and women protecting our way of living, fighting the war in Iraq.

By GoldenVulture

April 18, 2007 5:03 PM | Link to this

TERRENCE MOORE SHOULD BE HIRED AS THE NEXT COACH OF THE ATLANTA HAWKS. TERRENCE WILL DO MUCH BETTER AT COACHING THE HAWKS THAN HE WILL EVER DO AT WRITING SPORTS ARTICLES FOR THE AJC!!!