by B. Marcus
Now you all know, sports writers are never short of praise for the good deeds done by the NBA, but lately, we haven’t had too much to write about. Yes we did write about the NBA and Basketball Without Borders as well as the individual efforts of several superstars and the lack thereof from super star #1, Kobe Bryant. Although we all enjoyed seeing shots of Kobe mugging for the cameras with Mickey in China we were disappointed that that was just about all we heard from the globe trotting Kobe this summer. Oh well, that said, what the hell was up with the players and ex-players this summer? If anymore get busted they could form the geneses of a nice prison league. Maybe my friend Seth “Soul Man” Ferranti who is serving time in the Feds could hook’em up.
No kidding, we had the latest little Sprewell incident and his alleged over zealousness with a young lady, then we get ex-Bobcat Lonny Baxter, possibly the dumbest guy in the world, shooting a gun off just blocks from the White House. And of course Mr. Davis’ run in with the Miami cops and their Tasers….ouch. Besides these more prominent cases there was plenty of filler out there too like Iverson’s body guards being accused of being a bit too rough and getting the man sued.
We had a couple interesting ones recently that had to catch your eye like the Alien Baby pictures on The National Inquirer cover on the checkout counter at the deli. The one I found most fascinating occurred just the other day when Trail Blazer, Zach Randolph dodged the legal bullet but still had to hear about his own rather unusual tastes in carnal entertainment in the press. Please Zach, that's just wierd. That must have really been a tough Sunday dinner with the folks. Although there was nothing criminal here it sure was strange. And for Cleveland forward Lee Nailon, what’s up with the alleged elbow to the wife’s face, not cool. Well he was fined $300 and ordered to perform community service. It was nice to hear though that not every story has a bad ending, Gilbert Arenas did get off his beef with the Miami cops this summer although he does have to donate $250 to a police fund. His friend, Awvee Storey, on the other hand will need to wait for a bit as charges on him are pending. Likewise Ralph Sampson ex-all star who played for nine NBA seasons with the Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings and Washington Bullets is in a world of hurt facing a host of federal charges. The 7-4 Sampson will make a fine FDC center. (that’s Federal Dept. of Corrections).
Now that summer is behind us you'd think that things should settle down a bit. The owners and managers have laid down the law and for the most part the players will be too busy for trouble. But not to worry, there is plenty of excitement yet to come this season even though Barkley hasn't thrown anyone out of a window lately, and has moved on to the Hall of Fame, Kobe wasn't guilty, (but then, so neither was Michael Jackson...) and Iverson has really been a pretty good guy. And, as we saw last December, with Jazz players Deron Williams and Robert Whaley its never too late to get into trouble. These two whiz kids got into an altercation outside a Park City bar, and then gave the cops false names,and probably told them they were part of the Pro Bowlers Tour... there is never a shortage of copy for the NBA police blotter.