Marvin Bagley III: Angry and Angsty

[kucoach7]

During the 2022 offseason, the Portland Trailblazers were in an all too familiar position, rudderless, lost, stuck in the middle. They had a star player Lavar Ball, an aging superstar in Derrick Rose, and a couple of spare parts. In other words, they were primed for another rebuild. After GM Kevin U. Coach spent the previous year on sabbatical, however, the team’s draft position wasn’t great. During the draft they managed to trade up to select Frank Jackson but felt that they needed a player with a higher ceiling to really start the rebuild. Enter Marvin Bagley III.

Lavar Ball was shipped off to Milwaukee for Marvin Bagley and all of the sudden the Blazers had a bright future. Marvin was thrilled.

“When the trade was made I got a call from owner Forrest Witt. He told me that I would be the future of the franchise. He said he believed I would be the one to finally bring a championship to Portland. He went on and on. When I got off the phone all I could think about was being the face of the Blazers, having my jersey hanging from the rafters, right next to a championship banner or two.”

When Bagley showed up to camp, things looked great. He progressed just as a future superstar should. He worked hard to develop his offensive rebounding. He got stronger and shed some baby fat. At the end of camp, Bagley and fellow rookie, Frank Jackson were called into their coach’s office.

“Coach calls us into his office on the last day of camp. We both thought we’d earned starting spots or something. We’d had a great camp. Instead, he tells us we would spend the season in the G-League. Frank was cool about it but I lost it, man. I flew off the handle. Frank calmed me down. But, man, I got pretty crazy.”

Coach Toni Kukoc recalls the incident.

“It was not a great way to start a relationship, to be honest. I understand why he reacted the way he did. He didn’t leave a college early to play in the G-League but we had to do what was best for the team and what we thought would be best for his long term prospects. I didn’t reciprocate the anger. I just encouraged him to work hard and get ready for the following year.”

Life in the G League was tough for Bagley at first, but he bonded with Jackson, who helped him focus on basketball and leave the drama behind.

“At first I didn’t take it real well. I’d be watching every single Blazers game, checking the box scores, seeing how the forwards played. It was tough for me to see Moses Barger and Charles Gilbert out there, getting so many minutes. It got to the point where I was cheering against them. I knew I could do better than those dudes.”

Frank Jackson recalls intervening one night.

“It was about mid-January, we’re in some god forsaken town like Stockton freaking California, Moses puts up 33 points and Marvin straight up throws a tantrum. He throws the trash can against the lockers, rips the clock off the wall, you know the drill. We were tight back then so I grab him and slap him hard across the face. I was like, dude, one, you are the future of that team. Some day Stockton and Moses Barger are just going to be tiny footnotes in your history. Two, Moses is young. He’s probably going to be your teammate for years. You gotta start cheering for him now. You could even both be in the starting lineup. Get over it.”

Frank’s words of wisdom worked. Bagley started focusing on his own game, paying less attention to the Blazers, and seeing the future more clearly.

“After Frank hit me that night I turned things around. I started playing better. I was happy when Moses made second-team all-rookie. I was like, man, with me, Frank, and Moses, we’re going to be awesome next season. Moses is a good stretch forward. I started to think we could even play alongside each other.”

By the time training camp rolled around again things started to unravel again. Marvin lost his vision of being a leader of a team and lost his faith in the Blazers organization.

“I had an okay camp. RJ Barrett was there. I like him. He and I played well together. Then I see them give him the same treatment they gave me, sent to the G League for a full year of waiting. He took it better than me but it still didn’t sit well with me.”

Worrying about his new friend was least of his worries. He had a new enemy to worry about.

“Haha. Needless to say, Moses and I didn’t get along.”

Reports began to surface of a rift on the Blazers squad. TMZ reported a fight between the two at a Portland nightclub, complete with a grainy phone video to prove it. Practices were closed to the media so they could “sort some stuff out.” Coach Kukoc reflects on the contention.

“I’ve been around the league a long time. I’ve seen healthy competition in practice. I’ve seen guys not get along but still win championships. I’ve never seen two guys hate each other as much as Moses and Marvin.”

Marvin started the season coming off the bench. He didn’t take it well. But what ruined everything was the rift he never saw coming.

“That year was supposed to be my coming out party. I’m sitting there on the bench watching Moses miss rebound after rebound. Watching Faustino taking up minutes. That guy will be gone before this team is any good. What killed me though was Frank. Frank. My best friend. The guy that got me through the G League. He was the one always telling me how I was the future of the franchise. I would be a superstar. When we get out on the court, though, he’s jacking up the shots. He’s being named rookie of the month. While I’m just mopping up in garbage time. That was it. I couldn’t take it. Everyone in Portland lies. They’ve lied to me since day one. I just wanted out. I still want out.”

GM K. U. Coach recalls Bagley marching into his office.

“Marvin storms in. Super mad. Practically beats down the door. Doesn’t sit down. Doesn’t wait for me to excuse the people in my office. Just demands a trade. On the spot. No discussion. Just says he wants out. I tell him we can work it out. Things will get better. He tells me he doesn’t care, he just wants to be gone. So I look him in the eye and say, look, Marvin, I have always told you the truth and I’m going to tell it to you again, I’m not trading you. Period. So do whatever you gotta do because you’re the future of our franchise. I still believe that and you should to. Now get back to practice.”

After that exchange, Bagley was inserted into the starting lineup. Things may have started to improve but Bagley’s ego was soon dealt another blow when the Blazers acquired Joseph Reading. Bagley decided to pay his GM another visit.

“We don’t really need to go into the details of that second meeting. He called me a lot of names. It seems he thought he would eventually be the starting center with Barger at power forward. I told him he just didn’t have the height to be a starting center and that we thought he would pair great with Reading. He demanded a trade yet again and I told him no again. He proceeded to call me a few more names. I just hoped that he would cool down over the summer.”

According to Bagley things cooled way down. In fact, probably the best way to characterize his second offseason is “chill”

“Last summer I ate a lot of Ben and Jerry’s Dave Matthews Band Magic Brownie Ice Cream. I ate a lot of magic brownies too. I hooped a bit, but not much. Getting back into the swing of things at camp this year was hard. I just didn’t care. I couldn’t believe I was still on the Blazers.”

Coach Kukoc could tell Bagley had taken it easy over the summer.

“Marvin shows up at practice looking more like Charles Barkley the TNT analyst than Charles Barkley the round mound of rebound. I tried getting in his face, chewing him out. I was like, did you spend all summer sitting around getting high and eating ice cream and he was like, yeah I did.”

However, the Blazers had planned to continue starting Bagley at power forward and, despite his lack luster camp, they stuck to the plan. Bagley did not play well. He had the lowest offensive rating of any starter and one of the highest defensive ratings of any player on the team. The Blazers had traded their first round draft pick and Moses Barger for Jaylen Brown. They needed to win. GM Coach called a meeting with Bagley.

“I asked Marvin what he wanted. I told him, you’re starting, we got rid of your enemy, we have surrounded you with talent, it is your time to shine. He said, if you want to win, trade me for a veteran. That really hacked me off.”

The Blazers traded two bench players and cash considerations for Irvin Benjamin, a defensive specialist with a jump shot and immediately handed him the starting job. Bagley was reduced to purely garbage time minutes, being allotted zero minutes on the depth chart. The team also immediately vaulted into playoff contention. Bagley has gone from angry to apathetic.

“I don’t care anymore. Yeah, I’ve heard people calling me a flop. I’ve heard people say I’m a locker room cancer. I’ve heard people say I’m the reason the Blazers are going to miss the playoffs. All I can say is this, put me in another city, in another system, on another team, and then judge me. No one can succeed in Portland. You want to talk about a cancer. This organization is the cancer of the league.”

We followed up with GM K. U. Coach to see if he had any discussions regarding a trade around Bagley. We received the following email from his office.

“Marvin Bagley is the future of the Portland Trailblazers. We are not seeking to trade him at this time.”

[JNR]

Fantastic article. I'm really invested in Bagley's story.

[IamQuailman]

Man, I'm glad I shipped out that cancer!

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[ballsohard]

**** Spoiler Alert ****

[IamQuailman]

Yo Todd, hmu I gotchu

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[digiskunk]

Excellent article!

[Darth Vegito]

Points czar awards you 6 points! 1754 words