Shabazz Expelled From NBA Rookie Transition Program

[Lipoli390]

Doper - Jordan was not a "shitty citizen by all accounts." When he played minor league baseball his teammates and coaches raved about his work ethic and his humility. They really liked the guy and how hard he worked. When his teams -- college and NBA-- won on shots by his teammates he celebrated with them. He was a great scorer, but he passed the ball and played great individual and team defense. He never created a false reality like Shabazz saying things like "everyone is saying I'm the steal of the draft.". In fact, no one was proclaiming Shabazz the steal of the draft. Jordan had his faults off the court, but he never had the character red flags displayed by Shabazz. Obviously, the jury is still out on Shabazz. But he's shown enough already to remind us far too much of McCants.

But don't take my word that what Shabazz did Is a truly bad sign. Just listen to Flip's candid comments on Friday, pointing to Shabazz's failure to comply with the rule as a failure to show the discipline needed to be an NBA player and suggesting he'll spend his the rest of his days in the D-League if he doesn't get his act together.

[thedoper]

Doper - Jordan was not a "shitty citizen by all accounts." When he played minor league baseball his teammates and coaches raved about his work ethic and his humility. They really liked the guy and how hard he worked. When his teams -- college and NBA-- won on shots by his teammates he celebrated with them. He was a great scorer, but he passed the ball and played great individual and team defense. He never created a false reality like Shabazz saying things like "everyone is saying I'm the steal of the draft.". In fact, no one was proclaiming Shabazz the steal of the draft. Jordan had his faults off the court, but he never had the character red flags displayed by Shabazz. Obviously, the jury is still out on Shabazz. But he's shown enough already to remind us far too much of McCants.

But don't take my word that what Shabazz did Is a truly bad sign. Just listen to Flip's candid comments on Friday, pointing to Shabazz's failure to comply with the rule as a failure to show the discipline needed to be an NBA player and suggesting he'll spend his the rest of his days in the D-League if he doesn't get his act together.

I said shitty citizen not shitty teammate/basketball player. Jordan was a great basketball player and as you admit he had his faults off the court. This is only a fault off the court as well for Shabazz and has nothing to do with basketball. The other faults you cite him for a separate from this and are basketball related. Will he be a shitty basketball player for the reasons you mention? Maybe. But as far as a citizen issue this is less serious to me than running up massive gambling debt or trying to silence your affairs with cash. I guess Shabazz will have to wait to do that :).

As for Flip's comments, Flip has always aired on the side of conservatism like when he chastised Oakley for saying 60% of the league smokes dope (which was likely true at the time). Flip said what he had to say and there is truth that Shabazz needs more maturity, but if has success on the court the reality is no one will care about this until Shabazz is 40 and broke (see Allan Iverson).

[JDvikes [enjin:6536888]]

How does having gambling debt make you a shitty citizen? He has immense wealth and can spend his money any way he sees fit, just because gambling is often a poor one does not make him a bad citizen for doing so.

[GymRat [enjin:6592663]]

I think the Flip comment about Shabazz and the D-League does one thing that is very important. It sets a level of expectations and promises recourse for ANYONE that fails to live up to those standards. I actually felt like Flip was channeling Popovich on this one.

[thedoper]

How does having gambling debt make you a shitty citizen? He has immense wealth and can spend his money any way he sees fit, just because gambling is often a poor one does not make him a bad citizen for doing so.

Fair enough. He described it himself as an addiction, and at the time previous to internet servers in Barbados, sports gambling was relatively illegal outside of Vegas. I really don't care personally about his gambling habits. I think Jordan's gambling is really as nominal as a young man bringing a woman into his room. Both were media stories though attempting to highlight some false sense of morality.

[Lipoli390]

I'll give it one more shot. Neither I nor anyone else on this board (nor Flip) is making a moral judgment on Shabazz having sex in his hotel room. It's his deliberate refusal to follow an simple, easy to comply with rule for only 4 days -- a rule that hundreds of NBA rookies have complied with over the years. It's the arrogance of thinking he's above the rule or the stupidity of assuming he wouldn't get caught. In either case, it's not a sickness (e.g., gambling addiction) and it doesn't make him a "shitty citizen" any more than Jordan's gambling made him a bad citizen. It's one more red flag among others that call his "basketball character" into question. Flip gets it, which is why he came down so hard hard publicly on Shabazz. From now on, it's up to Shabazz. When i look at Shabazz I see another McCants, only less talented. I hope I'm wrong.

[worldK]

I think flip maybe starting to have doubts and regrets on how he used the 14th pick. He could have drafted antetokounmpo or karasev with the pick. Both arent ready yet but shabzz isnt projected to play regular minutes anyway and those 2 could be better rotational players down the road. Karasev is a specialist(3pt) and antetokounmpo has more potential than bazz in my view, could be a prince/batum/ak like and a big and long sf.

[WildWolf2813]

It's one more red flag among others that call his "basketball character" into question. Flip gets it, which is why he came down so hard hard publicly on Shabazz. From now on, it's up to Shabazz. When i look at Shabazz I see another McCants, only less talented. I hope I'm wrong.

Flip only comes down so hard on Shabazz because he never wanted him. If Flip liked him, he'd coddle him. Flip honestly feels burdened by the fact that he took Shabazz.

Have you ever done a fantasy draft online and when it was your turn to pick the computer disconnected you and gave you a player you really didn't want? Well that's Shabazz to Flip.

And the McCants comparison when neither of them are really comparable in any way speaks to what I'm talking about when it comes to how battered we are.

I think flip maybe starting to have doubts and regrets on how he used the 14th pick

MAYBE? HAHAHAHAHA

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

Please, guys, Flip isn't surprised. You make it sound like Flip drafted Muhammad because he thought he had exceptional character, and that he was always going to be a model citizen. Of course he didn't. He drafted him because he was the highest scoring freshman in the history of the Pac 12, and the year before that, the consensus #1 high school player in the country, had demonstrated the ability to score both outside and inside, and had a college coach who said he would be able to play SG in the NBA. And he recognized that finding that guy at #14 was a coup. But not a coup without risk. Flip knew about the crazy dad, that Shabazz didn't fit in well with his college teammates and famously didn't celebrate with them after a buzzer beating victory. And he recognized that Shabazz had aspects of his game (right hand, passing) that he needed to develop. And he also knew that those were the reasons Shabazz tumbled from the top 3 to the late lottery in a matter of weeks. It happens in every sport. The Vikings were able to draft Randy Moss, Percy Harvin and Sharif Floyd late in the first round because of character issues. This year the Twins were able to draft in the 4th round Stephan Gonsalves, who plunged from being the top high school LHP because he covered up for a teammate who was smoking weed. Sometimes these gambles pay off and sometimes they don't, but when they do pay off, they usually pay off in a big way. Give me a GM who is willing to take this kind of risk every time.

Am I happy that Shabazz got thrown out of rookie orientation? Of course not. Am I stunned? Not at all, and neither is Flip. If someone had told me that a rookie had been sent home, and that it was either Oladipo, Zeller, McCollum or Shabazz, I wouldn't have needed a crystal ball to determine it was Shabazz. Let's face it, this is likely to be a bumpy road, but there is also an enormous upside. Let's hope Shabazz ends up more like Moss than JR Rider.

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

Agreed lst. I do have one small problem with your post. Sharriff Floyd has 0 character issues. I'm a die hard Gator fan and he's an exceptional teammate, player and one amazing human being. I've had the chance to meet him multiple times and talk one on one and that beast of a defender is a sweetheart off the field. I would bet my entire future earnings that you Vikings fans don't hear ONE negative thing about his character.