Do you even know who was on that San Antonio team? And Javalle Mcgee certainly seemed to be turned around in GSW as well as Nick Young. How are you the expert on what ails KPJ? Its comical that you think all he needs is somebody to pull him aside and start him on the basics of how to be a man, I guarantee you one of his biggest issues is that he already thinks he knows how to be man and can't nobody tell him ****. So you think nobody tried this in college or last year in Cleve?
If we don't have a success story what makes you think we're better equipped to handle cases like this any more than any other team? I certainly hope we do, but I'm not going to definitively say our locker room has all of this leadership that Cleveland lacks just based on superficial glances at people's upbringing. That seems superficial and judgmental. And not that it matters to the discussion at all, but no my father died in a robbery when I was young.
You could always do some research for yourself - its pretty easy to google JOHN LUCAS and gain some valuable information into his own life struggles and the many different players he's helped. Having him on staff is invaluable for a situation like this and makes the deal smart on the part of the Rockets. What you dont seem to understand is that certain kinds of people only really respect and respond to those whom they share some experiences with - sadly it manifests itself most with urban and underprivileged people, but thats not a blanket statement on race. If KPJ never made strides in recovery and therapy in regards to his father and everything else that snowballed from that moment, then that is where they should start, and judging by the news from the team - they will take it slow with him and give him the help he has needed all these years. I too lost my father at a young age (5). I held his head as he died. I remember watching his eyes as his pupils went all black and the agonal gasps of his body shook him violently. I can give you a pretty vivid play by play on a moment that happened almost 40 years ago and the "help" from elementary teachers who would tell me "he shouldn't have smoked and he wouldn't have died of cancer". I would think a guy like you who has had similar trauma would be more empathetic and understanding of how difficult it can be with no male role model around other than those who have some self serving needs that have to be fulfilled.
Obviously nobody that he respected. The hope is that he will find someone here to make sense of a bad situation, and how he can learn and grow from all the mistakes he will make and no matter how bad it was "back then" he can take an active role in his life, hold himself accountable and become a man that his father would have been proud of. Nobody has been able to reach him - I have confidence the men in THIS locker room will resonate more.
None of those things is obvious I have no idea why you keep saying that. I hope so as well but there is nothing to say these men are different than those men in cleve. To tell the honest to god truth it's up to him and not really anybody else.
As for the Lucas thing. People need to look up who he has worked with and there are a lot of folks who could not be reached. Ty Lawson says hello.
Unless I'm mistaken, what role did John Lucas play with "fixing" Ty Lawson? Besides the fact that each individual scenario is different, Ty Lawson played for Houston during the 2015-16 season. John Lucas officially joined the Rockets in the 2016-17 season.
Sure, he can't help everyone, but Ty Lawson wasn't having off-court issues as much as on-court issues when he was here (yes I know he ultimately had off-court issues, but it was his play that pushed him out of Houston). Also, you're talking about someone who struggled with serious drug use, which is not something any franchise is equipped to truly work through. I think it's silly to discount that having someone who players look up to, and is known as someone who can help get these young guys in the right mindset, is a positive. But, every player has to do it themselves at some point. I think the goal is that you create the habits and mindset (these young dudes are soo mold-able) and hope you can keep him in line long enough that he matures out of it and forms long-lasting positive habits off the court. The difference between age 20 and 25 is huge, and he's got a ton of time to completely derail before then or get things right. His career is not over yet, but it could be very quickly. Just gotta help him get the right mindset now and hope he sticks with it long enough for it to become long-term lifestyle and habit, but JL giving him that support is nothing but positive, and does help the idea of making this happen. Again, it's up to him.
Lucas was still around and it was reported he worked with Lawson. He also worked with Jamarcus Russel. He was working with guys before he was affiliated with the rockets in 16-17. I agree that each individual scenario is different its why I say him coming to the Rockets is not gonna be magically better than in cleve.
This is my point exactly but you see a lot of people saying are locker room and environment is better when there is no proof of that. I really hope KPJ figures it out but we agree it's more on him than anybody else. I was not denigrating Lucas in any way just showing he is not a miracle worker.
I agree it's definitely all on him, but I do think having a dedicated person to help him/hold him accountable is more helpful than not having it. Proper leadership can change a person's life if they're accepting of the change. In my opinion, it does increase the odds of him being successful, because without proper leadership the odds are probably 0%. With JL giving him the proper leadership, I do believe it gives him a better chance, but still very low odds.
Anyone blaming the Cavaliers for Porter’s problem is being foolish. Porter had problems before the Cavaliers and odds are he will after the Cavaliers. Also plugging in a mentor or father figure isn’t going to do much unless Porter will work for and wants to be productive. Even then there is quite possibly a chemical imbalance issue.
Oh cool, the article i read made it sound like he wouldn't be with the team this quickly. We'll see what happens, but I'd love for him to steadily see the floor over the next month or so...
See I am not even giving him low odds because I just don't know, this might be a wakeup call just because he might never have been asked to permanently leave anywhere and he always had the NBA in his back pocket and now maybe he realize it can all go away. My point is we don't know this young man and so thinking the team has some magical dust to get straight is foolish, its interesting he is not even around the team yet and is still "working on things"