48minutes.net

By Geoff Lepper
48minutes.net

OAKLAND — Warriors guard Monta Ellis will go down in history as having taken the most expensive moped ride in history.

Golden State finally dropped the hammer on its franchise player Saturday, announcing a 30-game suspension that essentially translates into a $2.97 million fine in response to the left ankle injury Ellis suffered while crashing his 250cc moped on Aug. 21, an incident that violated the terms of the six-year, $66 million deal he had signed mere weeks earlier.

“We made a commitment to Monta for $66 million to be a great basketball player,” said team president Robert Rowell, who arrived at the 30-game figure with owner Chris Cohan after discussions with Jeff Fried, Ellis’ agent. “We’re in a situation where he is now not with us. We’re going to do everything possible that we can obviously to get him back and to help him rehab and get back on the basketball floor, but right now we felt that it was an appropriate consequence.”

The decision means the team is certain Ellis, who suffered a high ankle sprain and a torn deltoid ligament that required surgery to repair, won’t be healthy until after Dec. 17, when the suspension expires. When the injury was announced in late August, the team said that Ellis would need six weeks’ worth of immobilization, which just recently ended, and six more weeks of off-court rehab before a potential timetable for a return could be established.

However, one facet of the recovery plan has yet to be publicized: Multiple team sources confirmed Saturday that Ellis will eventually have to undergo another surgery to remove screws that are currently holding the ligament in place, something that will require additional recovery time.

Rowell claimed the team never considered voiding Ellis’ deal — as was reported by multiple media outlets in the wake of Ellis’ failed attempt to originally cover up the true nature of his injury — but said an indefinite suspension was discussed. That option was scrapped for fear it would encourage Ellis to come back before getting fully healthy, leading to the potential of further damage, possibly permanent.

“We could have done an indefinite suspension, and what would that have done?” Rowell said. “Then he would have put himself in a situation where he would have rushed back and all he would have been worried about is the money and getting paid, and then we could have a player that is screwed up forever. You could have a guy who never recovers.”

It’s unknown how Ellis reacted to the decision. The 22-year-old did not attend the Warriors’ 122-102 exhibition victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Saturday, and attempts to reach Fried were unsuccessful.

“I’m hoping that (Ellis) is professional and understands that we’re not doing this to punish him,” Rowell said. “This is being done because he violated his contract. And when I say punish him, it’s not vindictive at all. It’s not personal. This is a business decision that we made.”

Rowell acknowledged that the decision was made against the advice of Chris Mullin, the Warriors’ executive vice president and head of basketball operations. A team source said that Mullin was looking at the situation like “more of a father,” wanting to fine Ellis enough to set a boundary and prevent any future similar incidents, but not so much that it would be excessively punitive.

To put it mildly, Rowell disagreed.

“Chris Mullin made it perfectly clear to both Mr. Cohan and myself that he didn’t think this was a big deal at the beginning,” Rowell said. “And 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.”

There was no hue and cry from Ellis’ teammates.

“I know he’s happy to get that behind him,” Warriors forward Al Harrington said. “It was never an issue for the team. We never discussed it as a team. Nobody was in here worried about it. We knew something was going to happen, but at the end of the day, I feel like it’s fair. He’s able to keep his contract. And like I said before, he’s got $63 (million) more.”

That may not necessarily be the case. Rowell said repeatedly that the team has reserved its right to revisit the contract if Ellis, whose quickness made him the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 2006-07 and led to his averaging 20.2 points per game on 53.1 percent shooting last season, can’t regain that form.

But Rowell admitted that, outside of the precedent set by Jay Williams — the Chicago Bulls guard who mangled his left leg in a 2003 motorcycle crash after his rookie season and never returned to the NBA, eventually settling on a $3 million buyout on a deal that still owed him roughly $11 million) — the team is in “uncharted waters” if Ellis is no longer the dynamic slasher he once was.

“I’ve given so little thought to that that I don’t even know if I can give you a real intelligent answer, other than preserving our rights and reserving our rights, which we have,” Rowell said. “We’ve asserted that. As far as how it gets done . . . Nobody wants that scenario to happen. If it happens, you’ve got to deal with it.”

With regards to the cash windfall, Rowell said the Warriors will be giving the $2.97 million back to current season-ticket holders who renew their seats for 2009-10: “The amount will be reflected in next year’s season-ticket holder pricing.”