Thursday evening, for the second time in 72 hours, John Gabriel sat before microphones at a press conference to tell the world that the Orlando Magic had traded Rony Seikaly.
This time there was no wiggle room.It didn't matter if the 6-11 center was hurt. It didn't matter if he wanted to go or not. It didn't even matter if he arrived at work for his new employer. Seikaly was no longer the Magic's problem and Gabriel appeared relieved.
"Good riddance," seemed to be the prevailing thought on the Magic side.
Seikaly, one day after his not showing up in Salt Lake City caused the Utah Jazz to void their trade with the Magic, was headed to the New Jersey Nets for ex-Jazzman David Benoit and two others.
"We're not going to try and fool everyone and say this was a blockbuster," said Gabriel, the Magic's general manager. "But we've taken care of business, both long- and short-term. Rony's marketability was damaged greatly by what happened the previous few days."
Seikaly and second-year player Brian Evans were sent from the Magic to the Nets for Kevin Edwards, Yinka Dare, Benoit and a first round draft pick in 1998. This time there was a clause in the trade that did not make it contingent on Seikaly reporting to New Jersey in the usual 48-hour time frame or upon him passing the standard physical exam.
Seikaly's personal doctor, Harlan Selesnick, who is also the team physician for the Miami Heat, diagnosed Seikaly with a stress fracture in his right ankle on Wednesday.
Despite reports to the contrary, Seikaly is now saying that he wanted to play for the Jazz. Both Jazz and Magic officials, however, say Seikaly, through his agent, was asking for contract concessions and demands for him to show up in Utah. The Jazz wanted Seikaly to report under the current terms of his contract. They were willing to listen to what Seikaly's camp wanted, but the demands were either not possible under the collective bargaining agreement or not made clear to the Jazz by the time the 48-hour period was up. E-mail messages, phone calls and faxes to Seikaly's agent Steve Kauffman as the 8 p.m. deadline Wednesday approached went unanswered.
"The question was asked if (voiding the trade) was embarrassing to the Jazz. "Absolutely not," said Jazz owner Larry H. Miller. "We handled everything very well. Scott (Layden) has been very honorable. I think Orlando has nothing to be embarrassed about. In my opinion, maybe a third party unnamed in the deal should be a little embarrassed. Some of those people don't worry about where the honor is."
Miller said Wednesday night that the Jazz were aware rumors about Seikaly's injury being more serious than previously announced. Since Seikaly never arrived in Salt Lake City as a required part of the trade, however, Jazz doctors were never able to check him out.
This week wasn't the first time Seikaly has successfully dictated where he would play. When entering the draft in 1988, he told the expansion Charlotte Hornets not to draft him because he wouldn't play for them, wanting to play for the Miami Heat instead. The Hornets passed and the Heat nabbed him with the next pick.
Seikaly demanded a trade from the Golden State Warriors in 1996. He even gave up two years of guaranteed money in order to get out of Golden State and to the Magic. Now, though some would say unethical methods, he worked it out so that he could go to the Nets, a team he'd prefer to play for over the Jazz.
"New Jersey was near the top of my list of teams I wanted to play for," said Seikaly when reached at his Miami home by the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday night. "I'm happy that it has all worked out, but I was looking forward to playing in Utah. And I'm sorry my situation in Orlando had to end on a note like this. The Magic were good to me."
The Magic, like the Jazz, were furious at Seikaly's refusal to report to Utah as part of the original trade, which was consummated on Monday night.
"For me, the last 72 hours have been unbelievable," said Seikaly. "It's been such an emotional roller coaster. I've never been through anything like this before."
Jazzmen Greg Foster and Chris Morris were flown to Orlando, had met the press, practiced with the team and were ready to play for the Magic against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night but couldn't because Seikaly hadn't shown up in Utah.
Gabriel said the Magic, if the 11th-hour deal with the Nets hadn't been made, were prepared to suspend Seikaly indefinitely without pay.
"We had spoken with the league office at length, and we were prepared to do what we had to do," said Gabriel. "We were comfortable with our stance. We were prepared to go (the suspension) route."
Seikaly's camp, after the Jazz had voided the trade on Wednesday night, got back in touch with the Jazz on Thursday. Seikaly - who had refused to talk to any of the Jazz brass previously, instead allowing his agent to do all the negotiations - even called the Jazz himself. Utah was no longer interested.
The Jazz, however, were very much interested in Miami's Isaac Austin, who ended up with the Los Angeles Clippers in exchange for Brent Barry. Austin, a former Jazz second-round draft pick and the good friend of Karl Malone, will become a free agent at the end of the season. While the Jazz don't have much room to work with under the salary cap at present, it is expected that they will make an effort this summer to land Austin, who makes his home in Salt Lake City during the off-season.
Jazz vice president of operations Scott Layden told the Deseret News that it had been a busy day on the phones prior to the 4 p.m. Thursday trading deadline, even though no deals had been made. He refused to comment on any of the specifics, saying he wanted "to keep all trade talk in house."