Assuming Les Alexander is not changing the focus of the Rockets from striving for a NBA title to turning the organization into social workers and babysitters, it would be a huge mistake to sign Smith. Leon is a real tall, mixed up kid. He has not exhibited the maturity level needed to survive in the NBA lifestyle, and is probably not likely to grow up overnight. Sure, he's had a rough life - growing up on the South Side of Chicago was never easy. He was probably abused as a child, or at best case, ignored by his parents, maybe he never even knew his father. Lord only knows what kind of environment he grew up in; certainly it was not the same as most of us who (generally speaking) probably knew who our mom and dad were, had a roof over our heads, clean clothes, decent meals. It is truly unfortunate that so many kids, especially minority kids, have to grow up in the environments they do. Being tall, Leon either gravitated (or was pushed by someone who thought he/she could make a buck off of Leon's ability) to the sport of basketball. He probably received better food and newer shoes, just because he could play the game better than the other kids. Got lots of adulation and attention, 'cause he was a star. Probably believed his press clippings and the people kissing up to him so they could tag onto the Leon Smith bandwagon. Wouldn't be surprised if he were just socially promoted through grade and high school; I cringe thinking about his skills (or lack of) to manage in the real world, like reading, writing, and decision making. Life in the NBA truly is in the fast lane. Careers don't last long (with few exceptions) - injuries, legal problems, drugs, alcohol, competition - all make it tough to last very long. The travel may seem glamorous, but it's not. What does a 19 year old do on the road in a strange town, when his teammates are all older than him and have different tastes? How does he manage the groupies, the temptations, the loneliness? He just isn't prepared; even a lot of the kids who go to college aren't prepared and may never be. The kid's been lionized as a hero as a teenager, now he has to face the scrutiny of the media, who don't care about him as a person - just what have you done today, baby! He might make millions for a few years but I'll lay odds that he'll never see much of it. His agent, or family, or friends will find a way to spend most of it - and one day Leon will wake up to find out he's no longer wanted in the NBA and he'll be broke with no life skills to do much of anything else. We - the fans, owners, coaches, media, teammates - are selfish and cruel with our idols. And we don't seem to give a damn about the person and what he might have become because we're only interested in his athletic skills. Leon needs help that he isn't going to get playing ball in the NBA. And pro ball ain't a social retrofitting organization. Use 'em and discard 'em. It's extremely unfair, but that's life. We'd being doing Leon, and the other young men like Leon, a tremendous disservice to sign him to a NBA contract.
Freak - not sure what you mean by this statement. If by stereotyping you mean I'm picking on a particular class of people, you're right if you're referring to athletes as a class. Most kids, and their parent(s), family, and friends, don't really understand the hierarchy of success (which, by the way, is true in almost any profession). At the base there is this huge pool of athletes competing with dreams of one becoming a pro. A somewhat smaller number will get scholarships to continue playing ball at the college level, a very narrow number will either be drafted or get invited to a tryout, few make it to the teams, and and even smaller number are successful. Greed, mostly by their so-called supporters, causes athletics to be a first priority and not education. It is especially acute among minorities, because the way our society operates, success (read money) for a minority youth means succeeding in sports or a life of crime. Kids get idolized for their athletic skills and tend to get socially promoted in school because they are the "gravy train" engines for coaches and alumni. Why do you suppose there was/is so much uproar in Texas over the "no pass-no Play" rule, and now the requirement to actually know something before getting to the next grade and/or graduating? True, for every Leon Smith, Ron Carruth, and others, there's a David Robinson or a Michael Jordan, who not only possess valuable athletic skills, but use their education and intelligence to succeed outside of sports. "It's just business", you say. Just because a kid can't handle his anger, or understand how to avoid drugs and alcohol, or can't keep his pecker in his pants, is not the team's responsibility. "Just win, baby!" Sorry, I think we owe more to our children (in this case, men-children) than to treat them as a disposable asset.
Bobby-- You need to be VERY careful making statements like "success (read money)for a minority youth means succeeding in sports or a life of crime". That is racial stereotyping at it's worst and I disagree with that assertion strongly. I hope you didn't mean that like it came out.
I would rather have problems and be a millionaire with something to do than a 19 year old kid with problems who nobody wants with no money. I don't really understand where in the hell you got this long winded diatribe on the psyche of young troubled basketball players, but it seems to be projecting what you wish was true. If you don't like school, and you've got a chance to make millions, do it. If he isn't a COMPLETE moron he could be taken care of for the rest of his life on a normal NBA contract. I would find it hard to believe that someone who has put up such a distress signal before would not be monitored and mentored in the NBA. It's not like hard situations are beyond the capacity of 19 year olds. Your train of thought loses me.
About a previous post on this thread :I think you're too worried about political correctness. Do you remember a couple of years ago when a tenured UTexas prof came under fire for saying that blacks fail because they are raised in a culture which tolerates failure? I know it sounds awful, but most of my professors (I go to Boston College) agreed with the statement during arguements in class. It ISN'T evil to analyze a cultural phenomenon. Does being of a certain race CAUSE one to act in a certain way? Probably not, but being raised in a certain culture undoubtably does. It just happens that right now minorities are stricken with poverty, and a cultural malaise, as a result of their being FORCED to operate within a completely different framework from that which they were attuned to. If you're going to deny VALID differences between cultures, then you're going to have a very difficult time understanding sociological trends. Seriously, don't just blindly attack anyone who comes up with an idea that may violate your ideas of politically acceptable speech. [This message has been edited by haven (edited January 22, 2000).]
Bobby, If you're talking about signing Smith to a 10-year, $90 million contract, then yes that would be taking a huge risk. But, if the Rockets let the guy come into camp try-out and play in the preseason, then what is the friggin' risk there? Maybe he can be helped. Maybe he can't, but doesn't everybody deserve a shot? Hell, if he can't pull it together WE CUT HIM. How hard is that? ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem.
I understand (portions of) your sentiments haven. The concern that grummett raised was from a statement made with no hesitation: I don't know Bobby, so I will play devil's advocate and assume that he merely misspoke. I become concerned when anyone assumes that an individual of a group is within a category period. Cultural phenomena are dictates of socio-economic status, little else; the only way to bridge that gap to issues on race is to discuss the nature of the origins of Capitalism in the western culture (which you insinuated to). ps: though I do not want to see this kid fail, I think the fact that signing him is adopting him is reason enough for the rockets to be weary.
Success, as I posted the comment, is not a binary choice for every minority kid, but it is to many. If you don't make it as a pro athlete (and there's no such thing as a "normal" NBA contract that'll set you up for life; takes help that many kids don't know how to ask for), or take advantage of a college scholarship to get the life skills you need to succeed outside of school, many times the choices are stark. Doesn't matter whether you're white, black, brown, or yellow, it's very hard to get a good job, especially if you're black or brown. Because, unfortunately, Dr. King's dream isn't a reality yet. We're getting closer, but a great deal of bigotry still exists. The white man isn't giving up his turf easily. So, often a young man, faced with a dead end job in a factory or a fast food joint, finds it's easier (and more profitable) to do something illegal. I'm not a sociologist, but I think our society is at fault here. And continuing to favor the successful athlete at the expense of his/her education is just plain wrong. Didn't mean to turn this into a sociological witch hunt (this thread probably belongs somewhere else), but when I read the posts about bringing Leon in, giving him a shot, and discarding him (again) if he didn't work out just flipped me out. There are too many young men (and women) like Leon who are often taken advantage of, exploited, and then dropped like yesterday's newspaper. There aren't many mentors in the NBA; most other players are going to take care of themselves first; they just don't have the time or motivation to look out for someone else (who ight be taking their job someday). I feel for this kid - I grew up poor too, but I was fortunate to have parents who pushed me so I would be prepared for the future.
Bobby, So, to you not even giving Smith a chance is better than allowing him to try and (possibly) fail? ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem.
Just sign him for a little while. If you dont like him, you can waive him like we did with Thamm. The only reason that he went over the edge anyway was because he had no guidance when Dallas drafted him. Dallas just did a crappy job of counciling the young kid. And plus, since he's been working with veterans like moses malone and purvis short, so that means he's already been helped out. If he turns out to be a bust, waive him. NO big deal. But if he turns out to be pretty good, then keep him. The pros outweigh the cons.
If the standards that have been listed in this post as reasons not to sign Smith, were applied to all NBA players and coachs, would there be a league??? What is the differance between getting a million dollars and failing, or getting minimum wage and failing?? Sounds to me like I got mine and to hell with you because you might make it and you don't deserve it by my standards!
Haven, it's not about political correctness, it's about decency. That quote is not analyzing minorities, it's blatant stereotyping, and it's sickening. I hate it when people dismiss those who attack racism and bigotry by just saying it's an awful by-product of this stupid political correctness. Like I said before, asking that people not discriminate or to degrade other people is not being P.C., it's being a decent human being. If the Mavericks or the Spurs (I'm not sure about them) had done any kind of research into this kid (which they should have since he's skipping college, IMO), they would have realized that he was in a delicate situation. His upbringing explains his behavior earlier this season. It's not an excuse, but it does explain it. If the Mavericks would have cared, they would have assigned a player or players to take this guy under their wing, much like Malone is doing now, or like Davis did for Harrington in Indiana. I strongly believe that if they would have done this, he would be about half-way through is rookie year as a member of the Mavericks. Or maybe, he did this on purpose to get out of playing for the Mavericks? I would. [This message has been edited by Rocketman95 (edited January 24, 2000).]
Smith's severence package was about $1.5 million. I wish they'd exploit me for my athleticism and then discard me when I've become a nuisance.
The problem I have with your statements, Bobby is the number of assumptions you make. He "probably" was abused. He was tall, so he "probably" received better treatment because of his athletic prowess. Before you make such rash generalizations and preach to others about the evils of the "fast lane," don't you think it might be a good idea to research Leon's background? It would add more credence to your statements.
Rocketman95: But where do you draw the line between racism and analyzing cultural phenomena? It's not racist to say that blacks have a hire HIV rate because they exist in a culture which doesn't encourage using protection. It's not racist to say that less of a stigma is attached to violence in the black culture, than the white culture (yes, it's true that these factors are primarily socio-economic, yet empirical evidence can be cited to prove that they exist statistically). So, what is racist? Is drawing conclusions from these data bigoted? No... one must draw conclusions about groups in society in order to engage in proactive change. IMO, what is racist is prejudice... such as racial profiling which the LA PD is known to practice. It's wrong not to hire a black candidate for a position because of his color. It's wrong to call people of other races dirty names, or EVER judge someone based on his color. However, I didn't think the author of the original post was trying to do that... I didn't think he was even referring to Leon so much as the fact that what he described as a phenomena within sports... I DONT KNOW about this particular pattern he described, I just thought he was prematurely attacked.
I don't know a lot about Leon Smith and his upbringing, but I do know that he can play basketball. He was having some problems in his life and didn't know where to turn. He made some bad choices. He's trying to get his life back together. Basketball has been a huge part of his life. Chances are Leon feels like somewhat of a failure because he, as of right now, is not a NBA player. He wants to succeed and he has the talent. We know that. His success depends on his maturity. If he has gotten his problems under control, not even neccessarily solved, and is ready to try to succeed I think that the Rockets can greatly help this young man's rehabilitation and also get themselves a diamond in the rough.
Haven, I think you should be more careful in your statements. Much of the "cultural differences" you discuss are really differences in socio-economic conditions, as Achebe stated very succinctly. This is not to say that cultural differences don't exist. For instance teen drug use and smoking rates are higher among white kids than African American kids (while this may not fit stereotypes, it is quite evident in every serious study on the matter) and also higher in lower SES kids than higher SES kids. While these trends may seem contradictory on the surface they are both quite evident. Nonetheless quite often what are termed "cultural differences" should more aptly described as SES differences. BTW-I had a couple of classes with that UT professor and though we have big (huge really) philosophical differences I certainly respect him and his speech. However it is not like "PC" is really such a new thing as it is often now portrayed, it wasn't that long ago "liberals" were not just censored in academia--but in jail for not being PC (McCarthyism). As the Neville's say "Its free speech as long as you doubt say too much". As far as the kid is concerned, I would take a shot with him and try to put the support around him to succeed. Look at how Randy Moss and Jason Williams, both who came up in what some would say are "difficult environments", have succeeded around the right people. [This message has been edited by sir scarvajal (edited January 24, 2000).]
