Friday Firings: Thrashers Tix, Ricky Rubio, Shaq Return

John Travolta may have been welcomed back in his 1970s television series, but the Atlanta Thrashers won't be welcomed back to the U.S. next season and Shaq shouldn't be welcomed back if he tries to un-retire. Then there's Ricky Rubio, who shouldn't be welcomed into the NBA at all. The HR Department, however, is more than happy to welcome the Thrashers, Shaq and Rubio to a firing.

The Thrashers weren't selling many seats before the move.

Fire Atlanta Thrashers Season Ticket Sales: Apparently the soon-to-be defunct Atlanta Thrashers think they can fool some of the people all of the time because the team is still accepting deposits for 2011-2012 season tickets. Several news outlets called the Thrashers' ticket office the day the team announced it would be moving to Canada and reported that representatives were more than happy to accept a ticket deposit for games in Atlanta. At least one representative said the deposit is refundable, but honestly, what's the point of this? Another representative said tickets will be sold for the Atlanta Thrashers up until the moment the moving vans come to clear out their offices. This is just a stupid waste of everyone's time and should stop right now. Give it up, Thrashers. 

Fire Ricky Rubio: Waiting for PG Ricky Rubio to join the Timberwolves has been a bit like waiting for Godot, but the Associated Press is reporting that Rubio will finally come to the NBA next season. That might seem like good news for the few remaining T-Wolves fans, but Rubio's stats suggest that he was vastly overrated when drafted in the first round in 2009. In Spain this season, Rubio is averaging 6.5 points and 3.5 assists per game... off the bench. The competition in Spain isn't even as good as what Rubio might have faced in the NCAA, so it's really hard to imagine him dominating in the NBA. By contrast, the last great player to come out of Spain, Pau Gasol, averaged 12.4 points and 5.8 rebounds in only 25 minutes per game in his final Spanish season. Even if players don't rack up big stats in Spain, Rubio seems to be performing on an average level at best. Minnesota really has nothing to lose by giving Rubio a shot, but nobody should confuse him with Chris Paul, and the hype surrounding Rubio should be fired.

Fire A Shaq Comeback: Shaq wisely retired this week after 19 mostly spectacular seasons, but there are already rumors that he could stage a comeback late next season. According to Yahoo! Sports, a former front-office executive, former coach and former teammate of Shaq's "privately agreed with the premise" that Shaq isn't through playing. Seriously? Shaq hasn't been able to stay healthy in years, and despite his desire to play a supporting role on a playoff team, he hasn't even been able to do that because he's been too banged up to do much during postseason runs in Cleveland in 2010 and Boston in 2011. Shaq hasn't helped a team to the finals since 2006 (when he won his final title, with Miami), so what's the point of bringing him in? Even if Shaq wants to return down the stretch next season, no team should sign him.