OT: Shaq not such a nice guy after all.....
So I have come across an article on UK's The Daily Mail, of all the news sources, showing some pretty egregious (recent) behavior by Shaq (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2615765/Shaquille-ONeal-accused…).
To say it is egregious is pretty much an understatement. This is a professional athlete, someone to whom (in all likelihood) millions of kids/people look up to (including the individual Shaq mocked), mocking an individual with a serious disability. It really is pretty low. Shaq erased the image and later called the individual and apologized (after all the strong criticism he got from his followers...not sure if his apology was actually genuine and if he truly understands how hurtful and ignorant this was) but I have not seen much media backlash about this. I certainly have not seen ESPN covering this.
It just got me thinking about how players and ex-players tend to get passes here and there and whether the hammer should fall just as hard on them. Not that I don't think Sterling's comments were egregious and that he should get all that he deserves, but I feel like players tend to get passes when the slap on the wrist should really sting. I personally feel like Shaq should issue a public apology and the networks that he works as an analyzt for should net out some sort of punishment.
Just some other examples of players, ex-players, getting a pass that come to mind are: Tim Hardaway and his vile anti-gay monologue (Tim was banned from attending an All-Star weekend, but then he apologized and all was hunky dory); John Rocker (the guy got a short suspension but continued to play in MLB in subsequent seasons, even after making comments on par with Sterling, if not worse); Stephen Jackson punching out a fan (he later admitted to enjoying hitting fans); Bonzi Wells taunted white players with racial epithets during numerous games. He was suspended for a day for spitting in the face of San Antonio's Danny Ferry during a game, calling Ferry a "[blanking] honkie" during another game. Golden State's Troy Murphy said Wells called him a "cracker" once; Riley Cooper got a $30,000 fine (a slap on the wrist) after he was video taped saying "I will fight every n***** here." at a country music concert (I sincerely doubt this guy is not racist).
Incidentally, back in 2003 Shaq said "Tell Yao Ming, 'Ching chong yang, wah, ah soh". He said he was just joking. None of my Asian friends were laughing, I'll tell you that much. Shaw apologized and all was well.
But in all seriousness, do you think Shaq should receive some sort of a punishment? This is pretty egregious. I just brought it up because it is somewhat pertinent. Sterling gets the book thrown at him, as he should, but what about players, ex players? Is it ok to say "ok, you apologized....you REALLY did not mean it"....."shame on you...now be good"....all is well?
What "punishment" should he receive? People do stupid and insenstive things all the time. Are we really going to demand some form of legal or contractual punishment each time?
Perhaps you are thinking that the Sterling ban creates some kind of precedent here, but I think you are barking up the wrong tree. These are not analogous situations for a multitude of reasons.
The normal "punishment" for stupid and insensitive behavior by celeberties is anything from a shrug, to a loss of respect amongst fans, which I am sure has happend here, to losing a sponsor or two.
I think its pretty unreasonable to expect some further form of punishment.
It was one of King Coleman Young's favorites.
I think a big part of the issue with Sterling is not just that he clearly holds strong racist views, it's that he represents a league that is what, 90 percent black? Doesn't really jive well. There's plenty of racists but they're not all employing the race they hate and supposed to be protecting their interests.
Are you serious? Are you really that angry about some perceived injustice being done to Donald Sterling that you want somebody to start punishing everyone who does something anti-social? The fact is, Sterling's racist tirade came dangerously close to costing the NBA many millions in lost revenues (from the narrowly avoided protest strike). That is why he was punished so severely. It was not some imaginary "PC Police" run amok. It was not a result of the wimpening of America or some of the other bullshit I hear from idiots at my office. It was done by his immediate peer group. Do you want all ex-NBA players to ban Shaq from the annual Ex-NBA player cookout for life? Would that make you happy?
It seems like certain people here are upset because a rich something-something old man got his comeuppance for racist behavior that is probably typical in his circles.
Nobody is crying too many tears over Sterling. But in a way it's like the McGary situation (not that smoking pot is equivalent to being racist).
"Everybody" is breaking the rule, and the vast majority are either getting away with it or getting wrist slaps. Suddenly one person gets publicly caught, and gets utterly hammered.
Definitely makes it seem like the punishment is much more about image than justice. So the annoyance is not about Sterling getting his karmic due, but rather about the "hear no evil" types suddenly becoming fierce moral crusaders on the issue.
And for what? Being a jackass? It isn't as if he is part of a league that has by laws and rules of conduct that can be used against him. He's just another dude, like everyone on this website. I would guess each of us has acted like a jackass in someone's opinion over the last year or so. Should there be roving jackass police to punish us? Doesn't society sort of do that itself if the transgression is too severe?
either that he is an asshole, but surprised that after the Yao Ming situation that he wouldn't have learned his lesson. As a tv analyst personality, he has to know what he says and does would be in the spotlight. Maybe not a book smart type of guy, but I thought he was at the very least PR-wise and image conscious. I guess not.
...and comparing them to Sterling.
This is the most annoying point of the news cycle. When the ignorance comes out and people just start saying "but what about this...?!"
Stop it. It's not the same it'll never be the same...you'll never be able to make it the same. Sterling affected the image of the NBA. THAT is why he lost his team and got fined and banned. He's thought the way he's thought for a very LONG time. It has nothing to do with his thoughts...it has everything to do with the impact his words had on the LEAGUE.
If he says these things to you or me...he's still a sick fuck. He's still a racist. But unless we take it to TMZ, he's still in the NBA.
All of this "you can't think the way you want to think" bullshit needs to stop.
You can have the same action and different consequences.
The President of the United States can cheat on his wife and get a blowjob by another woman and potentially lose his job. For most people, they can cheat and their job has no impact on the situation.
It's still wrong and a despicable act. It's still the same act. But the consequences may be different.
You can give a million examples of two people doing the exact same thing and due to a number of circumstances...(like being an NBA owner and having a direct impact on the image of the league) there can be different outcomes or consequences.
Sterling did not break the LAW. If he did, the consequences would/should be a lot more like what you and I would have to face. If Sterling speeds 15 over and I speed 15 over, we should be fined the same amount assuming we have the same record. That is the LAW.
Sterling didn't break the law, so the consequences he has to face isn't going to be the same as everyone else.
It's common fucking sense and people want to play devil's advocate and be ignorant just to be ignorant and be different and say "but what about..." or "but what if..."
Binion hasn't heard from O'Neal after attempts to reach out to him and showed MLive.com photos of rapper Wacka Flocka Flame and former University of Michigan basketball player Trey Burke also poking fun at his appearance.
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/detroit/index.ssf/2014/04/shaquille_…
Made a new friend today when I called and apologized to Jahmel Binion. Great dude.#alwayslearning #MYBADCUZ
— SHAQ (@SHAQ) April 30, 2014
https://twitter.com/SHAQ/status/461337634384912384
Had the opportunity to talk to Jahmel Binion yesterday and apologize about the post on IG! #Intentionswerenttohurt #MyApologiesfam
— Trey Burke (@Trey_Burke3) April 30, 2014
https://twitter.com/Trey_Burke3/status/461554604686061568
Just so everyone is aware.
Glad they learned a lesson as adults that many of us learned as 13 year olds.
Seriously.
I do not find mocking someone with a disability a "joke". Certainly, my friend, whose brother has a serious life threatening disability, and who works in the disability advocate field would not find it funny nor a joke. This "joke" stings just as much as racist remarks to those who are disabled and those who have family members that are living with an impairment/disability.
...about groups can be funny (even if they are racist) but calling out an individual like the way that Shaq did is really disappointing. Getting caught on tape saying something "off the record" is embarrassing but actively promoting (in this case via Instagram) your bullying of somebody is quite mean-spirited.
The NBA should give Shaq a lifetime ban. If fact, there's probably a whole lot of people that should be added to the NBA lifetime ban lists but that's a discussion for another time.
The article makes it seem like this was some sort of internet meme thing making the rounds on social media. It sounds like Shaq and Trey didn't realize there was a real person with real story behind the picture (as opposed to, say, an old picture of someone making a funny face that was recently dug up and posted online, like from Awkward Family Photos or whatever), and when they did find out, were embarassed and apologetic. This seems like more of a careless mistake than malicious intent or hate.
Also, Larry Johnson expressing that he thinks black people should focus more on striving to be owners instead of focusing as much on whether white owners are bigots doesn't mean he thinks the NBA should only have black players and black owners.
But, I guess keep trying to defend Sterling?
Finkle is Einhorn?
I'm amazed that he can hide all 7' 1 and 320 pounds in there.
The Daily Mail is your source? Seriously?
Not sure if that is better or worse in your eyes, but this seems to be a legit story.
My bad. However, now knowing the Daily Mail, MLive and HuffPost all get their infotainment news from the same wire explains alot about the integrity of those batsions of the Fifth Estate.
Geez, poor Donald. $770MM on his $30MM purchase. I'm sure he's bummed.
you are calling out the daily mail as an unreliable source...for a story that is literally just reposting his instagram picture. i'm pretty sure even ace williams could get this story right.
Man, I get the point. In fact I get it more than you do obviously by your other posts on this topic.
Trey Burke, too. Disappointing.
[EDIT: beaten to it]
We are seriously discussing the social graces of a man who rapped for over 10 minutes "Kobe - tell me how my ass tastes?"
players and ex-players, I feel, tend to get a relative pass, be it for making blatant racist remarks (Rocker, Bonzi Wells, Riley Cooper, Shaq), for sexual assault, for fighting dogs, after being convicted of manslaughter......
They also have less power over people's lives than do owners. That's not to say what Cooper did, for example, was anything other than terrible, but he doesn't hire and fire people.
This in so many ways. I felt like i had to beat people over the head at the bar last night to get them understand such a simple fact that explains the context of what transpired. That and idiots blabbing about the 1st amendment application in a franchise contract, of which there is none. Oy vey.
But isn't it BS then that people now are all upset about Sterling when most people never heard anything about the housing discrimination?
Sterling gets no sympathy from me for being a racist ass. But he didn't get sacked for being a racist ass, despite acting out his racism in a way highly detrimental to a lot of people. He got fired for being caught on tape saying some racist crap which, while despicable, had pretty zilch actual impact on anybody. And that's why the bandwagon high horseness is particularly annoying. The NBA will sweep anything under the rug to make a buck, but go all moral crusader when caught.
it sickens me to see the media heaping all this praise on adam silver.
I've been in commercial real estate for a long time. I've known about this idiot for a while. Stop making assumptions about who is a bandwagon high horser.
And no offense to Boomani, but people didn't sound the alarm at his warning in 2006 because the Clippers were terrible and no one cared. While that's pathetic it's basically the truth. The housing defendants had no real power to challenge Sterling and make noise but once his idiocy reached to new heights and aimed at people with power (Magic, players with $$$, sponsors, etc.) the pushback began.
I was referring to same people the OP was, ie people like mark jackson who, when the housing discrimination story came out, said things like "a man does what he wants with his business," but now has the balls to be offended.
I'm not assuming you're a bandwagoner. Even if I were, I'd care little since you're not in a position of authority in regards to Sterling, nor are you (that I know of) a media person stoking the fires.
But the people meting the punishment to Sterling DO come off on bandwagoners precisely because they ignored all the stuff you were apparently aware of.
I certainly don't disagree with that or what TaiStreets is saying as well. I think it's more semantics for me. I would not call them bandwagoners as much as calling the people meting out the punishement as crass. Ie.. to my point, the problem only became a problem when other powerful people started to get affected via their $$. Unlike the housing defendants who are just regular joes and had no clout.
I think we can all agree on that it's only about the $$ and when someone does something that might reduce that $$ now there is a problem. Crass in my view.
i mean i understand CREAM and that probably won't change in my lifetime. if i have to deal with that, just please media, don't rub it in my face by pretending like these decisions are made on a moral basis.
It's BS that the sports media has run with the recording much more than they did the discrimination case, but I don't think you can blame casual fans for not knowing about the case. A lot of people who follow the NBA (like other sports/leagues) probably can't tell you the names of 2/3 of the coaches in the league, much less give you information about non-sports legal troubles of owners.
you can't give the masses the power to fire people for doing bad things when the masses get their info from the media, and the media ignores the bad things that actually matter--ie donald sterling's housing discrimination--and run with things that are bad in a blatantly shallow way, but don't always matter.
I'm not sure how you can take away the power of people to hurt the NBA financially for what Sterling did. Even people who didn't mean to make a point would have stopped watching games, buying shirts, etc.
But I completely agree with you that the media generally does a very poor job of pointing to important things.
for shamelessly appealing to sensationalism and being shallow. this has not always been a problem in this country. i don't really have any ideas how to fix it, it's one of those huge societal problems...