Archive for September, 2008
So back when Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were getting kicked out of the Rookie Transition Program, Michael Beasley was in hiding. While they were getting their asses dragged through the mud, Beasley was still in hiding. Finally, now that thinks have quieted down a bit, Beasley has come out of hiding. Enjoy your $50,000 fine, sir.
NEW YORK (AP)—Miami Heat rookie Michael Beasley was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Thursday after acknowledging that he was involved in an incident involving teammate Mario Chalmers and Memphis’ Darrell Arthur at the Rookie Transition Program this month.
The NBA said Beasley, the No. 2 overall pick, originally failed to cooperate with the league investigation of the matter. The Heat said Beasley eventually chose to reveal that he was part of the incident.
Chalmers and Arthur, former Kansas teammates, were fined $20,000 apiece last week after being banished from the rookie symposium. They were found in a room at the resort where the event was taking place with two women—which violated NBA policy for the event. Security at the resort said the scent of marijuana was detected, but no drugs or drug paraphernalia were found, and Chalmers and Arthur both insisted they were not using any illegal substances.
Beasley’s involvement in the incident is not clear. He filed papers to dissolve the relationship with his agent, Joel Bell, last week, and was not available for comment Thursday.
“While we are disappointed with Michael’s involvement, we are pleased that he chose to come forward and stand with his teammate and accept the consequences of his actions,” Heat president Pat Riley said in a statement. “We are hopeful that both Michael and Mario have learned from this experience and we will have no further comment on the subject.”
None of the three players will be suspended by the league. Chalmers and Arthur will have to repeat the symposium, which teaches incoming NBA players how to handle the on- and off-court rigors of life in the league, next summer.
I still don’t get how dumb you have to be to put yourself in this position. You just got drafted #2 overall earlier in the summer, and you risk it on something dumb like that? Wrong place, wrong time. You want girls? Fine. Wait until after the Rookie Program is over though.
Just like any other job, you wouldn’t sneak away and smoke weed at a company party would you? Well some people might. And those are the people that are risking their jobs. Other players should take this into consideration when they attend “Company events.” Why risk it all over something that small?
So apparently, after signing a HUGE contract this summer, Arenas has now confirmed that he had surgery (a third time) on his knee).
Ivan Carter of the Washington Post reports:
Gilbert Arenas confirmed that he underwent a surgical procedure this morning that “cleaned out some debris” in his left knee. Arenas, who has undergone two surgeries to repair the left knee in the last two seasons, has been limited during the rehab process all summer and said he has planned all along on not participating in training camp or the preseason.
Arenas, who signed a six-year, $111 million contract this summer, said he plans on returning to game action sometime in early December which would mean that he’d miss at least the season’s first month. [...]
“I just had some floating debris in there that was slowing me down,” said Arenas, who seemed to be in good spirits. “It was irritating the knee so we decided to go in there and clean it out. This should actually allow me to come back faster.”
Why o’ why do the NBA gods refuse to give us 82 games of a healthy Arenas/Caron Butler/Antawn Jamison Wizards’ line-up? Why!?! What in the world did these gentlemen do in a previous life to upset the NBA gods so much? Did Caron kill a puppy?
Does anyone else think that it’s strange that he waited this long to have the surgery? Couldn’t he have done this a month or two ago? Oh wait, he was busy negotiating a new contract. Kinda strange that I haven’t heard anyone mention that he might have screwed the organization. Pretend that he’s completely healthy, even though he knows he isn’t, negotiate a huge contract, THEN prove that he isn’t. Well at least it’s just the Wizards.
I found this a few days ago on Ball Don’t Lie, but finally found some time to write this up.
I was going to let this unusual news intentionally slip past my blog radar — you know, save new Minnesota center Jason Collins anymore embarrassment — but then I realized just how little was going on, and, more importantly, just how much my dad would enjoy it. So … sorry, Jason — family first.
Per Jerry Zgoda of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:
New Timberwolves center Jason Collins probably will miss training camp and the regular season’s opening week after undergoing surgery in California on Monday to repair an elbow tendon.
Collins was injured in what a team spokesman called a “freak” golf-cart accident. He partially ruptured his triceps tendon after his golf cart skidded and tipped over.
And that’s that. Collins is expected to miss eight weeks. Doh!
But here’s what I want to know: Did Collins’ twin brother, Utah Jazz center Jarron, actually feel Jason’s pain at the time of the accident? Like, was Jarron chilling at home in California, sipping ice tea out on the porch, when all of a sudden a lightning bolt of pain shot through his arm?
And what about Brook and Robin Lopez? They’re twins, they went to Stanford — did they feel anything?
So many questions, man. So. Many. Questions. We need a CSI: Minnesota.
Normally, a person would think “How the hell do you flip a golf cart if you weren’t driving around like an idiot?”
Well… let me give you a bit of first hand experience from and event like this one, but worse. Earlier this year, I went golfing with a couple buddies and my cousins. Bad part, was that they brought their 12 yr old brother.
All day I had been yelling at him not to drive the golf cart cuz he was driving it like an idiot. So we get to the 16th tee, which is raised above the golf cart. You park your carts at the bottom, walk up some steps, and you can no longer see your cart. I had been playing like crap and shanking the ball everywhere. Right after my swing, I hear other golfers laughing, which I figured was that my shot was THAT bad.
But… no. My 12 year old cousin had apparently driven off, went up a hill, and as he made a U-turn, freaked out, lost control of the cart, and dove out of it as the cart headed into a water hazard.
So in Collin’s defense… at least you aren’t as dumb as a 12 year old. Almost. But not quite. This does, though, beat out the stupidity of Vlad “Space Cadet” Radmanovic when he hurt himself snowboarding a while back.
Good luck being taken seriously, moron.
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Kobe Bryant will not have surgery on his right pinkie because recovery would take too long.
Bryant has played with damaged ligaments in the finger since February, but said Tuesday that he won’t have surgery after seeking opinions from hand specialists.
“When the doctors told me recovery from a procedure could be 12 weeks, I just decided now was not the time to have surgery,” Bryant said on the Web site kb24.com. “What it really came down to for me is that I just didn’t want to miss any time ‘punching the clock’ for the Lakers, given all we are trying to accomplish as a team this NBA season.”
Bryant averaged 28.3 points while playing in all 82 games despite injuring the finger Feb. 5 against the New Jersey Nets. The Lakers guard put off the surgery until after the Beijing Olympics, where he helped lead the United States to the gold medal.
The Lakers open training camp Sept. 27 and start the regular season at home against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 28.
Ex-Kansas Jayhawks teammates Darrell Arthur of the Memphis Grizzlies and Mario Chalmers of the Miami Heat were thrown out of the NBA rookie transition program on Wednesday for getting caught with marijuana and women in their hotel rooms, league sources said.
“They will be appropriately sanctioned and have to repeat the program next year,” NBA spokesman Tim Frank said.
One league source said the players claimed the marijuana belonged to the women.
Arthur and Chalmers, who starred in Kansas’ 2007-08 national championship season, were just starting a four-day life-skills orientation that the NBA mandates for all rookies. The two players are expected to be fined $20,000, and it’s possible that the league could fine the Grizzlies and Heat too.
Arthur was the 27th overall draft pick in June, and had his rights traded three times before settling in Memphis. Chalmers was the 34th pick, ending up in Miami after a draft-night trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Uhhh come on jackasses. Rookie year… Millions on the line… at a fuckin life skills orientation? Great life skills you idiots. Way to leave a bad first impression on the league.
According to Travis Outlaw, he should be a starter. Agreed 100%. But sorry Travis, that probably means you’ll have to go to another team.
Probably not worthy of an All-Star spot, but you wouldn’t think twice about his role as a starter on a championship-worthy team. Provided that team has some real franchise talents already in the starting lineup. And Portland, with Brandon Roy leading the show and Greg Oden in the wings, appears to have those talents in place. Along with alarming (for the rest of the league) depth and impending cap space.
That doesn’t mean Outlaw, in the beginning of a column that sees his mood shift all over the place, doesn’t have reservations. He’s got them. Party of one.
“We have a really good team. But I don’t know if they are going to be able to keep us together.”
Kelly Dwyer says
Now, that makes no sense. This comes across as Travis feeling sorry for himself.
No it doesn’t. Outlaw just knows that there’s too much talent on this team for even Paul Allen. Roy, Oden, Aldridge, Bayless… Outlaw is below those guys on the totem pole. What’s gonna happen when it comes time to extend all of these guys? Paul Allen has a lot of money, and the Blazers will make him even more once they start winning games like they should. Same time though, he won’t pay out $100 million to keep them together.
The last time the Blazers had this much talent on a team, Rasheed Wallace threw a towel in Arvydas Sabonis’ face. That team quickly got dismantled. That eventually will happen again, but at least this team has youth on it’s side. Hopefully, they’ll be able to play together and win a few games together before that happens.
“I don’t want to be a sixth man forever.”
This, I don’t have a problem with. I don’t see this as complaining about his role. I love my gig here at Yahoo!, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t want to run, say, CBS. Cancel every show, keep David Letterman fat and sassy and maybe placed in primetime, and just run a Barney Miller marathon until I figure out what the rest of my lineup is going to look like. That’s my first week. Easy-peezy.
Umm dibs on replacing Kelly. You hear that Skeets? In all honesty though, Outlaw is a good player… keyword is GOOD. He isn’t great, but he’s good enough to be a starter on several teams in the league.
Damn. I know he’d look good in a Lakers uni. Please?
I just found this on Ball Don’t Lie. Send in donations for a great cause.
In partnership with The Oregon Community Foundation, thePortland Trail Blazers have established the Kevin Duckworth Memorial Scholarship Fund, Trail Blazers President Larry Miller announced Friday.
Scholarships will be awarded annually in Duckworth’s honor to graduating high school seniors within Oregon and SW Washington to help finance college or professional training.
“Kevin left behind a legacy of generosity,” Miller said. “This scholarship honors that legacy by allowing Kevin to continue to better the lives of people in our community for many years to come.”
Fans interested in making a tax-deductible donation to the fund should send their contributions directly to:
OCF’s Kevin Duckworth Memorial Scholarship Fund
1221 SW Yamhill St., Suite 100
Portland, OR 97205
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Just some thoughts on happenings around the league, responses to the media and other bloggers, and just a good place for you to spend time instead of actually working.
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