Interesting... http://www.benmaller.com/archives/rumorsnotes/2003_02_23_rumorsnotesarch.shtml Vlade Divac and Chris Webber were willing to pay to have the Arco Arena crowd boo former Kings Jon Barry and Corliss Williamson during the Pistons-Sacramento game Tuesday night. The Sacramento Bee reported Tuesday that Divac would pay $5 to each fan in the sellout crowd of 17,317 if everyone booed Barry and Williamson, fan favorites when they played for the Kings. "Seriously," Divac said, "but if I see or hear one clap or cheer, the bet is off. It must be everyone." Webber then chipped in and said he would pay another $5 per fan. The move would cost each $86,585, but that's chump change considering Divac is making $11,248,076 this season and Webber $14,343,750. Barry said it was just "Vlade joking around; I haven't talked to him." The Pistons lost, 81-75, giving them a four-game losing streak, eight straight losses to the Kings and six straight at Arco Arena. Williamson and Barry are the stalwarts off the Pistons' bench. Williamson scored 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting. But Barry played just six minutes and was scoreless.
Well, considering Barry said that Vlade was joking, I'm pretty sure they were... I wonder how much we can get for booing Pippen...Hell, Philly fans boo everybody, so Iverson would be broke by season's end if he did something like this.
The reason they wanted the crowd to boo Barry (and Corlis, but mostly Barry) was that Barry is a huge favorite in Sacramento. He (and Corlis) played there. The last time Barry played against Sacramento in Sacramento (last season) was Barry's first return there and he got a 1 minute standing ovation. The Kings didn't particularly like hearing another team's backup getting that kind of ovation. However, Barry is still very close with a lot of the Kings' players, so it was more a joke thing than serious. I wouldn't be surprised if Barry returned to the Kings after this season.
