Real Life Stories similar to Netflix movie "I Care A Lot"

By JoHanna Thompson

Ms. Thelma Webb-Crawford is a 93 year old resident of Miami-Dade County at her home address in Miami, Florida.

As of June 3, 2021, Ms. Crawford is currently re-hospitalized at St. Joseph’s Hospital after sustaining a broken hip from a fall at an adult rehabilitation center that she was signed into by someone she has never claimed or recognized as her granddaughter and who assumed power of attorney over her.  

Ms. Crawford was removed/taken from her residence on Monday, May 17, 2021 and initially hospitalized out of state, against her wishes or unknown to her, at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah, GA. She was subsequently transferred to Tara at Thunderbolt Nursing & Rehabilitation Center 3223 Falligant Ave., Savannah, GA on Friday, May 21, 2021 and restricted from visiting family members who were there to meet and console her. 

Ms. Crawford was signed into care under power of attorney held by Tammie Jones also known as Tamara C Jones at Tara at Thunderbolt Nursing & Rehabilitation Center against her expressed wishes which she made known as recently as June 3 and June 4 to many family members and previously on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 on an audio recorded call where Ms. Crawford could clearly be heard saying she wanted to return home, “you know what you did” (believing she was talking to the person(s) who took her), and clearly communicating who she trusts and would like to talk to and receive a visit from.

Other next of kin, blood relatives, family and friends have not been allowed to communicate with Ms. Crawford directly to validate her expressed wishes to remain in her home in Miami, Florida - until her death - because the person holding the power of attorney is restricting communication or visitation with Ms. Crawford without the approval or presence of Tammie Jones. 

The facility, Tara at Thunderbolt, complies with Ms. Jones’ restrictions based on the alleged disability of Ms. Thelma Crawford who, according to the facility administrator, was diagnosed in Savannah, GA by an evaluation. This diagnosis was made without the knowledge of or consultation with Ms. Crawford’s primary care provider and during a period of time when Ms. Crawford may have been responding and reacting under the severe trauma of an adverse experience, transfer trauma, being removed from her home without her consent, not trusting any of the people around her, possibly being medicated, and not clear about where, how or why she was not in her home. An attorney attempted to contact the facility and communicate the misuse of power of attorney however the facility was unresponsive. The facility also would not provide Ms. Crawford with flowers that were brought for her nor were they willing to listen to a concerned friend of Ms. Crawford regarding the patient’s expressed wishes that were audio recorded proof of the patient’s wishes for specific visitors. The patient was being held like a prisoner and restricted from anyone. She verbally expressed that she was trying to get out.

Family and friends have alerted all appropriate authorities in Miami-Dade County and the local police in Thunderbolt, Savannah, GA about their concerns for the best interest of Ms. Crawford since being removed from her home. Currently. Ms. Crawford has a broken hip which she was not at risk of in her own home, confirming the concerns of harm to her person. 

Law enforcement authorities, hospital and adult rehabilitation staff, patient advocates, the clinical care coordinator, Department of Children’s and Families Adult Investigators, the Miami-Dade Police Department Vulnerable Persons Crime Unit, the State Attorney’s Office, Georgia Advocacy Office and the State of Florida Elder Affairs have been notified of this incident.

Ms. Crawford remains in Savannah, GA pleading with anyone who she is able to communicate with, to be returned to her home in Miami, FL. 

Ms Thelma Crawford was last seen by a close friend and care-giver in her home in Miami, FL on Saturday, May 15, 2021 with Tamara C Jones aka “Tammie” and a granddaughter from Ms. Crawford’s deceased son, her granddaughter’s husband and two children. They were waiting for the arrival of another granddaughter from Ms. Crawford’s deceased daughter and her partner who arrived around 5:30pm. 

The caregiver-friend visited Ms. Crawford on the afternoon of May 15, 2021 after returning from a trip to California from May 4, 2021 through that morning on May 15, 2021. Ms. Crawford was in good spirits, communicative, laughing, walking on her own, and said she had eaten and was feeling fine. The caregiver-friend cared for her feet (grooming her toes) while everyone spoke about the incident involving her grandson, a 43 yr old man who had been living with Ms. Crawford. The grandson, granddaughter, and allegedly Tammie Jones are siblings from Ms Crawford’s son. The other granddaughter is their cousin who happens to also be a notary. 

The incident between Ms. Crawford and her grandson happened on or around May 7, 2021, resulting in Ms. Crawford sustaining a cut on her forehead and a black eye. Tammie supported Ms. Crawford by taking her to file a restraining order against the grandson since the caregiver-friend was away in California. A local Miami-Dade Police Officer completed the police report of the incident involving physical violence and is familiar with Ms. Crawford because a report was filed a month prior regarding her bank account being wiped out. A Florida Department of Children & Families, Adult Protective Investigator was assigned to the case since it involved physical elder abuse. 

The granddaughter of Ms. Crawford’s deceased daughter and her partner remained in the home on Saturday and Sunday with plans to leave on Monday. The verbal agreement was that the caregiver-friend would be there to spend the evening with Ms. Crawford on Monday night, then support Ms. Crawford with working out all of her needs the next day, Tuesday. On Sunday, the caregiver-friend called to speak to Ms. Crawford and was intercepted by the granddaughter who said she was asleep. Arrangements for Monday were reaffirmed; the granddaughter would be there Sunday but had to leave on Monday to go back to work. The caregiver-friend told her she would be able to be there Monday evening. 

Another friend of Ms. Crawford, who happens to also be law enforcement, stopped by to visit Ms. Crawford on Sunday and was surprised to see the granddaughter since she had completely not communicated with her grandmother since June 2020. The granddaughter said, “they plotting to get her house” to which the friend asked “who” and the granddaughter shifted her eyes toward the house then remembered she was revealing information to an officer. The friend went inside to check on Ms. Crawford who appeared to be sleeping which she thought was unusual when there were so many people in Ms. Crawford’s home. 

On Monday, May 17, 2021, the caregiver-friend called around 10:30am to find out when Ms. Crawford's grandchildren would be leaving and confirm an appointment at Ms. Crawford’s home for an estimate on tenting the property from 12-2pm that day. The caregiver-friend asked to speak with Ms. Crawford directly and was informed that VITAS nursing service was there and that they would see the caregiver-friend later. 

The caregiver-friend called after reaching home from work, again around five in the evening, and headed to Ms. Crawford’s after no response to calls and messages. Once arriving at Ms. Crawford’s residence that evening, banging on all the windows and doors for an hour and trying to reach the granddaughter, her partner and Tammie with no response, the caregiver-friend returned home and proceeded to reach out to the three people with no response. The next morning, Tammie did answer her phone, and told the caregiver-friend that Ms. Crawford was “okay” and that she was with family, however the caregiver-friend could not speak to Ms. Crawford and would not be able to until she returned to her home. This response concerned and disturbed the caregiver-friend greatly because she was certain that Ms. Crawford did not want to be removed from her home in addition to not being allowed to talk directly with Ms Crawford. The caregiver-friend called everyone she knew related or connected to Ms. Crawford to determine her whereabouts and safety as instructed by Ms. Crawford should anything happen to her.  

There was a lot of mis-communication from Tammie initially sending a text to the caregiver-friend on May 18, 2021 at 1:32pm "stop telling people Granny is in a nursing home. She's not, she'll be back in two weeks." It was later found out that Ms. Crawford was actually at St. Joseph's Hospital. Tammie told other family members she was returning Ms. Crawford to Miami on that Thursday, so those family members drove all the way from Atlanta to receive Ms. Crawford at her home. They arrived at an empty house. Ms. Crawford was located in Savannah at St. Joseph's Hospital. Tammie and the other granddaughter from Ms. Crawford’s son told family members the house was condemned, unlivable, however the caregiver-friend requested police come to the home on May 21, 2021 to document it was not condemned. They also stated to family members they had concern that their step-brother would return to the home, however two restraining order service notifications were placed at Ms. Crawford’s residence and local police officers are watching the house on patrol. Various family members were in communication with the grandson, his mother and brother. 

The caregiver-friend attempted to reach the adult investigator on numerous occasions by phone, text, and email with no response for days. When the investigator finally returned a response, the first question asked was “how did you get my email?” not how is the victim and what additional information do you have to provide? The investigator, then, proceeded to communicate that she only wanted to receive information from one source and that if Ms. Crawford was in a facility, she was considered safe. Ms. Crawford was removed out of state during an active investigation. The investigator confirmed that Ms. Crawford was in a facility, regardless of being out of state, she was considered to be safe. The investigator did not actually check on Ms. Crawford’s welfare as her job dictates before making those statements to the caregiver-friend.

Ms Crawford's eldest living nephew, took charge of reaching out to people to get information on Ms Crawford.  He was able to locate her on Thursday, May 20, 2021 at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Savannah, GA where she had been admitted two days earlier on or about  May 18, 2021. The caregiver-friend was able to speak to Ms. Crawford at 6:09am EDT on Friday, May 21, 2021. She was a bit disoriented but knew who she was talking to and communicated “they did something to me, secure my home, and please come get me.” The caregiver-friend immediately hung up the phone and called the nurses station to tell them that Ms. Crawford was not her usual self, she was not a crazy person and she had clearly undergone some trauma, pleading not to mis-diagnose or medicate her. She was a resident of Miami, FL and family is on the way. The hospital responded with urgency, communicating they were happy someone called because they did not know what was going on with the patient. The caregiver-friend was connected with the clinical case coordinator whom she relayed detailed information about Ms. Crawford. The clinical case coordinator assured the caregiver-friend she would look into it. At some point, the granddaughter must have informed the hospital they were not authorized to speak about Ms. Crawford, only Tammie Jones. Contact with family and friends was restricted through Tammie Jones. That afternoon, Ms. Crawford was transferred to Tara at Thunderbolt Adult Rehabilitation Center in Savannah, GA. The family members who had driven from Atlanta to Miami then back up to Savannah were turned away at St. Joseph's Hospital and then again at Tara at Thunderbolt until Tammie Jones could be present during a visitation. Frustrated and tired, those family members returned home to Atlanta.

After days of no contact, on May 23, 2021, the caregiver-friend and law enforcement friend drove for the first time to Savannah attempting to visit with Ms. Crawford. They were initially turned away and resorted to alerting the Thunderbolt police department to conduct a Wellness check of Ms. Crawford. An Advanced Police Officer followed by a Sergeant responded to the call. The Director of Nursing was called to the facility and the friends asked what authority Tammie Jones had to restrict visitation and on what grounds. The facility had not verified Tammie Jones’ authority. Tammie Jones was asked to produce some authority and she produced what was determined to be a verified Durable Power of Attorney erected in the State of Florida since 2018 signed by a notary. The friends left without incident.

None of the family or friends were aware of the existence of the power of attorney document. Ms. Crawford was not reminded of its existence nor made aware that Tammie Jones was making decisions on her behalf. Tammie Jones had not been around Ms. Crawford for anyone to really know her, she was never claimed or referred to as a granddaughter of Ms. Crawford by Ms. Crawford or other family members, and she was not acting in the duties of agent for the past two years. The caregiver-friend was supporting Ms. Crawford with caregiving since May 16, 2019 when initially meeting her at her home in response to a request to help Ms. Crawford learn how to use a cell phone. From that moment, they developed a strong friendship bond. 

On the drive home, the caregiver-friend was advised to check Ms. Crawford’s medical record to determine if an advanced directive was signed which would have a more recent date and provide authority to visit with Ms. Crawford. The caregiver-friend also proceeded to research legal alternatives to advocate for Ms. Crawford and ran into every possible barrier realizing the limited resources to support elderly members of the community. 

On May 25, 2021, the caregiver-friend was able to get through to Ms. Crawford on a three way call with another family member. A portion of the call was recorded where Ms. Crawford communicated that she knew what they were trying to do to her, they had locked her up and for what, and they would not get anything of hers. She expressed wanting to see the caregiver-friend and her daughter. The caregiver-friend and her daughter made another 6.5 hour trip to Savannah in an attempt to honor Ms. Crawford’s wishes for visitation. The facility was notified that they acquired legal documentation from Ms. Crawford’s medical record naming the caregiver-friend as health care advocate in Ms. Crawford’s advanced directives. The facility administrator relayed the message that she would handle it when they arrived the next day. On May 26, they entered the facility and were brought into the administrator’s office. The administrator was frustrated from receiving calls from a Miami Dade police detective and local police who had been called to the facility before they arrived. They were instructed not to speak until there were witnesses present. The Director of Nursing and another staff member were called into the office at which point Tammie Jones was called on speaker phone. The administrator mis-spoke saying that Ms. Crawford’s granddaughter was here to visit. Jones responded angrily that they were not family and the administrator was not allowed to discuss Ms. Crawford at all; the administrator ended the phone call. The administrator was asked if she was willing to look at the legal documentation to which she replied, “I am not allowed to talk about anything regarding Ms. Crawford.” The administrator was asked if she would at least put the flower bouquet brought for Ms. Crawford in her room. The administrator shook her head and provided the exact same response. They left the facility without incident and within minutes received a threatening phone call from a granddaughter and texts from the other granddaughter and Tammie making false claims which the caregiver-friend did not respond. She did call the Department of Children and Families, Adult Division, as required by law, to report the emotional abuse of Ms. Crawford. Within minutes, she received a call from a supervisor that four other reports were filed and why were so many reports being filed? The caregiver-friend was unaware of the other reports however she asked the supervisor if that was not an indication that there might be a problem to investigate.

The caregiver-friend relentlessly continued to find some advocacy support and legal representation. She needed a lawyer to be able to file certain petitions with the court and could not find one until she was able to file a petition for an emergency hearing on behalf of Ms. Crawford. She was also connected with the Georgia Advocacy Office who confirmed the misuse of the power of attorney and began to look into the case.

On June 3, Ms. Crawford was admitted back into St. Joseph’s hospital after falling at the adult rehabilitation facility. The caregiver-friend was able to communicate with Ms. Crawford again and she fervently expressed her wishes to be returned home. The caregiver-friend once again drove to Savannah hoping that the hospital staff would respond positively to the advanced directive. Leaving her home at 3am to arrive by the opening of visiting hours, by the time she arrived, she was stopped at security and told she was not allowed to visit. The caregiver-friend asked to speak with the hospital administrator and was connected with the patient advocate who did look at her paperwork and returned minutes later saying she was honoring the hospital policy recognizing the power of attorney and there would be no visitation. This decision was made even though the patient was clearly able to state that she wanted to see her friend on a second audio recording an hour prior to arrival at the hospital. This time, the caregiver-friend had the support of the Georgia Advocacy Office who she believed called the hospital informing them they needed to consider the advanced directive because it was dated more recently than the power of attorney and provided equal advocacy for the best interest of the patient. The patient advocate and clinical case coordinator reached out to the caregiver-friend, who was already on the 6.5 hour drive back to Miami, to request a copy of the paperwork to recognize her interest in regards to the patient, Ms Crawford. The legal document from the patient’s medical record was not accepted at the hospital because, according to St. Joseph’s policy determined by their lawyer, it needed to have two witnessed signatures from staff at the doctors office. It was a testament to all of the legalities that put human lives at risk within systems. 

Ms. Crawford should not have been removed from her home at 93yrs old and taken on a long journey which ultimately ended up with her hospitalization; she rarely goes to the doctors, was not on any medication, and has not been hospitalized. These events are especially concerning during risk of COVID exposure which she has no prior exposure. She was unnecessarily endangered, kept from communicating with other family members, caregiver, friends and removed from her home which she always clearly communicates is against her wishes. 

The entire incident, which remains without resolve, calls into question at what point do we as a society stop honoring our elders when they are making their wishes known. At what point do we pay attention to who they are surrounded and who is considering their best interest? How often do we hear stories of family committing the most egregious acts against the elders of their bloodlines. We are a society that has many practices that need to be reconciled, we must also consider how we care for our most vulnerable as a commitment to them and a demonstration of the character of our culture. 

Let us return Ms. Crawford to her home safely and let us make sure we are listening to and returning all of our elders to their places of safety and peace. 

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The announcer who blamed his racism on diabetes? That's the Oklahoma I grew up in

Back in 1996, my Booker T Washington High School team beat Norman High in the Oklahoma state tournament final to seal back-to-back state championships. 

What I remember most about it years later was an incident with some of the Norman fans after the game as I was leaving the arena on the campus of Oral Roberts University, where the tournament was held. These guys weren’t mad about losing the championship. They were mad that I had done the Black Power salute during the national anthem before it started.

See, while in high school, I discovered the third verse of the Star-Spangled Banner that had later been omitted from the song we sing today. It read:

No refuge could save the hireling and slave

From the terror of flight or the gloom of the grave,

And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave

O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

Since learning that, I always felt offended whenever I would hear the anthem played. All I could hear was that third verse. I wondered why they used a song that has something so evil in it? Why couldn’t they just create a whole new song?

By then I had also learned about John Carlos and Tommie Smith, who had the courage to stand on the podium at the 1968 Olympics and perform the Black Power salute in front of the entire world. So from that moment on, whenever the anthem was played before our games, I would use the Black Power salute to make a statement against that third verse in particular, which didn’t go over too well in Oklahoma. Those fans from Norman didn’t appreciate it either.

I will never forget the anger, hatred and evil in their faces. I remember their venom as they shouted: “Who the hell did you think you are to disrespect our country?”

I can also remember the university’s security guards coming over to break up the situation, only to ask me “Is everything OK here?” and looking at me as if I was the one starting trouble.

That incident was the first thing I thought about when I saw the now-viral video of Matt Rowan, the announcer who made headlines on Friday after a hot mic caught him using the N-word toward the Norman girls’ basketball team as they knelt before the national anthem. (It should be noted that his broadcast partner Scott Sapulpa, the head football coach at Hulbert High School in northeast Oklahoma, could not be heard objecting to Rowan’s language.)

Did it surprise me? Not at all. It was, however, shocking to hear Rowan blame his comments on his “spiking sugar levels” in his official statement. I wasn’t aware that racism was a side effect of diabetes.

But from my own experiences growing up in Tulsa and playing in all those towns outside the city where there were hardly any Black people, I have heard much worse from crowds. There were times it felt like a scene from the movie Glory Road, only this wasn’t the 1960s: we won our consecutive state titles in 1995 and 1996. What people don’t understand is the emotional toll that volume of hatred being hurled at you can take.

On my show The Rematch. I interviewed Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, who was in essence Kaepernick before Kaepernick. He was infamously white-balled from the NBA after he caused a stir with his public stance on the national anthem. One of the topics we discussed was the evil and hatred that he experienced when he chose to silently pray during the anthem rather than stand.

“I ended up having to go to the hospital twice because I’m trying to process it and I’m listening to all of these diatribes and epithets being used against me every game and through hate mail,” he said. “I’m processing everything and in the process I had to be admitted to the hospital twice, because I had ulcers and they had to put IVs in me and everything. The anger and hate that was constantly being thrown at me took a toll on me both mentally and physically.”

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No one should be subjected to that type of torment as a result of a peaceful demonstration, regardless of what the opposition feels about it.

The bright spot in all of this was the solidarity exhibited by the other teams in the Oklahoma state tournament. Most notably, Norman’s next opponent, Union High School, whose players all took a knee alongside Norman before Friday’s semi-final. That included all of Union’s white players.

That for me shows hope. The ugly racial past and present of Tulsa can never be forgotten: from the Tulsa Race Massacre and torching of Black Wall Street, to police officer Betty Shelby killing Terence Crutcher and getting away with it, to the vitriolic images of Trump supporters outside his rallies during the 2016 campaign (at the Mabee Center where I was harassed), to Trump’s super-spreader Juneteenth rally last summer at the Bok Center downtown, to Friday’s video broadcasting a moment of hate to the entire world. But to see Black and white high school girls taking a knee together in defiance of hate is enough to make me believe in a better tomorrow.

Syracuse center Jesse Edwards answers critics with his play

Jesse Edwards, Syracuse University's sophomore center, has been relegated to the end of Coach Jim Boeheim’s bench for the majority of the season. Many, including myself, have been screaming from the mountaintops: "FREE JESSE!!!!"

Our main center is injured and we're playing Marek Dolezaj out of position. He's a great player and incredibly important to this team, but is giving up size, strength and height to opposing centers on a nightly basis. For that reason, many Syracuse fans have been puzzled as to why a 6-foot-11 sophomore center like Edwards hasn’t been utilized more. Thus, the chants and hashtags of #FreeJesse.

Despite the pleas from the fan base, every time Coach Boeheim has been asked by reporters why Jesse Edwards isn’t getting a chance, he responds with a litany of excuses: “He’s not strong enough," "He’s too thin," "He doesn’t rebound well enough," "I play the guys who play the best at practice," and his most consistent response, “He’s not ready.”

On many occasions over the past two years, I’ve personally messaged Jesse to offer some encouragement, telling him almost exactly what Syracuse legends Rosevelt Bouie, Coach Louis Orr, and the late Conrad McRae told me my freshman year. I wasn’t playing and Coach Boeheim was similarly telling everyone I wasn’t ready. I told Jesse that his time was going to come to make Coach Boeheim eat his words, to prove to everyone in the country that you have been ready all season and that he should continue to be mature, conduct himself professionally, have a good attitude, and be the ultimate team player.

I also told Jesse to not sulk on the bench and to keep working hard in practice and be ready when his time comes. The worst thing that could happen is for Coach Boeheim to throw him in a game and he doesn't play well -- that would allow him to say to the media "See? That’s why I can’t play him. He’s not ready."

Those were the advices I got from the OGs my freshman year, and now, I've been able to give it right back to Jesse Edwards. It’s an honor to be able to do that.

Then, on Saturday, it happened. Jesse finally got his chance against Georgia Tech.

When Marek Dolajaj got into early foul trouble, Jesse's number was finally called, and he was ready.

He was active, challenged shots, finished inside with dunks, got steals, altered shots and was a difference maker from the time he entered the game. I actually jumped out my seat and dunked right along with Jesse when Kadary Richmond set him up for the finish after a nice drive to the basket. It was kind of like in Rocky V when Rocky was watching Tommy Gun on TV and mirroring the moves of his protoge while punching the punching bag in his living room (I know I’m dating myself with that reference).

But man, I was so happy for Jesse. Did he play perfect? No. Did he make some mistakes? Of course. But did he show the entire basketball world that he was ready and able to contribute? Definitely.

Despite the strong performance, after the game, Coach Boeheim was a little stingywith the praise for Jesse.

“I thought Jesse gave us some good minutes in there," he said. "He rebounded, but he still bobbles a lot of balls, but he got to play... He did a good job in the middle, but obviously there’s balls he has to get to, so those are still some issues out there.”

It wasn't exactly a ringing endorsement from the coach, but, hey, it was kind of a compliment, I guess. You just had to listen really closely, but it was in there... Kind of.

Nonetheless, Jesse Edwards had shown everyone that he was at least ready to contribute. The real test, though, would be Monday’s game against North Carolina, the team with one of the best, if not the best front courts in the ACC with 6-foot-10, 240-pound Armondo Bacot, 6-foot-10, 240-pound Garrison Brooks and 6-foot-11, 265-pound Day’Ron Sharpe.

Lo and behold, Coach Boeheim went to Jesse early, and this was show-and-prove time for the sophomore. This was the moment of truth. It was here where Coach Boeheim would be able to say "I told you so!" if Jesse performed poorly or where Jesse would show the world that the game against Georgia Tech was no fluke.

He didn’t disappoint, more than holding his own about North Carolina's talented bigs. Upon entering the game, he again had an immediate impact -- he fought for rebounds, challenged and altered shots and proved to be exactly what the famous 2-3 zone had been missing: an inside presence.

Although he fouled out in just 24 minutes, Jesse's presence was felt the entire game. He finished with six points and eight rebounds, helping Syracuse to a 72-70 victory. The performance left fans and media wondering what would’ve happened if he'd been playing the entire season. Would Syracuse still be on the bubble? Most experts predicted the team's tournament hopes were flushed down the toilet after the last loss to Georgia Tech. Maybe Jesse could've helped the team prior to that point.

The Post Standard's Donna Diota recognized his contributions to the win after the game, as well:

“Jesse Edwards. The sophomore big man was crucial for Syracuse on Monday against all that UNC size and length. He played 11 first-half minutes before exiting with three fouls. He’s so long in there, he at least has a chance to contest those gigantic UNC guys. And in those 11 minutes, he grabbed five rebounds.

"He was even better in the second half, walling up inside and rebounding the ball -- even going out of his area to track down misses. His play enabled Marek Dolezaj to move to the forward spot and helped the Orange with its backline defensive issues. And he produced some points, too.”

Despite the strong performance, as tweeted by The Athletic's Matthew Guiterrez, Coach Boeheim still doesn't believe Jesse is "ready."

It kind of makes you wonder what Jesse has to do to actually be "ready."

Does he have to be a mixture of Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and Kareem Abdul Jabbar all rolled into one?

While I will readily admit my Big Man bias, that's not why I believe in Jesse. Syracuse fans and media have all been singing his praises after his performances the last two games. He’s finally been allowed to play and showed what he is capable of.

Kudos to Jesse Edwards for staying professional and staying ready. He's proved to the entire college basketball world that he is ready to contribute.

#FreeJesse

Juwan Howard silences critics after winning Big Ten Coach Of The Year

After his former teammate Juwan Howard was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year, Chris Webber texted me when I asked him for a quote for an article about him.

"I’m happy for Juwan. He earned it! He is a great leader! He doesn’t even have to address all the critics that doubted his success because I will.... Haaaaa told you soooo. Lol. I’m so damn proud."

By leading his Michigan Wolverines to a 19-3 record as the No. 4 team in the nation, Howard has stuck it to the critics that Chris was referring to. Let's go back to May 2019, when his alma mater introduced him as the university's next men's basketball head coach.

It was a beautiful moment seeing the Fab Five member and 19-year NBA super-vet sitting there with his entire family by his side and overcome with emotion, and watching him fighting back the tears as he held up his same No. 25 jersey and hugged Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel.

It was enough to plug at the heart strings of Howard and Michigan fans, but anybody with eyes could see how much this meant to him. This wasn’t simply someone being excited and elated to take the reins of a team as the head coach, this was special to Howard. It was so special that, as he took the podium, he needed almost a full minute to compose himself before he uttered words.

“I said I wasn’t going to cry...I guess that happens when you’re excited about something so special to you," said an emotional Howard.

As amazing and as memorable of a moment that it was, however, not everyone shared in that excitement. It didn't take long for the media and pundits to foolishly come after Howard's credibility as a head coach.

“In essence, U-M is replacing a great coach who was never an assistant coach with someone who has never been a head coach, which raises all kinds of concerns and question marks,” wrote Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press. “...Howard has never been a head coach -- Coaching the Heat's Summer League team doesn’t count. And he has no college coaching experience.

“...We don’t know if Howard will be able to push the right buttons or draw up the right plays or manage the clock or make the right adjustments in a game. And we don’t know know if he will be able to be an effective recruiter.”

MLive's Andrew Kahn questioned the move. There were articles saying at the time that Howard's hire “raises all kinds of concerns and question marks," and considered the decision “a huge risk.” Mike Valenti, a radio host on 97.1 The Ticket, went further with his disrespect: “Hiring Juwan Howard is nothing more than a PR stunt and an admission you couldn’t get a quality candidate," Valenti said.

This is still happening now, too. It is well known that Doug Gottileb of FOX Sports thrives to criticize. It’s kind of his schtick. Just look at this tweet from last month.

The disrespect was evident of not only misspelling Juwan’s name in his tweet, but the backhanded compliment in suggesting that Howard doesn’t know what he’s doing or isn’t qualified to be a head coach so he needs people around him that do. 

Well, Howard proved each and every one of them wrong. Not only did Howard win Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2021, but he also was named Sporting News' COY.

On Sunday afternoon, SN's Mike Decoursy went into detail on former-players-turned-coaches and tied it into the initial reaction of Howard's hire two years ago.

“There was cause to be skeptical of whether Howard was the ideal choice," Decoursy wrote. "The immediate period before he was hired saw a series of NBA alum cycle through the college game with moderate to no success. Avery Johnson lasted four seasons at Alabama and finished just 13 games over .500, with one NCAA Tournament appearance. Chris Mullin spent just as long at St. John’s and was 14 games short of breaking even. From 2016 through 2019, Mike Dunleavy Sr. compiled a .258 winning percentage at Tulane. With his fourth season at Georgetown soon to end, Patrick Ewing is exactly a .500 coach.

"All of these men made serious contributions to the greatest basketball competition on the planet, but each found conquering the college game elusive. Working in the college game is a different deal; one is as much a general manager, a salesperson, a fundraiser and a mentor as a coach. The NBA has others to fill those roles, leaving the people in charge of coaching to do only that. Handling that wide variety of duties appears to be one reason those who attempt to make the jump from the pros so often fail. But Howard immediately demonstrated he was different.”

Asked about the critics during a press conference in Feb. 17, Howard admitted that he's heard the doubters from day one.

"I’m not gonna sit here like I don’t hear the noise before I got hired. And also, still to this day, I hear the backhanded compliments," Howard said. Am I competitive? Of course I am! But I’m also about improving and having the growth mindset of how I can get better to be the best version of myself to help prepare this team, and more importantly to represent this fine institution the best way possible. That’s my No. 1 goal. That’s what drives me. That’s what really excites me.”

“And also -- yeah, I wake up in the middle of the night thinking about plays, thinking about defensive situations, thinking about how I can get better, how I can help prepare the team.  That’s how I’m wired. I wouldn’t have been able to last 19 years in the NBA if I didn’t have a certain edge about me. To get back into coaching, for six years as an assistant coach, the Miami Heat staff and also I took upon myself to prepare myself to become a head coach someday. I worked at this. And I’m gonna continue to keep working. I love it.”

As a result of that love and dedication, Howard’s feisty Wolverines are in contention for a national championship as we enter the NCAA tourney next week. He’s out-recruiting Kentucky's John Calipari and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski, two of the top coaches in college hoops. Michigan's freshman center, Hunter Dickinson, exceeded expectations and won Big Ten Freshman Of The Year,

The Wolverines are a conference champion, a presumptive No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament and a highly-favored Final Four lock. As Chris Webber told me, “He doesn’t have to address all of the critics that doubted his success."

And with that success, Juwan Howard shut all of the critics up.

Zlatan's attack on LeBron James echoes the hypocrisy of the American right

At the end of Black History Month, the Sweden striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a larger-than-life figure who has resuscitated an entire city during a remarkable season with Milan, felt the need to take time out of his schedule to criticize LeBron James for using his global platform to turn a spotlight on social injustices in the United States. LeBron has been one of the NBA’s leading voices in the ongoing fight against police brutality, racism, inequality and social change, using his voice in a way that will have him permanently listed with the great athlete-activists of the past such as Bill Russell, Muhammad Ali, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, John Carlos, Tommie Smith, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Craig Hodges and Colin Kaepernick.

Apparently, Ibrahmovic believes that’s not his place.

In an interview with Discovery+ in Sweden, Ibrahimovic felt compelled to criticize the Los Angeles Lakers star and any sportsperson who dares to use their position and platform to speak out on issues beyond the narrow focus of the sport they play.

“I like (James) a lot,” Ibrahimovic said. “He’s phenomenal, what he’s doing, but I don’t like when people with a status speak about politics. Do what you’re good at doing.

“I play football because I’m the best at playing football. I’m no politician. If I’d been a politician, I would be doing politics.

“This is the first mistake famous people do when they become famous: for me it is better to avoid certain topics and do what you’re good doing, otherwise you risk doing something wrongly.”

On Friday, after the Lakers’ win over the Portland Trail Blazers, LeBron responded to the criticism from Zlatan by vowing never to stay silent about social causes. As he put it to reporters: “I will never shut up about things that are wrong. I preach about my people and I preach about equality, social justice, racism, voter suppression – things that go on in our community.

“Because I was a part of my community at one point and saw the things that were going on, and I know what’s still going on because I have a group of 300-plus kids at my schoolthat are going through the same thing and they need a voice.

“I’m their voice and I use my platform to continue to shed light on everything that might be going on, not only in my community but in this country and around the world.”

LeBron didn’t stop there. He went on to reference a Canal Plus interview with Ibrahimovic from three years ago where he blamed “undercover racism” for what he’s considered unfair treatment by the Swedish media.

“He’s the guy who said in Sweden, he was talking about the same things, because his last name wasn’t a [traditional Swedish] last name, he felt like there was some racism going on,” James said. “I speak from a very educated mind. I’m kind of the wrong guy to go at, because I do my homework.”

Maybe Ibrahimovic watched a little too much Fox News while he was living in the US during his two-year spell with the LA Galaxy, because his criticism sounded very familiar to Laura Ingraham, the conservative opinionator who infamously demanded that LeBron “shut up and dribble” in a segment many perceived as racist. It’s a line of argument that exposed Ingraham and the entire American right wing: It’s perfectly OK for athletes to use their platform when they are promoting a narrative that you agree with or that is personal to you. That double standard was on full display last year when the GOP invited NFL and college football legend Herschel Walker to be a speaker at the Republican national convention.

However, if the narrative is in opposition to their personal beliefs, then the athlete needs to stay in his lane, or stick to sports, or shut up and dribble – or as Ibrahimovic put it – do what you’re good at doing. And again, as LeBron pointed out, Ibrahimovic had zero problem speaking out about the racism and discrimination he felt that he was a victim of. That’s the definition of hypocrisy.

And finally, for the record, LeBron’s decision to stand with the athletes and activists across America in calling for an end to the police killings of unarmed Black and Brown people isn’t “politics”, but a demand for basic human rights. And that’s something that anyone – no matter what color, race, nationality, place of origin, background, religion, occupation or status – should have the moral courage to support. Like Dr Martin Luther King said, there comes a point when silence is betrayal.

Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf were Kaepernick before Kaepernick

I recently interviewed former NBA player Matt Barnes for my show The Rematch, where he discussed meeting with Joe Biden before November’s presidential election. Barnes and a coalition of prominent Black influencers including billionaire businessman Robert F Smith, CNN’s Van Jones, Charlamagne tha God and film director Deon Taylor pushed Biden on subjects such as the 1994 Crime Bill, making sure he and Kamala Harris would be held accountable for their policies around race and social justice moving forward.

During the interview – and as we examine race in America during Black History Month – I kept thinking about how times have changed since Craig Hodges was whiteballed by the NBA less than 30 years ago for wanting to do the same thing as Barnes today.

Hodges played in the NBAfor 10 seasons and led the league in three-point shooting three times. He won two NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls, and along with Larry Bird, is one of only two players to win three consecutive three-point shooting contests at NBA All-Star weekend.

But when he visited the White House in 1992 for the ceremonial championship team visit, he wore a dashiki and delivered a handwritten letter to the staff of then president George HW Bush. The letter challenged the administration’s treatment of poor communities and sought a partnership to hold them accountable. Sounds very similar to what Barnes did with Biden, right? But that was a different time, and as a result, Hodges was subjected to a firestorm of public scrutiny, resentment, ridicule and condemnation that led to his exile from the league. His career was effectively over at 32, even though he was still in his prime and in a league where shooters such as Hodges often thrive into their late 30s.

I interviewed Hodges for my book We Matter: Athletes And Activism and asked him how he dealt with the criticism and his exile from the NBA.

“Black people are my first love, and then basketball,” he said. “And even though basketball gave me opportunities and opened doors for me my entire life, I wasn’t going to have one without the other. That wasn’t even a question.”

Hodges is not the only courageous player I remember during Black History Month. This past summer, we witnessed entire NBA teams – as well as coaches and referees – take a knee during the national anthem to bring attention to racial injustice in the US. And I couldn’t help but also remember how Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, like Hodges, was whiteballed from the NBA for his beliefs. Abdul-Rauf was Kaepernick before Kaepernick, protesting during the national anthem in 1996. Like Hodges and Kaepernick, his career wasn’t cut short because his skills were diminishing or because of injuries. It was the result of the controversy he sparked for calling the flag of the United States a symbol of oppression and racism and explaining that standing for the anthem would conflict with his Muslim faith.

“You can’t be for God and for oppression. It’s clear in the Qur’an, Islam is the only way,” he said at the time. “I don’t criticize those who stand, so don’t criticize me for sitting.”

He eventually came to a compromise with the NBA after being suspended. It was agreed he could stand and pray with his head bowed during the national anthem. But even that was met with hostility, death threats and public condemnation. The NBA, along with mainstream America, turned on Abdul-Rauf and he was inevitably depicted as an ungrateful Black athlete who didn’t appreciate the riches and fame basketball provided for him.

Despite recording career-best figures that season, he was traded away by the Denver Nuggets and by 1998, at the age of 29, he couldn’t get so much as a tryout with an NBA team and left to play in Turkey.

As with Hodges, I asked Abdul-Rauf if he would do it all again when I interviewed him for my book.

“When I make a decision, especially when I have thought it out, I stick to that decision,” he said. “In looking back at all of the decisions that I’ve made and looking at my life now, I see the growth, I see the development, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything.”

Have things changed since? I also spoked with NBA commissioner Adam Silver andasked him if he would ever punish a player for speaking out on something that Silver personally disagrees with. Because that’s always the caveat: Anybody can applaud someone when they agree with them.

“What is special about this league and something I worked very hard at is making sure that players feel safe having a voice on important social matters, because I have heard from employees in other industries, other companies, athletes in other situations, where they have told me they have a strong point of view but they’re concerned that it will have a direct impact on their employment,” Silver said. “We’ve made it a point to encourage players to be active participants in our system. To have a voice. They have a point of view about what’s happening around them”

If only Silver had been the commissioner while Hodges and Abdul-Rauf were playing. I remember reading about both of those in high school. I was amazed at their courage, to have the conviction to take a stand for what they believed in like the great athlete activists of the past such as Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Curt Flood, John Carlos, Tommie Smith and, of course, the great Muhammad Ali.

Now that NBA stars like Draymond Green enjoy the freedom to say whatever they want, whenever they want, it’s important to remember athletes such as Hodges and Abdul-Rauf. They made the sacrifice and paid the price so players today can speak their minds and take whatever stance they choose, without fear of being exiled from the NBA as a result.

Lebron’s spat with courtside karen was not unique

When it comes to the case of Courtside Karen, LeBron James is obviously taking on Michele Obama’s philosophy: when they go low, we go high.

But first a quick recap. The Lakers star was confronted by a fan, Juliana Carlos, during his team’s victory over the Hawks in Atlanta on Monday night (some NBA teams are allowing spectators back into arenas in a limited capacity). Her husband had been heckling James and that ended with Carlos pulling down her facemask – during a pandemic, mind you – and verbally abusing James before being escorted out by security, along with three others in her party. She then took to social media to tell James that: “I will [expletive] you up”. There were many more words in the video, mainly beginning with F. She also appeared to think she was entitled to abuse James because she had “courtside seats that I … paid for”.

Twitter was on the side of James anyway (who himself tweeted that “Courtside Karenwas MAD MAD!!” along with several laughing emojis). People joked that Carlos wouldn’t have had all that mouth if LeBron’s wife, Savannah, had been in the stands – and they’re probably right. But Mrs James shouldn’t be put in the position to have to defend her husband from fans making verbal threats. This is supposed to be a family environment, not Road House with Patrick Swayze (I know I’m dating myself with that reference).

Carlos has since apologized, James said that he did not think her party should have been ejected and the Hawks have decided not to ban her from the arena. But does that send the right message of what is tolerated in the NBA?

Certainly, it sometimes seems that teams are more concerned about appeasing fans than their own players.

Few players would argue with some good-natured heckling from the crowd – interaction with fans can be a fun part of the game. But it can also turn ugly and racist, particularly in a majority Black sport played in front of majority white crowds.

I remember when I was playing for the Washington Wizards in Utah, and the crowd was heckling my teammate Kwame Brown as we were walking out. They were saying vile things (as the Utah crowd often does) and I looked right in the face of an older white man, who called Kwame a “Black mothereffer” (although he used something else than “effer”). Michael Jordan was my Wizards teammate at the time, and I told his security guy, George, what had been said. George told me that I would be surprised if I knew some of the things people had said to Jordan over the years. That stuck with me because if people hurl racist epithets at someone as venerated as MJ, they will do it to anyone. And it shouldn’t be acceptable.

I asked two time NBA champion James Posey if he had experienced fans who crossed the line, and the consequences they faced.

“While I was coaching in Cleveland, it had to be 2015 or 2016-17, there was a guy who sat behind our bench who was a season ticket holder and we still had LeBron James, and his whole purpose was to berate the coaches and players, as his wife would sit next to him and just laugh and she would be so proud. They talk about us being professional, but fans feel that they can say whatever they want to because they have that right because they bought their ticket.

“One day, as an assistant coach, I couldn’t take it anymore. He was cussing out [then Cavaliers head coach] Tyronn Lue, cussing out LeBron, other players and I turned around and went off in front of everybody. So, the game ends, he complains to our front office, I was reprimanded for my reaction and they rewarded him by giving him a tour of our facility to make amends with him as a season ticket holder, and I thought to myself, what kind of message does this send?”

There are far more examples. There was the Malice at the Palace, the infamous 2004 brawl during a Pacers-Pistons game which ended with the suspension of nine players for a total of 146 games. Fans jumped the rail and threw beer at players, while squaring up to them. But the majority of blame was placed on Indiana’s Metta Sandiford-Artest (then known as Ron Artest).

The NBA has a responsibility to create a safe work environment for their employees, who earn the league billions of dollars every year. And the league has shown it can act effectively. In 2019, the Utah Jazz banned a fan for life for racially abusing Russell Westbrook, an action that sent out a strong message that such behavior will not be tolerated.

It’s not just players who would benefit either. All it takes is for the Juliana Carloses of the world to abuse the wrong person, someone who is more Metta Sandiford-Artest than Michelle Obama. Then the NBA will only have themselves to blame for failing to set the standard for what is acceptable.

NBA players weren't surprised by DC. We live with white supremacy every day

The silence has been deafening on the right. From the right-wing evangelicals who had prayed for Donald Trump to be reelected, to the All Lives Matter and Blue Lives Matter crowds, to the Kaepernick haters and those who labelled Black Lives Matter as violent thugs. In the wake of a mob of Trump supporters invading the US Capitol in an attempted coup on Wednesday, the same people who rushed to condemn peaceful protests against racism are either silent or ludicrously blaming Antifa.

The events in Washington DC really should have come as no surprise to anyone. Trump had been promoting the “Stop the Steal” rally which led to the Capitol invasion non-stop on Twitter as if it were an upcoming pay-per-view fight, promising his supporters: “I will be there. Historic day!” He marketed it. He encouraged it.

And yet the reaction of large parts of Mainstream America was shock that white supremacists could invade the heart of U.S. democracy largely undisturbed, strolling through the Capitol like it was their own private kingdom.

But none of this came as a surprise to NBA players, 80% of whom are Black and see the effects of white supremacy every day. Not the violence at the Capitol, not the election of Trump in the first place, or his describing large parts of Africa with an obscenity, or the police killings of George Floyd or Breonna Taylor or the acquittal of the officers who shot Jacob Blake. In fact, one of the few white people who wasn’t shocked was Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who has spent most of his career around Black people. “A legitimate election is suddenly questioned by millions of people, including many of the people who are leading our country in government, because we’ve decided to – over the last few years – allow lies to be told,” he said on Wednesday night. “So, this is who we are. You reap what you sow.”

Later, Boston Celtics guard Jaylen Brown explained – as if it still needs explaining – how Black people live with white supremacy every day.

“It reminds me of what Dr Martin Luther King has said, that there’s two split different Americas. In one America, you get killed by sleeping in your car, selling cigarettes or playing in your backyard,” he said. “And then in another America, you get to storm the Capitol and no tear gas, no massive arrests, none of that. So, I think it’s obvious: It’s 2021 – I don’t think anything has changed. We want to still acknowledge that. We want to still push for the change that we’re looking for. But as of yet, we have not seen it. We want to continue to keep conversations alive and do our part.”

Jaylen is absolutely right. We have watched over and over Mainstream America justify police shooting after police shooting. Terence Crutcher in Oklahoma; 12-year-old Tamir Rice in Cleveland; Eric Garner in New York; Philando Castile and George Floyd in Minnesota; Breonna Taylor in Kentucky; Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. The long, heartbreaking list goes on and on.

As we discussed on my show, The Collision “Where Sports And Politics Collide” with Dave Zirin, police choose to use restraint and deescalation techniques with white people – as we saw at the Capitol on Wednesday – as opposed to the shoot first ask questions later approach when dealing with Black men, women or children. We all watched as they allowed the white domestic terrorists who had just stormed the Capitol to simply walk out like they were on a school field trip. There was an image of a white lady literally being helped down the stairs by a police officer. They were handled with such care, unlike the teargas and rubber bullets that greeted Black Lives Matter protesters this summer. 

As Deadspin journalist Chuck Modiano, who was on the ground at the Capitol told us on the show,

“I was like OK, when’s the tear gas coming because I’ve been covering protests in DC for seven months pretty religiously, and the amount of provocation to get tear gas is as little as a water bottle. This is what I am accustomed to, this is what Black People in DC have been dealing with. My mind was so blown at the inaction by the police because this was so easily preventable” 

Anyone who is still having trouble recognizing white privilege after what we saw this week is simply in denial. Black NBA players know this, they have witnessed it their entire lives. And they are using their fame to get the message into homes across America and the world, hoping something will change. That’s why Milwaukee Bucks and Detroit Pistons players knelt before their game on Wednesday night. It’s why Colin Kaepernick knelt in the first place.

After Golden State’s game on Wednesday, Draymond Green addressed the media.

“Stop describing [the Capitol invaders] the same way you describe someone who just stands there and makes a chant saying ‘we want justice, we want peace’”, he said. “Stop using that same word, it’s disrespectful and it’s shameful to keep calling them protestors … they’re terrorists”

Draymond is absolutely right. Nobody is demanding that the police shoot white Trump supporters like they shoot us. We’re demanding that the police not shoot us like they don’t shoot them.

Another Example Surfaces of Abuse Of Black Players By White Coaches

We begin with Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall, who is being investigated for allegations of verbal and physical abuse from current and former players. The stories have been corroborated by former players and coaches and reported by media outlets, including Sports Illustrated.

Former Wichita State player Shaquille Morris alleges he was punched twice by Marshall during a 2015 practice, and Marshall is also accused of choking assistant coach Kyle Lindsted the following year. Marshall, according to WatchStadium.com, also routinely physically and verbally abused members of the program and demeaned his players with ethnic and racial slurs.

Marshall coached at Winthrop from 1998 to 2007 before joining Wichita State. The descriptions of his behavior there mirror those described by his players at Wichita State, which is conducting an internal investigation now. Multiple former Winthrop players say, according to WatchStadium.com, that Marshall made racist and sexist comments toward players, and that he mocked a player who took prescription medication for his mental health.

Former Winthrop players also detailed various instances in WatchStadium.com reporting when Marshall physically assaulted players on multiple occasions, both on and off the court. In one of the detailed accounts that are coming to light after the WatchStadium.com reporting and the Winthrop investigation, players recall Marshall grabbing a player by the shirt and slamming him against a wall.

“I acknowledge that my coaching style isn’t for everyone. I am passionate and energetic, and countless players have thrived on my programs and excelled in our team culture,” Marshall told The Athletic. “I am not demeaning or abusive. I have always pledged my full-hearted commitment to my team.”

I interviewed Howard University basketball coach Kenny Blakeney for my show The Rematch, and his immediate response was:

“I don’t think white men should be yelling at Black kids. We have a history that goes back to some things that are traumatic with that.”

Here’s the unfortunate reality: This type of abuse with this particular racial dynamic of a white coach abusing Black players happens much more often at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) than people are aware of.

I’m not advocating being soft on players or coddling them. I don’t coach on the college level, but I do coach my son’s AAU team, the FBCG Elite Dynamic Disciples, and any of my players will tell you: I’m not the one to tolerate any foolishness. My son calls me Coach Carter without the cursing. I’m a disciplinarian. I am strict. I hold guys accountable both on and off the floor. “Yes, sir” is the only appropriate response to a coach. But there is a fine line between discipline and abuse.

Blakeney told me he wants young men to understand they don’t have to feel less of a person to do what somebody is asking them to do.

“I want the young men that I coach to be whole, meaning I don’t want them to be mentally or emotionally broken when they leave me. I want to treat young men as if I am coaching my own son. Do I have to coach guys hard sometimes? Yeah, I do, but I want to coach guys in a way where it’s respectful.”

Respectful.

I remember when I was at Syracuse University and we were playing Indiana at the Maui Invitational. Now, this wasn’t a big arena like the Carrier Dome. It was more of an enclosed arena resembling a high school gym, so everyone was close and could hear anyone yelling.

Indiana player A.J. Guyton did something wrong and got subbed out of the game, and as we were advancing the ball up the floor, we heard a loud booming voice that echoed through the gym. It was Coach Bobby Knight humiliating one of the Indiana players.

“You piece of s— motherf—er! Bring your stupid a– here. What the f— are you doing!”

Those were his exact words. My point guard Jason Hart was dribbling the ball up the court, and we both stopped in the middle of the game and stared at him in amazement. And the Indiana player looked like an abused child who had been stripped of his humanity in front of an audience. It was the worst thing I had ever witnessed.

Our assistant coach Louis Orr yelled for us to snap out of it and keep playing, because we paused during the middle of the game, shocked by what we were seeing.

It made me think of the movie Roots when the slave master tied Kunta Kinte to the tree because he wouldn’t answer to his slave name Toby, and he brought all the other enslaved people to watch as he whipped him into accepting his slave name. That’s what I thought of watching Knight publicly and verbally whip the player into submission.

I remember later passing Guyton in the hotel as my teammate Kueth Duany and I were walking around, and he wouldn’t even make eye contact with us. He looked broken.

I also remember Guyton publicly defending Knightafter Indiana player Neil Reed accused Knight of physically choking him at practice.

“Without this system, without Coach Knight challenging me, that would not have been possible,” Guyton said. “I say that because at Indiana you know you’re going to be challenged. I don’t think Neil Reed understood that. In order to become an All-American, you’re going to be challenged by a coach that pushes you to the limit. It’s all a process of a boy becoming a man.”

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I asked my former teammate if he remembered this.

“I had heard and seen the tirades of Coach Knight on TV and it was always part of the lore of ‘The General.’ But getting to see it up close and personal in the Maui Classic was surreal and seeing the real-time reactions of the players,” said Duany. “It was highly uncomfortable seeing the Indiana University player in somewhat a shock and daze so long after the game, walking with his head down, almost like that movie Get Out, a clear gloss over his eyes.

“I think that way of doing things now is not acceptable because we have also learned of the mental health challenges of what it does to some young men. It can lead to some being emotionally bankrupt and forever lacking confidence. These types are always forgotten,” said Duany. “Just speaking to former high-level athletes who’ve dealt with being the punching bag, a vast number are not doing well and hold resentment for many years. I have seen other players become controlled and almost robotic for the coach who in some cases verbally abused the player.”

Let me be clear, I’m not saying this to disparage anyone. I am using this example that I personally witnessed to point out a much bigger issue. I believe this type of abuse happens more often than many are aware of at PWIs. Of course, not at all of them, but more often than it should. Some in plain sight like Knight, others behind closed doors like Marshall.

Some even resulting in tragedy, such as University of Maryland football coach DJ Durkin and strength coach Rick Court in the case of Jordan McNair, who died of a heat stroke and didn’t receive proper medical care during a practice.

It’s important to note that Maryland did conduct an external investigation and fired both coaches, but that was only after public pressure. Their initial reaction was to treat McNair like a diseased slave, throw him overboard and continue sailing. This practice has to change.

Tragedies like this only get revealed after an assistant coach, staff member or former player blows the whistle. It’s a system that allows for this type of abuse to remain prevalent and go unchecked absent public outcry — and, yes, this should sound very similar to the issue with police accountability.

This is why I can appreciate Blakeney having the courage to speak out against college coaches who engage in the emotional and physical abuse of Black college athletes.

Blakeney’s approach should be the mentality adopted by all coaches, because he understands the fine line between discipline and maltreatment, between being a tough demanding coach and being an abuser.

Don’t be surprised if we see an increasing exodus of top Black athletes migrating to historically Black colleges and universities instead of attending PWIs.

The NBA’s Coaching DilemMa

With the LA Clippers officially hiring Tyronn Lueto be their head coach this week, the number of Black head coaches in the NBA is now at six.Out of 30 teams.In a league where nearly 80% of the players are Black, that is troubling, because it is invaluable for players to have a coach who can relate to them.I’m not suggesting that all white coaches have issues relating to Black players. But in my personal experience in the NBA, that was definitely the case.I recently sat down with my former Washington Wizards teammate Larry Hughes and we discussed our experiences under both Doug Collins, who is white, and Eddie Jordan, who is Black. Hughes and I reminisced about a failed attempt by Collins to relate to his players.

Nelly’s song “Dilemma” with Kelly Rowland had come out, and Hughes had a cameo in the music video. (Good song.) One day, Collins comes into the training room rapping and dancing like Kris Kross back in the day, lifting up his knees and pointing his hands to the floor (young people may not remember this image, but that’s the best way I can describe it), saying to everyone, “I know this song Nelly Kelly, right? I’m hip, I’m down,” and attempting to rap the hook.

“No matter what I do/all I think about is you/even when I’m with my boo.”

Picture that for a moment. A 50-year-old white man coming into a training room filled with Black players trying to rap. We all just looked at him. Some snickered, while others like me were in utter disbelief. There was an awkward silence, then Collins turned around and went back to his office.

It was Christian Laettner who said, “What the hell was that?” as we all burst into laughter.

But what Collins was attempting to do was what many white coaches have had difficulty doing: relating to Black players. Now, not all attempts are epic failures like this one, but I have seen my share of misses.

Coach Jordan, on the other hand, would simply pull you to the side or into his office and just talk with you. It didn’t feel forced. It didn’t feel manufactured, and he actually connected with guys.

Hughes said he didn’t have that connection with Collins.

“When I was with Doug, he would always ask me, ‘Are you OK? Is everything OK?’ ” Hughes said. “He was just nervous around me because of my demeanor and it would make him nervous.”

I can relate to that because Collins didn’t know how to communicate with me, either. Some of his former assistant coaches later told me that I made him uncomfortable because he couldn’t get a read on me and didn’t know what box to put me in, and that made him nervous. So my question is, how do you coach people you are nervous around?

For me, having that connection with Jordan was crucial. It built a relationship and a trust that translated on the court.

During my time with the Wizards, I released my first book of poetry, More Than An Athlete. I was also performing spoken word and delivering speeches all over Washington about politics, racism and police brutality. Coach Jordan would sometimes ask me about my thoughts and opinions on certain topics and just listen to me. He would share his experiences and we would just talk. He showed a genuine interest in what I was interested in and we connected. That’s how you develop a relationship with a coach, simply by communicating.

And that translated on the court as well. Because of our communication during games, what he specifically wanted out of my position and the role he wanted me to play, I trusted him. So even during the times when I wasn’t getting as much playing time as I wanted to, and he told me that I had to outwork who was playing in front of me to earn more playing time, I was able to trust him and implement exactly what he wanted. That resulted in me being the preferred center despite being 4 or 5 inches shorter than our starting center. All that happened because of communication and trust.

Again, I am not saying that all white coaches are nervous around Black players. You see white coaches with great connections to Black players. Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors is a perfect example. Stan Van Gundy, who was recently hired by the New Orleans Pelicans and whose recent willingness to speak out on activism has connected him with players on a level that probably far surpasses his previous stints in Orlando and Detroit. And just to be clear, I’m not someone who believes Steve Nash got the job in Brooklyn because of white privilege. That was simply because Kevin Durant, who developed a relationship with Nash when he was a special assistant in Golden State, pushed for him to get the job and Kyrie Irving co-signed.

But what I witnessed and experienced in Washington with my white coach versus what I experienced with my Black coach was worlds apart.

And in today’s world, there is a need for Black leadership. Say what you want about Doc Rivers’ performance with the Clippers in the 2020 playoffs, but his presence in the bubble was crucial for players. He could relate to them in ways others couldn’t.

There’s a reason a lot of white coaches send the Black assistant coach to be a buffer with the players.

“Who can normally do that?” Hughes said. “It’s usually people who look like us. Have swag like us. That know how to translate and know how to play both sides. And they typically are not using the white assistant coaches in that role because they can’t play both sides. But it is the Black guy because he can play both sides. That’s how we’ve grown up, that’s been our culture. We’ve had to go from one side to the other side very quickly. And if you can relate and be that guy. …

“T-Lue is one of those guys. He went from being that connector to leading those guys to a championship.”

If NBA teams look to Black assistant coaches to have someone to relate to the players, why not just make the head person the one who can actually relate?

Why do we continue to see coaches who have proven themselves unable to connect to players be recycled while certain Black coaches who have had success on the court and with players aren’t given opportunities?

Assistant coaches Randy Brown (Chicago Bulls), Greg Buckner (Memphis Grizzlies), Sam Cassell (Clippers), Jarron Collins (Warriors), Howard Eisley (New York Knicks), Darvin Ham (Atlanta Hawks), Tim Hardaway Sr. (Detroit Pistons), Popeye Jones (Indiana Pacers), Jamahl Mosley (Dallas Mavericks), Ed Pinckney (Minnesota Timberwolves), Ime Udoka (San Antonio Spurs), Wes Unseld Jr. (Denver Nuggets) and Nick Van Exel (Grizzlies) are among the candidates who should get an opportunity.

Mark Jackson, meanwhile, last coached in the league in 2014. Many of his former players in Golden State spoke highly of him, including Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala. Kerr has also given Jackson credit for making the Warriors a great defensive team, going from 27th in the league in defensive efficiency to fourth in his final season.

So why does someone with this amount of success on the court as well as the obvious connection with his players get passed up for jobs?

I asked Jackson this past season if he had any interest in coaching again.

“I certainly do have an interest in coaching professional basketball again,” he said. “I had a blast and the time of my life coaching in Golden State for three years. Developed relationships, had a level of success, it was a fun time for me. And I certainly look forward to the opportunity of one day coaching again.”

There were nine coaching vacancies this offseason. Seven have been filled so far, with only two Black head coach candidates getting jobs.

Byron Scott last coached for the Los Angeles Lakers in 2016. He once suggested that more players should advocate for Black coaches to get head-coaching jobs like Kobe Bryant did for him.

Maybe that’s the solution.

Dwight Howard & Javale MCGee provided Valuable lessons for my AAU Team

Dwight Howard experienced a rebirth this season with the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, his redemption during his second stint with the Lakers has been one of the more inspiring comeback stories in recent NBA history. 

People have short memories. They forget that Howard was an eight-time NBA All-Star, five-time All-NBA First Team member and three-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year winner before he turned 30. He is one of six players to post 13,000 points, 2,000 blocks and 1,000 steals (along with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Robert Parish, Hakeem Olajuwon, Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan). But this season, he was playing on a non-guaranteed contract, as rumors swirled that this may be his last chance to keep his career afloat before he found himself out of the league. So, needless to say, he had a lot riding on this season.  

Then you have JaVale McGee, who had a lot of success with the Golden State Warriors three seasons ago; and although he didn’t play a ton of minutes, he provided instant production every time he checked into the game. When the Lakers signed him, many around the NBA questioned how he would be able to contribute and if he just looked good because he was on a good Warriors team.

But he exceeded everyone’s expectations in the 2018-19 season, as he averaged a career-high 12 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2 blocks in just over 22 minutes per game. It was arguably one of the best years of his career; he started at center a total of 75 times. His play forced all doubters, even Shaq, to put some respect on his name. And building on that momentum was big for JaVale coming into this year, so needless to say, he had a lot riding on this season as well. 

McGee's numbers weren't quite as flashy in his second season with the Lakers, but his efficiency improved along with his advanced metrics (such as his offensive rating and defensive box-plus minus). Still, his impact was felt on the floor. 

However, as teams like the Houston Rockets fully embraced the concept of small ball -- and with Lakers head coach Frank Vogel simply electing for a strategy switch in the NBA Finals versus the Miami Heat -- both centers saw their playing time dramatically reduced during the playoffs. 

But here’s the most important thing: They didn’t become distractions. They didn't protest or have their agents make public statements. Players have many go-to tactics when their minutes are reduced or when they are not being utilized to their individual advantage -- especially in a contract year -- but we didn't see Howard or McGee go that route. They opted to be the ultimate team players, accepting whatever roles they were given for the good of the team. 

And as a result, they both received high praise from Coach Vogel, who explained to reporters that it was a big relief that both McGee and Howard had been so selfless and understanding in regards to their fluctuating playing time. 

"Their role acceptance in a matchup-oriented series like this is everything. and it’s a big reason why we’re winning," Vogel said. "If they’re unhappy or disgruntled or anything like that, it pulls away from what we’re trying to do. Those guys deserve a lot of credit for their approach and handling the role that’s been given to them for this series."

Anthony Davis added: "A lot of guys can just fade away and be upset that they’re not playing. Guys come in and say they want to do whatever to help the team win, but when they don’t get minutes, they, like I said, fade away. But those guys said at the start of the season that they want to be here and do whatever they can to help the team, and you see it."

Instead of sulking, the big men became the team's most vocal cheerleaders. 

"They’re the loudest guys on our bench, cheering for our guys, talking to us during the game, talking to us during timeouts and that’s what we need," Davis said of Howard and McGee. "Two guys who have been in the league for a long time. Dwight’s been to the Finals, JaVale [won] multiple championships, so those guys know what it takes to win and we try to listen to them. And when their number is called, they still do the right thing to be ready." 

When asked about his reduced minutes, McGee kept it simple.

“Well, a year ago, we weren’t winning," McGee said. "So it’s your priorities, you know what I’m saying? I want to win. So if that’s what we’ve got to do to win, that’s what we’ve got to do

"Being in Golden State led to a mindset where I’m not worried about minutes. I’m worried about if these minutes work to win the game, then I’m down for it. If we’re losing and this is happening then it’s a different situation, but you can’t complain about minutes when you’re winning,” 

Not all NBA players would've handled this situation like Dwight and JaVale. I have seen guys literally throw tantrums on the bench when they aren’t getting their minutes. I’ve seen guys jump up and down like 5-year-olds when they get taken out of the starting lineup. I’ve seen guys literally pout -- bottom lip stuck-out, arms folded, feet crossed, not cheering when the person who replaced them does something applause-worthy on the court, even if other players around them are cheering. Not everyone is a consummate professional.

I have seen it all, and that’s at every level -- NBA, college, high school and AAU; and that negativity begins to spread throughout the locker room and on the bench. Then, guys who aren’t playing the minutes they would like begin to gravitate toward other guys who don’t play and form a no-playing-time bond of negativity. 

I’ve coached my son’s AAU team, FBCG Elite Dynamic Disciples, for about five or six years now, and I have definitely seen my share of pouting and tantrums. But I have also seen players handle fluctuations in playing time with the maturity that Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee displayed, and it has definitely benefited them. 

I have a player named Camar Gregorio (Class of 2022 and Maryland Independent League 2019-20 State Champion with Lanham Christian High School), who is our Dennis Rodman. I give all the guys a player to study and tell them that’s their player comparison, and Rodman is exactly who Camar embodies. The tenacity, going after every rebound, two, three, four efforts; he just has a nose for the ball after a missed shot. But like Rodman, he is undersized, so sometimes when there is a bigger front line, he doesn’t play as much, as I elect to match the opposing big man height-wise.

We didn’t play this past season due to COVID-19 concerns, but last summer in the semifinals of one of our tournaments, we played a team who had been bullying everyone -- fastbreaking, dunking, all the extra antics and everything. In scouting them, we discovered that they couldn’t shoot from the outside and scored primarily by driving into the paint after they spread the court (like the Houston Rockets, but without the threes), so we made an adjustment and went big. We put our two centers in the game and played a tight 2-3 zone to force them to shoot outside, and we gave instructions for the guards to slowly rotate to the three-point shooters; the other team wanted a hard close-out to drive right past us because that was their strength (Coach Boeheim would be proud). 

So we packed it in and dared them to shoot, and it worked. They were bricking all over the place, and our bigs were rebounding and outletting. We stayed with that lineup, but Camar hardly played. Now, normally he is the best rebounder we have, but I just wanted size and crowding the paint, so that was the strategy. Camar didn’t pout and didn’t sulk; he cheered for his teammates with as much enthusiasm as we saw from Dwight and JaVale on the sidelines when they weren’t in the game. 

Camar came back in the championship game, played literally almost the entire time and was his normal self. After the season, Camar was voted by his teammates as our MVP for the season. It had nothing to do with scoring because he wasn’t a big scorer. He had Rodman numbers consistently all season -- four or five points, but 15 rebounds, five steals, three floor dives, 10 second-chance attempts to keep the ball in play and 100 percent positivity no matter how many minutes he played.

I have another player, DJ Seedan. He’s about 6-foot-9 and he's in the Class of 2022 at Southern Maryland Christian Academy. He has the ability to control a game defensively. His player comparison was Lew Alcindor (before he became Kareem Abdul-Jabbar). He’s not the over-aggressive Dwight Howard/Alonzo Mourning-type of big man, but rather the finesse, skilled and athletic-type. DJ can jump-hook with both hands in the lane, knock down jumpers and will block and alter every shot that comes into the lane. When the opposing team has a traditional big man, those games usually result in DJ shining, as he is more skilled than most big men at this age. But when teams go small at times and I’m forced to play him less, he always keeps a positive attitude and stays ready in case his name is called. 

Chris Davis is a member of the Class of 2022 at Takoma Academy. He's a big man who can play multiple positions and impact the entire game on both sides of the floor; his player comparison is Joel Embiid. He is a big, athletic body that can dominate, inside and out. I remember one game in particular where we were playing against an older team in Virginia; we found ourselves down by almost 20 at halftime. Our third-string point guard, Nickalus Smith -- who has the highest basketball IQ on the team -- doesn’t always get the chance to play, but is always locked in and positive (he's going to make a great head coach one day). That day, Nickalus pulled me to the side and suggested I exploit the pick-and-roll because the opposing bigs don’t have a lot of lateral movement. Knowing good coaches listen to suggestions from players, I went with it, and Nick’s strategy worked. Chris was unstoppable; he had about 20 second-half points -- pick-and-roll, pick-and-pop, pick-roll hit the corner. They had no answer for him. 

But DJ and Camar didn’t get back in the game. Nobody pouted, nobody threw a tantrum and everyone was cheering and clapping during our epic comeback. So when I saw Dwight and JaVale’s enthusiastic cheering on the sidelines throughout the entire postseason, their positive body language whether they played five minutes, 25 minutes or zero minutes, the first thing I thought about was the positive example they are setting. They are reinforcing what I preach to my guys everyday. 

I explain to my players that colleges ask me about my guys and comment on their attitude all the time.  They are watching everything. Nobody wants a head case in their locker room, and these teachings are going to pay off for these guys in the long run because college coaches have scratched many players off their list simply because of their attitudes. There aremany NBA players who have found themselves out of the league due to their poor attitude and negative reputation too. 

Teams want good locker-room guys, and mark my words, our players took notice of the positive attitudes and team players that JaVale and Dwight were on their road to winning the NBA championship. 

Now, personally, I think the Lakers would be out of their minds not to bring both of them back, but just in case they don’t, they’ve put themselves in position to get a nice payday from another team -- mostly because of their positive attitude, their willingness to sacrifice for the team and their ability to make a significant impact whenever their number was called.

People have been hating on LeBron all seasons

Following the Los Angeles Lakers' last-second loss to the Miami Heat in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, LeBron James was criticized by fans and pundits for passing to Danny Green on the final play rather than attempting the game-winning shot himself. James was triple-teamed on the play and passing to Green was the right decision, but LeBron's haters saw an opportunity to bash him and pounced on it.

Throughout this NBA season, I've watched as these critics have come up with absurd reasons to hate on LeBron. These takes are all over social media (especially on Facebook) as well as on various sports TV shows and sports-talk-radio programs. Nobody is above criticism; however, with James, it feels like he can't win with these people. Regardless of what he does, someone will get upset. Some of the hate he receives is outrageous and just plain ridiculous. Sometimes, the information is factual, but it's presented just to spread negativity. 

As I saw more and more examples of this throughout the season, I started keeping a list of these critiques. These are actual takes that I have heard or read throughout this season:

BEFORE THE SEASON

1. In the Western Conference, LeBron could never accomplish what he did in the watered-down East. 

2. How many times has LeBron been to the NBA Finals and lost? 

3. LeBron had to form a super-team, so his Miami championships shouldn’t be respected.

4. LeBron needed a Dwyane Wade or a Kyrie Irving by his side to win.

5. LeBron just isn’t a killer like Michael Jordan, and he doesn't have the Mamba mentality. 

6. LeBron doesn’t have a go-to move like MJ or Kobe. 

7. Unlike LeBron, MJ and Kobe stayed on the same team, overcame their rivals and then won titles. 

8. Never forget when he disappeared against the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals!

9. LeBron is too old and slow.

10. LeBron can’t win the big games.

11. LeBron should never be put in the GOAT conversation.

12. LeBron talked the Lakers into trading away their entire team for ONE player; no one is worth that! The Pelicans won the Anthony Davis trade. GM LeBron strikes again.

13. LeBron gets all the glory and praise when his team wins and his teammates get all the blame when they lose. Then, folks say he doesn’t have any help! 

DURING THE REGULAR SEASON

14. The Lakers just lost to the Clippers on opening night! The Clippers are the better team.

15. Kawhi Leonard is the best player in Los Angeles, not LeBron.

16. The Lakers are scared of the Clippers, and LeBron is scared of Kawhi.

17. Okay... LeBron and the Lakers are winning games, but they haven’t beaten a good team yet!

18. The Lakers are beating good teams because LeBron has a super-team! The Lakers are stacked!

19. LeBron is so narcissistic; he only cares about himself.

20. LeBron is a stat-chaser. 

21. LeBron only scores and dominates because he’s bigger than everyone else.

22. LeBron could never play in Michael Jordan's era. 

23. LeBron is ranked too high on NBA 2K! 

24. They spent too much time perfecting LeBron’s face and mannerisms on 2K. Why didn't they put that level of detail into the other players?!

25. LeBron is smiling and joking too much on the court. He isn't serious enough.

26. LeBron doesn’t smile enough on the court. He’s too serious.

DURING THE PLAYOFFS

27. The Blazers are dangerous. The Lakers do NOT want to see them the first round. They will be a problem.

28. The Lakers lost Game 1 to the Blazers! "If the Lakers don’t win a championship, let alone lose in the first round, I don’t want to hear none of this GOAT talk no more."

29. LeBron’s not dedicated to basketball because he’s too focused on social activism. 

30. The NBA's ratings are down because of “woke” LeBron, in particular. He needs to stick to sports (AKA "shut up and dribble").  

31. Who does he think he is, Muhammad Ali? Why do we need to know what he is reading ? 

32. LeBron is corrupting all of the other NBA players to be anti-American and disrespect the flag and criticize our President and be against all cops. A loss for him is a win for America.

33. Just wait until the Clippers and Lakers meet in the playoffs... The Clippers are winning easily!

34. The Rockets are dangerous! Their small-ball can really challenge Los Angeles! 

35. The Nuggets are dangerous! The comeback kids can beat LeBron and the Lakers! 

36. LeBron and the Lakers haven't had to face any good teams on their path to the NBA Finals!

37. The refs are giving LeBron a ton of favorable calls.

38. MJ never cried to the refs the way LeBron does.

39. My conspiracy theory: The NBA powers that be want LeBron to win this championship. 

40. The Clippers would've defeated LeBron and the Lakers easily.

41. If Miami was fully healthy, they would be defeating the Lakers.

42. If the Lakers win this championship, it will actually hurt LeBron's legacy.

43. The Lakers went on a run while LeBron was on the bench. They may actually play better without him. 

44. LeBron jokes around all the time, but now he wants to get on his teammates for joking around on the bench during the blowout in Game 2? LeBron is a hypocrite.

45. LeBron didn't celebrate with his teammates after the Western Conference Finals. He’s a bad teammate. A good leader would’ve been celebrating with his teammates.

46. LeBron wouldn’t have had the success he is having this season if it weren’t for Anthony Davis, so LeBron shouldn’t be getting the credit he is getting. AD should win Finals MVP!

47. LeBron is playing well, but it's only because this is the softest era in the history of the NBA.

48. Look at LeBron walking off the floor with 10 seconds left in the game. That’s not something a GOAT (or a good leader) would do.

49. This championship wouldn't really count for LeBron because it was in the bubble, so it should have an asterisk by it.

50. The real GOAT would have taken the last shot! Michael Jordan wouldn't have passed the ball!

So, there you have it. Did I miss anything?

The sad part is, as divided as this country is at the moment, hating on LeBron has become the unifying force that has brought many people together. I see hate from people of all races, colors, religions, nationalities, tax brackets and political parties. And, although I stopped at 50 examples, I’m sure there were plenty more that I could’ve listed. So, the question is: why all the hate?

Mark Cuban: This isn’t the same Lebron James We beat in 2011

Recently, I interviewed Mark Cuban for my podcast, “The Rematch” (which is part of the BasketballNews.com Podcast Network) and one of the many topics we discussed was when his Dallas Mavericks defeated LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals - a series that has haunted James for a decade. 

Back then, James was trying to win his first-ever championship. Now, he is on the verge of winning his fourth title. When asked to compare present-day LeBron to 2011 LeBron, Cuban said he’s drastically changed. 

“It’s night and day,” Cuban said. “He has the basketball-IQ level now; he’s just a basketball savant. The way he sees and reads what’s happening on the court in real time and stays three steps ahead is incredible. And that’s what makes him special - in addition to his athleticism. He didn’t have that [back in 2011]. We would run a zone against him and he would hesitate and not know what to do. He’s not going to hesitate now. He knows exactly what’s coming and what to do and anticipates it.

“He can talk to you about a basketball game and every single play that’s happened like some of us would talk about a book that we just read. Those two things are enormous differences. He can now beat you in so many different ways. He’s still athletic enough. His skill-set has improved. His passing. But those all tie back to his basketball IQ and that’s something that wasn’t as developed as it is now.”

In 2011, LeBron was in the midst of his first season with the Heat and mainstream America was upset with the superstar. Many sports fans across the country turned on James after “The Decision,” which was watched by 10 million viewers (according to Nielsen). 

(I personally had no problem with “The Decision” in any way, shape or form; I actually applauded him for taking control of the narrative and not feeling like he owed Cleveland or Cavaliers governor Dan Gilbert anything, but I digress.).

LeBron also received myriad criticism for forming a “super-team” in Miami with Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh. 

(I also didn’t have an issue with this and I found it ironic that one of his loudest critics, Charles Barkley, was guilty of doing something similar, joining the Houston Rockets to play with Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler in 1996; it just didn’t result in a championship for him).

After LeBron’s guaranteed that the Heat would win “not one, not two, not three championships…” it hurt his reputation and he was perceived as an arrogant, conceited, pompous a$$#&@€. He was now despised and cast as the villain. As ABC News labeled him in this 2011 article, he was “The Most Hated Man in Basketball.”

So when they lost to Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 NBA Finals and LeBron had a series that wasn’t very Chosen-One-esque, people lined up, rocks in hand, ready to stone his reputation to death. 

Now, statistically, he didn’t have a terrible series. But by LeBron’s standards, it was disappointing. Here were his stat lines for that series:

Game 1: 24 points, 9 boards, 5 assists, 4 threes, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 56.3 FG%

Game 2: 20 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, 4 steals, 1 block, 5 turnovers 53.3 FG% 

Game 3: 17 points, 9 assists, 3 boards, 2 steals, 4 turnovers, 42.9 FG%

Game 4: 8 points, 9 boards, 7 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers, 27.3 FG%

Game 5: 17 points, 10 boards, 10 assists, 1 block, 4 turnovers, 42.1 FG%

Game 6: 21 points, 6 assists, 4 boards, 2 threes, 1 block, 1 steal, 6 turnovers, 60 FG%

Even though, on paper, these performances don’t seem too bad, his plus/minus was -24 in Game 6. He was tentative and completely off-course at times, and over-aggressive and almost clumsy at others. It was shocking to see LeBron, who was so dominant at that time, looking human. 

He was taking too many jump shots and was as hesitant and passive as ever with the ball in his hands. He passed when he should have shot; he shot when he should have passed. He looked like he didn’t know the offensive plays at times and he was consistently looking to the refs to bail him out. 

To make matters worse, LeBron seemed to be a liability on defense - he appeared utterly lost on his coverage, rotations and defensive assignments. Again, it appeared as though he wasn’t even on the same page as his teammates and didn’t know the defensive game-plan. 

As a result, the multitude of newly formulated LeBron haters took tremendous pleasure in this, rejoicing as he struggled. Not because they were Dallas Mavericks fans or had an issue with the Miami Heat, but because LeBron James, in particular, had failed. 

“He was the number two guy with the Heat and you could tell on the court. That was Dwyane’s team,” Cuban added. “It wasn’t like Dwyane came to his team. Now, LeBron’s that guy. Period. End of story. [Now], he says who comes on that team, how it’s gonna work, what they’re doing.” 

Interesting point. 

Many will argue that Anthony Davis is “the best player in the world” (as Markieff Morris declared after Game 1 of the Finals). Now, for the record, he also said the same thing about LeBron in response to another question. But the point is, despite LeBron’s impressive numbers, many have crowned Anthony Davis as the team’s MVP. 

However, this is still LeBron’s team. 

Anthony Davis may, in fact, be replacing Kyrie Irving as the most productive teammate that LeBron has played with during his career. This postseason, Davis is averaging 28.2 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.3 blocks, 1.2 steals and 1.1 threes (on 57.8/40.4/82.9 shooting splits). 

Previously, the most points that one of LeBron’s teammates averaged in the playoffs was Irving’s 25.9 points per game in 2017, followed by Irving’s 25.2 PPG average in 2016 and Wade’s 24.5 PPG average in 2011. Wade was actually the Heat’s leading scorer during the 2011 postseason (averaging 24.5 points to James' 23.7). Now, scoring isn’t everything. But Cuban is right: that was still D-Wade’s team. Just like this is still LeBron’s team, even with Davis dropping a whopping 29.1 points a night.

Davis may be the Lakers’ MVP of the postseason (or even the bubble). He may be the Lakers’ most dominant player on both ends of the floor. But, make no mistake, this is LeBron’s team. 

Here are the facts: LeBron is on the verge of winning his fourth championship and bringing at least one title to three different teams. He has four NBA MVP awards, three NBA Finals MVP awards and two Olympic gold medals. He also holds the all-time record for playoff points, and he has recorded the third-most points in NBA history and the eighth-most assists of all-time. 

Still, LeBron haters will probably always be LeBron haters (and it’s not just Paul Pierce).

But, overall, I would have to agree with Mark Cuban. Without a doubt, this is a very different LeBron James than the one we saw in the 2011 NBA Finals.

ShaQ, Barkley’s misinformed comments were disrespectful

Throughout the entire NBA and WNBA restart in the bubble, player after player has verbalized the importance of arresting the officers who killed Breonna Taylor. They wore shirts with her name and redirected all questions during their media sessions to the importance of this case. Coaches discussed it during their press conferences and called for justice too. 

L.A. Clippers forward Paul George told reporters that he would not answer any basketball questions and would only address questions specifically involving the Breonna Taylor case. Denver Nuggets forward Jerami Grant did the same.

Nuggets guard Jamal Murray wore a tribute to Breonna Taylor and George Floyd on his sneakers. 

“In life, you find things that hold value to you - things to fight for,” Murray told TNT during the first round of the playoffs. “We found something worth fighting for as an NBA, as a collective unit. I use these shoes as a symbol to keep fighting. These shoes give me life. Even though these people are gone, they help me find strength.”

Nuggets head coach Mike Malone told reporters: “I just put myself in Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend’s shoes. I’m in my apartment, wherever I am living. Somebody breaks into my house at 2 or 3 in the morning. I am going to feel like somebody should not be there. … I know we’ve been using our platform down here to try to bring about education and a voice in a lot of players on our team, especially speaking out on justice for Breonna Taylor. We have not gotten that justice. That’s a shame. Hopefully that will change at some point.”

The Breonna Taylor case was on the hearts and minds of just about everyone in the bubble, and players and coaches were using their platforms to make sure the world knew about this case as well.

Then, the moment finally arrived that a verdict was given. 

The decision was announced on Wednesday that a Louisville grand jury would indict officer Brett Hankison on three felony charges of wanton endangerment in the killing of Taylor. So, for those who don’t know, that means the cop was charged not for firing the bullets that took the life of Breonna Taylor, but rather for the bullets that missed and endangered people in other apartments. 

And, as one would imagine, this news hit the entire NBA world hard. 

Los Angeles Lakers guard Danny Green told reporters on Wednesday that LeBron James texted the grand jury’s findings to the entire team as they were preparing to have a team meeting between Games 3 and 4 of the Western Conference Finals. LeBron took to Twitter to comment:

On Thursday night, after the Lakers’ win against Denver that put Los Angeles up 3-1 in the series, James told reporters, “We want justice, no matter how long it takes. We lost a beautiful woman in Breonna. I have a daughter at home and a wife and a Mom and thinking about if they were gunned down… it’s a tragedy. Our hearts are with that family.” 

“I wasn’t surprised,” Boston Celtics wing Jaylen Brown added. “I think that this society — the way it was built — its intentions was to never protect and serve people of color initially.“

Many other players took to Twitter to vent such as DeMarcus Cousins, Jamal Crawford, Isaiah Thomas, Montrezl Harrell, Lexie Brown of the Minnesota Lynx, Tianna Hawkins of the Washington Mystics, Layshia Clarendon of the New York Liberty and many others.

The collective NBA and WNBA family was heartbroken at yet another instance of the justice system failing to value a Black life. NBA games ironically resumed with the words Black Lives Matter painted on the court, but absent from reality. In fact, Michael Vick’s dogs received more justice than Breonna Taylor.

Then came Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley’s comments on TNT’s “Inside The NBA” on Thursday night. 

Barkley proclaimed live on air that you can't put the Breonna Taylor case in the same sentence as the death of George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery because her boyfriend shot at the police. He are his exact words:

"I don't think this one was like George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery and things like that," Barkley said. "I feel sad that this young lady lost her life. I think this one was — the no-knock warrant is something we need to get rid of … across the board. But I am worried to lump all these situations in together.

“And I just feel bad that the young lady lost her life. But we do have to take into account that her boyfriend shot at the cops and shot a cop. So like I say, even though I am really sorry she lost her life, I don't think that we can put this in the same situation as George Floyd or Ahmaud Arbery. I just don't believe that."

Shaq weighed in and said, "I have to agree with Charles, this one is sort of lumped in. You have to get a warrant signed and some states do allow no-knock warrants. And everyone was asking for murder charges. When you talk about murder, you have to show intent. A homicide occurred and we're sorry a homicide occurred. When you have a warrant signed by the judge, you are doing your job, and I would imagine that you would fire back."

Barkley went on to say, "Who are Black people supposed to call, Ghostbusters, when we have crime in our neighborhood? We need to stop the defund or abolish the police crap."

It would be nice if these two respected and beloved commentators would fact-check their positions before they used their incredible platform to give out inaccurate information. Their entire exchange is incredibly inaccurate and it would take two articles to break down the misinformation they spewed, but here are a few points of contention:

1. Barkley, when describing why the Breonna Talylor case differs from other cases he mentioned, simply says “because he shot at the police” without providing any context. 

According to the testimony of Breonna Taylor’s boyfriend, Kenneth Walker: “Walker told investigators he heard banging at the door and assumed it was Taylor's ex-boyfriend, Jamarcus Glover. Taylor, who had awoken, shouted, ‘Who is it?’ but Walker said there was no response. He said he and Taylor scrambled to get dressed and that he grabbed his gun, which his attorney has said he legally owns. He said both he and Taylor were yelling, ‘Who is it?’ but received no response. As they made their way toward the front door, Walker said, the door flew off its hinges. ‘So I just let off one shot,’ he said. ‘I still can't see who it is or anything.’" 

This is very different than saying, “He shot at the cops first.” Now, I’m not expecting Charles Barkley to go into this level of detail during his “Inside The NBA” segment, but if he is going to comment on this, he has to at least give proper context. 

2. Barkley repeats the often-expressed false narrative of “defund” and “abolish” being synonyms. Again, if he is going to comment on this, he needs to be fully educated on the subject or at least the English language. The fact is “defund the police” means “reallocating or redirecting funding away from the police department to other government agencies funded by the local municipality.” That’s it. So, the police are responsible for areas they are trained to be responsible for. For example, issues involving mental health can be left to people trained to handle mental-health challenges. 

Dr. Rashawn Ray, a Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Lab for Applied Social Science Research (LASSR) at the University of Maryland, College Park, recently explained in detail what defunding the police actually means in an article titled “What does defund the police mean and does it have merit” (which you can read in full here).

“Advocates for the defund movement like Phillip McHarris and Thenjiwe McHarris argue that shifting funding to social services that can improve things such as mental health, addiction, and homelessness is a better use of taxpayer money,” he writes. “This approach further enhances the push to decriminalize and destigmatize people with mental-health conditions and addiction problems.”

Again, I’m not expecting Barkley to go into this level of detail during his “Inside The NBA” segment. But if he is going to comment on this, he needs to be well-informed of the facts. 

The NBA and its players hold the entire crew of TNT's "Inside The NBA” in high regard. They have become must-see TV for the majority of NBA players and fans. And I, for one, am all for the exchange of different opinions and discussions and debates. That’s not the issue here. 

But giving an accurate and factual portrayal when discussing a topic that is near and dear to the entire NBA world should be a requirement given the platform that O’Neal and Barkley have. Spewing false narratives and giving inaccurate information and drawing conclusions based on those inaccuracies is not only irresponsible but disrespectful to Breonna Taylor, her loved ones, activists fighting for justice, NBA players who took up her cause and everyone else involved. 

Critics want Lebron to fail just as they did with ali

The day after shocking the world by defeating Sonny Liston for the heavyweight championship in 1964, the man then known as Cassius Clay shocked the world again when he announced that he was abandoning his “slave name”, joining the Nation Of Islam, and would from that day forward only answer to, or acknowledge the name, Muhammad Ali. 

And on that day, he became more than an athlete. 

He abandoned the previously accepted role for Black athletes, which was to entertain the white masses with their athletic prowess, be grateful for the benefits, and remain silent on anything outside of sports. 

Ali was the opposite of that. He called out racism, challenged oppression, demanded respect, was mentored by Malcolm X, and embraced his status as a social critic. And much of white America despised him for that. They appreciated his talent, hated his politics, and wanted to do everything in their power to silence him. 

In that sense, LeBron James has become this generation’s Muhammad Ali 

Enter Colby Covington. This past weekend, the UFC fighter dedicated his victory over Tyron Woodley to “all the first responders, all the military out there” before directing his comments to James. 

“This world would not be safe without you guys,” Covington said. “You keep us safe, not these woke athletes, man. I’m sick of these woke athletes, and these spineless cowards like LeBron James.”

The Trump supporter then turned his attention to the upcoming presidential election for good measure. “Ladies and gentlemen, the silent majority is ready to make some noise,” Covington said while draped in an American flag. “If you thought that was a beating, wait until 3 November when Donald Trump gets his hands on Sleepy Joe [Biden]. That’s going to be a landslide.”

You may ask why a UFC fighter was focused on a basketball player after his moment of victory. It’s the same reason why Muhammad Ali’s name was brought up so many times and with the same vitriol when he was calling out racism in the 1960s. Because athletes with the influence of James and Ali pose an immediate threat to those who oppose them.

Oddly for a man who doesn’t like James acting “woke” and failing to stick to sports, Covington soon entwined himself even further with politics. In what appeared to be a scripted stunt, he was interrupted during his press conference by a call from Trump. “Oh the president is calling me,” said Covington. Needless to say, his acting skills could use a little more work, but he and Trump chatted on speakerphone, with the president telling Covington: “You are something ... I appreciated the shout-out tonight, too. I’m your fan, you’re my fan. Two of a kind, two of a kind.”

Trump, of course, is the man who rallied his base against Colin Kaepernick and called NFL players who peacefully protested the wave of killings of unarmed Black men and women by police “sons of bitches”. The same man who tweeted that players who earn “millions” should not be allowed to show “disrespect” (he did not specify disrespect to what, but this is not someone who cares about details). And, yes, the same person who publicly called James dumb for saying something he didn’t like. “Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn’t easy to do,” he tweeted in August 2018.

Trump has done everything in his power to get his base to turn their ire on any Black athlete whose politics he disagrees with. However, when athletes do support his cause, he does everything in his power to elevate them. He’ll invite them to speak at the Republican National Convention, as he did with Herschel Walker. He’ll invite them to the White House, as he did with Jim Brown and Ray Lewis. He’ll publicly praise your “intelligence”, as he did with Tiger Woods. And he’ll conduct a scripted “spontaneous” call for you after your UFC victory, as he did with Covington. 

So it’s not that Trump doesn’t like politics in sports, it’s just that he only wants politics in sports when it suits him. And that proves he is exactly the hypocrite we thought he was. 

With adversaries as morally dubious as Covington and Trump, James shouldn’t worry about being attacked for his views, as Ali was attacked by his critics in the 1960s. We all know how politicians came to see him in the end: 40 years after being attacked as a traitor, he was awarded the presidential medal of freedom. 

The boo’s at the nfl opener show what much of white america thinks of equality

“I have great respect for men and women who fought for this country. I have family, I have friends who have gone and fought for this country. They fight for freedom. They fight for the people, and they fight for liberty and justice.” 

https://youtu.be/ka0446tibig

Those are the words of Colin Kaepernick speaking to the media after he first took a knee during the National Anthem on September 1, 2016. Afterwards, he spoke with media for 18 minutes straight explaining why he was taking a knee, what it meant and specifically what it didn’t mean. He couldn’t have been more clear. And yet, his message was hijacked to be Anti-American, Anti-Military, Anti-All White People, and Anti-Police. Even though that’s the complete opposite of everything he expressed. 

So from that day on, any semblance of taking a knee, standing in unity with the movement started by Kaepernick has been completely rejected by much of white America. This was on full display in last night’s season opener as the Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Houston Texans in a season opener that will be etched in history for all of the wrong reasons. 

The chiefs were allowed to have close to 17,000 fans (as if the coronavirus is no longer a concern but I digress) and right before kickoff, players from both teams got together for what was called a “Moment Of Unity” following the performance of the National Anthem and “Lift Every Voice And Sing” commonly known as the Black National Anthem. 

Houston Texans executive Vice President Of football operations Jack Easterly told NBC Sports that the demonstration was “Not about Black or white. It’s about change.” 

Seven phrases developed by players on both teams were displayed on the scoreboard during the moment:

• We Support Equality

• We Must End Racism

• We Believe in Justice for All

• We Must End Police Brutality

• We Choose Unconditional Love

• We Believe Black Lives Matter

• It Takes All of Us

Reportedly, this was originally conceived in part by Texans QB Deshaun Watson and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (both of whom are Black) and it was fully embraced by both teams. 

However, fans had a very unexpected reaction as both teams were showered with boos during their “Moment of Unity”. In a disgusting display so loud and so massive that it could be heard on camera as football fans around the world watched in amazement. 

https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1304228576506662913?s=21

Why were they booing ? 

Is Racism and Police Brutality so American that when you protest it people think you are actually protesting America ? 

To add insult to injury, Kansas City Chief fans also took part in the “Arrowhead Chop” which the team announced in late August they were “engaged in a thorough review process of and exploring all options for a modified engagement from the Drum Deck” 

The team also banned fans from wearing headdresses, face paint, or any outfits that are 

“Styled in a way that references or appropriates American Indian Cultures”

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/08/20/chiefs-ban-headdresses-face-paint-reviewing-arrowhead-chop

The team also announced that they were in conversations with the American Indian Community Working Group. 

It’s probably no coincidence that this all came about a month after the Washington Football was forced to acquiesce to the demands of Fed Ex to change the name of the team. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/07/02/fedex-redskins-name-change/

But whatever the reason, the Kansas City Chiefs we’re making a concerted effort to avoid their tone deaf past and listen to a group of people who are telling them that the practices and customs they had adopted as an organization are in deed offensive to the history and culture of the Indigenous people of this country. 

However, all of the fans are obviously not on board with this transition as displayed by their exhibition last night. 

Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas took to Twitter to defend his city by saying, 

“We’re a good city of good people. I heard boos too. But we also have hundreds of thousands more around here who respect the message the players are sharing; who respect the rights of our players and people to voice a strong message and who are working to make us better each day."

https://twitter.com/quintonlucaskc/status/1304256871767904256?s=21

Let’s hope his assessment of the overall fans and people of Kansas City is accurate and not just wishful thinking, because the message the fans sent last night was crystal clear. 

The world was waiting for a Lakers-Clippers showdown

No offense to Denver, Jokic is an absolute joy to watch. He is the best passing big men I have ever seen play the game of basketball. His awareness of his teammates on the court at all times is something coaches will start teaching their big men from this point on. But this is not the series I wanted to watch. 

Jamal Murray has been phenomenal this entire bubble season. Game after game he proves himself to be virtually unguardable. The game when he dropped 50 against the Utah Jazz to force a game 7 was amazing. 

https://youtu.be/GtCGeLb4DvQ

His one dribble step back three was reminiscent of the way James Harden scores at will with his step back. The way he used the pick and roll, the way him and Jokic played off each other throughout the entire playoffs up until this point has demanded the overall respect of the league, but this is not the series I wanted to watch. 

The emergence of Jerami Grant (who i used to call little Harvey) because I literally watched him grow up when his father Harvey Grant would bring him and his brothers to Bowie Gym to work out. I would see them in church (First Baptist Church of Glenarden). He would bring them up to the Wizards games or practices. I remember watching him at my alma mater Syracuse University and talking to him while he was there. I actually interviewed him on my show the beginning of the bubble season mainly because I saw how he directed each of the NBA media qsts to focusing on Breonna Taylor during their first bubble media day.

https://youtu.be/MdKBh8czLdw

 I’m so proud of the man he has become and how he went from people questioning if he should leave Syracuse early to playing in the western conference finals. But this is not the series I wanted to watch. 

This entire season, I wanted to watch a Clippers Lakers showdown. I wanted to see Lebron Vs Kawhi. Battle for LA. Battle for the NBA. 

Watching the Lakers dominate game  one was frustrating to watch. All I kept saying was “This is not the game I wanted to see”. Which my daughter Baby Sierra replied “Then why are you watching it ? We can put on my show” (She’s always looking for a reason to put back on her show) but honestly, I understand her point because I complained the entire game. 

This was supposed to be the gleaming Lakers against the snarling Clippers. The 16 banners hanging in the rafters against the team looking to take over LA. It was going to be a drama filled, smack talking, players being separated, heated rivalry that was sure to be epic .

The prevailing notion was that this in essence would be the NBA finals as the winner of this series would be heavily favored to win it all. And that’s no disrespect to anyone in the East, that was just the overall thought. 

Even Magic Johnson tweeted out last Thursday night 

“I’m so excited that I’m going to see the Lakers vs. Clippers for the Western Conference Finals!!! The battle of the best in LA!”

https://twitter.com/magicjohnson/status/1304236563665022977?s=21

This is the series everyone was looking forward to seeing. And although I enjoyed watching Dwight Howard dominate the game and bring Big Men back into importance after the small ball Houston series rendered big men as obsolete, this still was not the series I wanted to see. 

At halftime last night, I sent a text to one of my best friends from high school Zee Chilton who is honestly the biggest Lakers fan I know and told him as well that I was really looking fwd to seeing  the Clippers Vs the Lakers. Which he replied, 

“I did too, but I feel better that we didn’t have to play them” 

And that in a nutshell is the reason for my complaints. The Clippers had a legitimate chance to beat the Lakers. In fact, from top to bottom, the Clippers looked like they were poised to take over LA, and everyone knew it. The Lakers were going to need to play a level of creative, swarming defense in order to stifle the Clippers one of the deepest and most talented rosters in the NBA. And quite frankly, many doubted if they could rise to that occasion especially on the defensive end of the floor. 

 In fact, die hard Lakers fans like my friend Zee were nervous to play the Clippers. Even if they don’t want to admit it. Snoop, Magic, all of them were nervous because they saw what the rest of the world saw, that the Clippers  weren’t afraid of the Lakers one bit. Sure they had a lot to say after the Clippers lost, but make no mistake, they were nervous too. 

Now the Clippers will have a long time to endure all of the criticism they have earned, especially since they talked so much noise all season. There will be people who question if Kawhi Leonard should’ve left Toronto; people like Stephen A Smith will take public shots at Paul George; there will be media questioning if Doc Rivers should be the coach; they’ll bring up Lou Williams chicken wings situation to point out that they weren’t focused; they’ll point to arguments between players Montrez Harrel and Paul George as possible dissension in the locker room; and of course they will point to one of the biggest trash talkers in the game Patrick Beverly who had a verbal sparring match (along with Paul George) with Damian Lilard having to eat his words. 

They will have a lot to prove next year because they didn’t reach the expectations of the entire basketball world and I’m sure the expectations they had for themselves. This should create an even bigger fire in them. This season it didn’t happen but make no mistake, this rivalry definitely isn’t over, if anything, it’s just getting started. 

L.A. sheriff Wants LeBron James to match reward money for gunman who shot two cops in Compton ?

Sheriff Alex Villanueva is challenging LeBron James to contribute to efforts to find the gunman who shot two Los Angeles County deputies who were critically injured. The two police officers are out of surgery as of Sunday afternoon according to CNN 

https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/12/us/los-angeles-county-officers-shot-compton/index.html

Villanueva made the challenge during an interview on a local radio show Monday.

According to reports. There are two private pledges totaling 75k in addition to 100k from the county, so the sheriff is publicly calling on Lebron to match that or go above and beyond it. 

“I want to make a challenge…to LeBron James,” he said. “I want you to match that and double that reward because I know you care about law enforcement.“

“You expressed a very interesting statement on race relations and officer-involved shootings and the impact that it has on the African-American community and I appreciate that, but likewise, we need to appreciate that respect for life goes across professions, races, creeds, and I’d like to see LeBron James step up to the plate and double that.”

https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2020/09/14/lebron-james-la-county-deputies-shot-sheriff-villanueva/?fbclid=IwAR39UJCyEH07Wy4_6SVap3i1_dHLi1Ps0I5N7LodPLvImjZatzo4oLdlFhA

So by this logic, in the off season when the Lakers look to sign free agents should Lebron demand that the sheriff match the offer the Lakers give to Anthony Davis or Javale McGee or Dwight Howard or Rajon Rondo or Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Avery Bradley 

because somewhere or at some time the sheriff weighed in on the Lakers team ? Why would that be his responsibility ? 

Furthermore, this is the same Sheriff’s department that the Los Angeles Times filed a lawsuit against after alleging that the dept purposely and repeatedly refused to turn over public records including but not limited to documentation showing their deputies involvement in misconduct or shootings ? 

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/6962116-L-A-Times-sues-L-A-County-for-police-misconduct.html

And isn’t this same Sheriff who took absolutely no responsibility for the 325 deputies that the Times identified by name ? This same guy wants Lebron James to “step up to the plate” although he hasn’t done that himself ? 

https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-06-30/la-times-lawsuit-deputy-misconduct-records

This is the same county with 606 lawsuits that were filed against the LA police, with 539 against the LA County Sheriff’s Office. And the same county that spent $81 million dollars of the tax payers money on settling or litigating these lawsuits ? 

https://abc7.com/police-misconduct-lawsuit-department/6247311/

The Sheriff of that county wants Lebron to be the beacon of light to fight against injustice ? 

I tried to see if I could find any instance where the Sheriff publicly condemned the killing of a Black Man or Black Woman by police in his department and I couldn’t find anything. I saw him offer condolences to George Floyd’s family, but I couldn’t find him ever going as far as to condemn the actual killing by his or any police officers. 

So is it hypocritical for this Sheriff to ask Lebron James to do something that he himself doesn’t do ? (To my knowledge) 

It doesn’t appear as though Sherriff Villanueva is in the moral position to ask anybody to do anything. 

Interestingly enough, 

Yesterday, I woke up to multiple messages (from people who happen to be white) demanding that I publicly denounce the very same shooting of the two police officers in Compton. One of the messages read very similarly to the comments made by Sheriff Villanueva in saying 

“Mr Thomas, I have listened to you use your celebrity status to vilify police officers who have to make split second life and death decisions and sometimes get it wrong. I watched you on Meet The Press with Sue Bird speaking on issues outside of your area of expertise, fan the racial liberal flames, attack our President be divisive and cast all police like they want to go around killing innocent black people. I demand for you to be just as vigilant in publicly denouncing the thug who snuck up to a sitting police car in broad daylight and attempted to murder them.”

First of all, I didn’t do any of that and you can see the video of when I was on Meet The Press below 

https://youtu.be/IPGbpLYaEmo

But for the record, yes it’s terrible to see anyone shot on video. I felt horrified just as I would no matter who I was looking at being shot. 

But it’s interesting that just as in the comment I received, when I’m discussing the need for police reform or police accountability I’m “speaking on issues outside of my area of expertise” but I am perfectly qualified to speak on the area you want me to speak on ? That’s how it works ? 

In addition, how many times have we heard police officers publicly denounce any murder of a Black Man or Black Woman by police ? They usually have their blue wall of silence regardless of the situation. And besides, we don’t even know all of the facts of the Compton case yet. Were these good cops or bad cops ? Were they dirty or clean ? We have to look at their history and background first and we shouldn’t rush to judgement right ? It’s just interesting that the expectation is for one side to act with compassion and outrage when it’s not reciprocated in any way shape or form

Coincidentally, Eric Garner should have turned 50 years old today and the disgusting images I have in my mind are

1. Of Officer Daniel Panteleo choking Eric Garner to death while he says repeatedly “I Can’t Breathe” while others officers watch the execution 

2. Shortly after the image of NYPD supporters wearing I Can Breathe shirts 

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/20/i-can-breathe-thanks-to-the-nypd-shirts-flood-pro-/

And I can’t find any record of Sheriff Villanueva or hardly any police officers for that matter condemning the murder or the mockery, but they want Lebron James to now speak out when police are shot ? 

I’m sure the entire “shut up and dribble” crowd will echo and support Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s call for Lebron to “step up to the plate” and use this situation to criticize Lebron for using his platform to bring attention to a very real issue that is police brutality and the need for police reform and police accountability. 

I’m sure others will do as disgraced former Sirius XM radio host Tony Bruno did and accuse NBA players as not being able to read in an attempt to further discredit them 

https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-rumors-tony-bruno-lebron-james-players-cant-read-illiterate-fired-etan-thomas

Unfortunately, like Candace Owens have  already stooped to their consistent level and gone as far to actually blame Lebron for the shooting. 

https://www.newsbreak.com/california/los-angeles/news/2060272350229/candace-owens-blames-pea-brained-lebron-james-and-blm-for-the-saturday-night-ambush-of-two-los-angeles-sheriffs-for-stirring-up-anti-police-sentiment

And I’m sure there will be many more outlandish statements to follow. If I were a betting man I would put definitely let all the chips I had on it. 

However, It’s not the job of Lebron James or Professional athletes to solve the policing problem we have in this country. That responsibility falls more in the lap of a sheriff. Or say a President or the United States. So yes respect for life should as Sheriff Villanueva said 

“Go across races, professions and creeds.” 

And I for one am looking forward to seeing Sheriff Villanueva and all police officers and departments across the country “step up to the plate” and value Black Lives the same way they value the lives of police officers. Not in word (which we don’t even have now) but also in deed 

All Young Point Guards Should Study Chris Paul

I coach my son’s AAU team, the FBCG Elite Dynamic Disciples, and I give each of my players an NBA athlete to analyze and model their game after. Last season, my point guard was Nyrik Lee Jr. of Arundel Christian School in Hanover, MD. When it came time to assign players, I had Nyrik study and emulate Chris Paul.

Now, he didn’t want to be Chris Paul at the beginning of the season. He wanted to be a shoot-first point guard. He would open the game by jacking up three-pointer after three-pointer, sometimes shooting from five steps beyond the three-point line. There were times when he’d take four or five shots in six possessions, so he’d find himself on the bench. Nyrik is full of talent, but he wasn’t buying into our system or doing what the coaches wanted.

Then, toward the end of the season, it finally clicked for him. I reminded Nyrik that I wanted him to play like CP3, telling him, “If you get your teammates involved first, it will open everything up for you."

Finally, during a scrimmage against our older AAU team, he did it. He was setting up players for open threes, driving and kicking the ball out, running pick-and-pops and pick-and-rolls, and getting easy baskets for his teammates on fastbreaks. He was facilitating and looking like a mini Chris Paul! Then, they started expecting him to pass and he cooked all of their guards one by one. He’d fake a pass and then get a wide-open shot for himself. They expected him to drive and kick, but he’d drive and finish at the rim. He was on fire - so much so that the opposing team’s point guard got mad and challenged Nyrik, but he stood up for himself and didn’t back down. 

After the scrimmage, I told him that if he plays like that, he will play as much as he wants. And that was the turning point for him. After that night, he was a completely different player and his entire season shifted.

Suddenly, he was consistently recording double-digit assists. He would get all of his teammates involved first and then he’d eventually find himself wide open since teams were expecting him to dish and playing him for the pass, just like in the scrimmage.

He won the MVP award at a Big Shots tournament; they took his picture and highlighted him after a game in which he had 21 points, 10 assists and 2 rebounds.

Once he bought in and listened to his coaches, he never looked back. He went from struggling to get playing time to finishing the season as our starter, and he shined.

After the Oklahoma City Thunder forced a Game 7 with their win over the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, I texted Nyrik and all of my point guards to ask them if they saw the game. I wanted to make sure they saw how Chris Paul spent the first three quarters mostly distributing and then took over in the fourth quarter, ending the game with an amazing 28 points and zero turnovers. 

Even though the Thunder ultimately lost Game 7, Paul was still impressive (finishing with 19 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds). His terrific leadership was on display, as he was directing everyone the entire game and running the team. He recognized that Luguentz Dort had the hot hand in the first half and, for some reason, the Rockets’ defensive scheme was slow to rotate to him, so CP3 kept going to him. You could even see him getting on Dort for passing up a shot at one point while they were walking to the huddle. That’s a leader. 

All players can learn a lot from Chris Paul. At the beginning of the season, nobody expected the Thunder to make the playoffs, yet they managed to take the Rockets to seven games and nearly pulled off the upset. That’s a great accomplishment in and of itself. Prior to the season, many people were counting Paul out too. After the Rockets traded him to the Thunder, some people wondered if this was the end of the road for the 35-year-old. But he had other plans. 

When discussing the top-10 point guards of all-time, Paul belongs in that conversation. His exceptional passing, ability to lead a team and overall approach to the game separate him from other floor generals. 

Statistically, he’s right up there with the all-time greats too. Paul has the seventh-most assists (9,346) and seventh-most steals (2,233) in NBA history. His career assist percentage (45.6%) is second-highest of all-time. Among all players in league history, Paul ranks No. 1 in career Offensive Rating (122.5), No. 3 in career Box Plus/Minus (+7.6), No. 7 in career Value Over Replacement Player (86.0) and No. 9 in career Player Efficiency Rating (25.1). 

The other lesson to take away from Paul and this Rockets-Thunder series is that you can never win a war with the refs. 

This is something that I preach to my players: No matter how terrible the refs are - and, believe me, we have seen our share of terrible refs - always be respectful. After a bad call, there’s no need to throw your hands up in the air or argue. They have already made up their mind and even if you’re right, it’s not like they’re going to change the call. It simply isn’t going to happen, so you might as well save your breath and energy. I also tell them that refs are some of the most sensitive people on Earth and when they feel that a player is trying to embarrass them, they don’t handle that well at all. And once you get a reputation for complaining or being disrespectful, you put a target on your back for other refs.

I once saw Rasheed Wallace get a tech for rolling his eyes during a game. That’s literally all he did, but it was called because he had reputation for going after refs. On the court, I asked Sheed, “Why do you always get into it with the refs?” He told me that he does it because nobody holds them accountable and they mess up many of the calls. (Of course, I’m paraphrasing and that’s the PG version). 

We know there’s bad blood between Paul and referee Scott Foster. As I pointed out to Nyrik, those negative interactions may come back to haunt Paul and it may have cost them the series. 

Paul has lost each of his last 10 playoff games when Foster has been officiating. Back when Paul was with the Rockets, he publicly criticized Foster after a loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. In fact, Paul said that he met with the NBA to discuss his issues with Foster (although nothing happened).

In 2018, Paul was called for a technical by Foster in a game against the Portland Trail Blazers, which led to this rant from CP3: "Yeah, Scott Foster at his finest. You know what I mean? He just never fails. Some of them, you can [communicate] with. You've just gotta figure out who you can and you can't. I got a tech tonight. I'm over there with [referee Courtney Kirkland] saying, 'That's Scott, that's Scott,' and I got a tech. That's history there. He the man. That's who they pay to see."

After the Game 7 loss last night, Paul had more criticism. When asked about the officiating - and specifically the delay-of-game call - he called out Foster (and said he knows that he’ll get fined).

“Scott Foster walked over to me and told me, ‘Chris, you ain’t gotta do that. I got them sweeping up the floor,’” Paul said, according to Bleacher Report’s Taylor Rooks. “‘OK, cool.’ So, I start tying my shoe back up and he still calls delay of game. That sh— don’t make no sense. He just… I don’t know. We could’ve won the game, but that situation… The league knows. Yeah. They gonna fine me. I said his name, we already know the history.”

After the technical was called, James Harden knocked down the free throw to give the Rockets a 54-52 lead with 2:29 left in the first half.

I asked Nyrik what, specifically, Chris Paul did wrong in this situation with the refs. He said, “The next time [Foster] refs his game, he’s going to remember everything that Chris Paul said about him because some referees are petty like that.” 

Sure enough, it sounds like Nyrik was absolutely right.

“Thunder guard Chris Paul says referee Scott Foster made a point to tell him before the Game 7 loss to the [Rockets] tonight that he also reffed his Game 7 loss to the Spurs in 2008 when CP was with the Hornets,” tweeted Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. 

Young players can learn a ton from Paul; in this instance, they can learn from his mistakes.

But, overall, Paul had an incredible season and he’s had a Hall-of-Fame career. There’s a reason why I want my starting point guard to play like him. All point guards should study Paul. 

Paul should teach a Point Guard 101 class that covers his basketball IQ, cerebral approach, overall knowledge of the game, relentless tenacity, will to win and incredible leadership. (And maybe they can bring in a substitute for the lesson on how to deal with officials).

Etan Thomas details his Special RelatioNship With John ThomPson

I had a special relationship with Coach Thompson that all started from me not being recruited by him. 

Anybody I grew up with will remember that I always wanted to go to Georgetown (Syracuse was actually my 2nd choice) I remember my high school teammate Ryan Humphrey saying that I was like the kid in the movie Rudy who always wanted to go to Notre Dame. That actually wasn’t an inaccurate analogy. 

See, I grew up admiring Coach John Thompson from the first time I heard him speak out about the racism of the NCAA.

I remember seeing him asked how it felt to be the first Black coach to reach the NCAA final four, he replied live on air something to the effect of and i’m paraphrasing. 

“I resent the hell out of that question. The implication is that I was the first Black coach capable of coaching a team to the final four. And that’s just stupid and insulting to a lot of Black coaches who didn’t get the opportunity could have and should have been here before me” 

(Something to that effect) 

I remember reading about how he specifically recruited inner city Black players, and molded them both on and off the court. Focused on their education, enforced discipline and structure, taught them and educated them about society and being a Black Man in America, was a father figure in that he actually cared about his players far beyond wins and losses (although he definitely wanted to win), and made sure he stressed that his players graduate and not squander their time allowing the system to use them. Of course that was the coach and program I wanted to be a part of. 

Add to that, he coached one of my favorite players Alonzo Mourning, someone who I wanted to pattern my game after, and I grew up a die hard Knicks fan and he coached Patrick Ewing. I wanted to be able to block shots like Mutumbo and have defenses literally draw plans to avoid bringing the ball inside. I actually wanted to carry on the tradition and wear number 33 at Georgetown (one of the reasons I wore 33 at Syracuse, but I’ll explain that later) I even went to Georgetown basketball camp when I was in the 8th grade. I remember reading about the next center who was going there Othella Harrington and seeing a picture of John Thompson with his arm around Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, Dikembe Mutumbo, and Othella Harrington and dreamed of seeing myself in that same picture in that same pose with the great centers of Georgetown and myself at the end of the line. 

Fast fwd to the summer of my junior year and I’m being recruited by everyone in the country but Georgetown and he called me and told me that they had a lot of big men and named off 5 big men Jamel Watkins, Boubacar Aw, Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, they had a young Jahidi White and Ya Ya Dia, so they really didn’t need anymore big men. I was heart broken to be honest. May have even shed a few thug tears but I vowed to terrorize Georgetown for my entire college career and picked their biggest rival Syracuse University. 

My freshman year, Feb. 8, 1997

Syracuse fans know it as the Donovan McNabb game, where star football quarterback and two sport athlete Donovan McNabb ignited the Carrier Done with an electrifying performance and we won the game. Meanwhile, me (a young freshman who who didn’t receive much playing time after the beginning of the season and was playing behind and learning from the great Otis Hill) had one of the worst games of my career. I set a Syracuse record for the quickest foul out by a player in Syracuse history and maybe even Big East history. 

https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2013/02/syracuses_1997_win_over_george.html

After not playing for a long stretch of games, I was put into one of the biggest games of the season after Otis Hill got in foul trouble. I found myself in the unfortunate position of having to guard an explosive, quick off his feet, 300 pound monster named Jahidi White who could have been called the Shaq of the Big East. 

Well, as soon as I checked in the game, Coach John Thompson ran every single play for Jahidi and apparently told him to dunk on me every play. Well I had too much pride for that so I fouled him every time he tried to dunk on me. I tried to block the first two or three attempts and almost got my arm ripped off in Jahidi’s Shaq like power moves to the rim. So the next two times, I just fouled him. And fouled out of the game in front of 30,000 people in the Carrier Dome in one of the biggest games of the year, and I remember looking at Coach Thomson as I was walking to the bench and him giving me a little nod that said to me, that’s why I didn’t recruit you. I was destroyed inside. I wanted to hear straight to the locker room and hide in the closet until everyone left. 

After the game a ball boy gave me a note from Coach Thompson that simply read keep working, keep your head up, you’ll be fine. 

The next year, my sophomore year was really my breakout year and one of the games I had circled on my schedule was the Georgetown game. I had an monster game. 23 pts 7rbs 6blocks thunderous dramatic dunks, beating my chest, swatting shots into the stands, screaming into the crowd, I was so hyped I couldn’t even calm down on the free throw line to shoot my free throws. 

After the end of the game buzzer went off, I ran first right up to Coach John Thompson, shook his hand, looked him in the eyes and said, “You could’ve had me” and he replied with a big smile “Yea, I Know”. 

https://www.syracuse.com/orangebasketball/2013/01/in_1997-98_season_syracuse_get.html

That was the start of our relationship of mutual respect and support that spanned for two decades. 

I came to DC in 2000 with the Washington Wizards and John Thompson would have me on his show, he would support my events around DC, he would offer me advice or encouragement or chastisement, or praise by either calling me or sending me a text. 

I remember after I spoke at a big anti war rally in DC shortly after the invasion of Iraq 

http://politicalaffairs.net/the-speech-everyone-is-talking-about-etan-thomas-electrifies-anti-war-washington/

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2007/09/etans_antiwar_speech.html

Coach Thompson callee me and I remember he said 

“You have no idea what you just stepped into young man do you ?” 

And true I honestly didn’t. I had been speaking all over DC about the war. I had 3 different poems and two different speeches against the war all from my first poetry book More Than An Athlete 

https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/561-more-than-an-athlete

And I remember him saying, 

“You are lucky you play for Abe Polin because if you didn’t, this could be very bad for your professional career “ 

He also told me that he had the utmost respect for me and if I needed some support when I feel the wrath of America after this speech, he’s here for me. 

I would have events for many years to come around DC and look into the crowd and see Coach Thompson right there in the front row with his arms folded. 

I remember at a debate I had at Georgetown University with Bill Rhoden on his book 40 Million Dollar Slave, Coach Thomson brought his entire team there and had them all taking notes. including a young Roy Hibbert, Jeff Green and Patrick Ewing Jr. 

I interviewed him for my Fatherhood Book where he wrote 

“In my life l, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet presidents, senators, congressmen, CEO’s of major companies, cardinals of churches, heads of states from several countries and some of the finest athletes and coaches this world has ever known. I’ve learned to respect them all and admired their accomplishments, but I’ve never met a man who accomplished so much with so little as my dad. And I have come to realize that nothing has more meaning to me than the honor of being named after the finest man I have ever met, my Dad, John Robert Thompson.” 

I had never even heard him tell that story before and was honored by the fact that he felt comfortable telling me this for my book. 

This past winter I was watching a high school tournament at Wise high school and doing some recruiting for my AAU team FBCG Elite Dynamic Disciples, and he saw me before I saw him. He had someone chase me down and bring me to him and he said you better come over here and say hi to me. He was in obvious pain, with his walker and I asked him how he was feeling. He smiled and said just old but you keep doing what you’re doing. I said yea looking at some players for my team, and he responded that’s great but that’s not what I’m talking about. You keep using your platform and speaking and writing truth. I may not get around like I used to but I’m always watching you and proud of you. Now move out my way, I gotta get out of here. And he left before I could even get a picture with him and my son Malcolm who was with me (and who was slow coming coming up and missed the entire exchange) After, Malcolm asked me who the man in the walker was, and I told him, one of the best coaches to ever walk the planet. 

Rest In Peace Coach John Thompson