Michael Beasley: In trouble already

[Roy Hobbs]

To refresh everyone's memory, rumor has it that Pat Riley and the Heat had some hesitation about drafting Michael Beasley at #2, despite him perhaps being the most talented and NBA-ready player in the draft, because of questions about his character and maturity.  Right before the draft, Beasley observed:

"I just turned 19 in January. How mature do you want me to be? I'm still a kid. I'm not legal. I can vote, but that's about it. On the basketball side of things, I'm 30 years old. Off the court ... I'm going to live my life. I'm going to mess up."

Well, not surprisingly, Riley's concerns turned out to be founded, and Beasley proved to be prophetic about his own potential for messing up.  Today's news:

Miami Heat rookie Michael Beasley was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Thursday for his involvement in an incident at the Rookie Transition Program this month.

The NBA also said that Beasley failed to cooperate with the a league investigation of the matter also involving Miami's Mario Chalmers and Memphis' Darrell Arthur.

Arthur and Chalmers, former Kansas teammates, were fined $20,000 apiece last week after being banished from the rookie symposium.

Security at the resort near New York where the event took place found Arthur and Chalmers in a room with two women, and the scent of marijuana was detected. No drugs or drug paraphernalia were found, but having guests in the room violated NBA policy, and the two rookies were sent home. Arthur and Chalmers apologized but denied using marijuana.

Now, we have no idea what Beasley did.  However, based upon the fact that he was fined $50k, opposed to the $20k assessed to Arthur and Chalmers, you've got to think that his behavior was more egregious.

I've got a pretty strong suspicion that this kid is going to be an also ran in the NBA, never living up to his considerable talent.  He just seems to have little to no character or respect (based upon his track record, not just this one instance), and players like that rarely grow up.

[shookones99]

I honestly could see him becoming the next Ricky Davis or JR Smith rather then the next TMac.

[RebusRankin]

Derrick Coleman Part 2

[wdleehi]

Is the fine based on the size of their contracts?  Beasley makes much more money.

[zerophase]

what does the league do with all this money? a stern pocket?

[JR Giddens]

Roy why do you even care about a player's personal issues off the court anyways. Nobody is perfect so  expect people to make mistakes.

Anyways why have Celtics fans been so biased lately. I've never heard anyone on here criticize JR Giddens for being an ass in Kansas!

[Roy Hobbs]

Roy why do you even care about a player's personal issues off the court anyways.

Because players who get side-tracked off-the-court almost invariably get side-tracked on-the-court.  Even if those players put up good stats, the vast majority of the time they prove to be a distraction to their team, don't show any leadership skills, and fail to get the most out of their talent.

There are exceptions, but those are few and far between.  Generally speaking, "punk off the court" = "punk in the locker room" = "waste of talent on the court".  Today's generation of players, for whatever reason, doesn't seem to be able to separate the two spheres.

[Roy Hobbs]

what does the league do with all this money? a stern pocket?

Any time a player is fined for any reason, the proceeds of the fine are split evenly between the NBA and the Player's Association.  Each then donates that money to the charity of their choosing. 

Link.

[CoachBo]

Out here in Big 12 land, no one is surprised: About Beasley, Chalmers or Arthur.

Some of us are funny about character. Strong character wins. See KG. Weak character doesn't. See Kobe.

[Redz]

Out here in Big 12 land, no one is surprised: About Beasley, Chalmers or Arthur.

Some of us are funny about character. Strong character wins. See KG. Weak character doesn't. See Kobe.

OK, Kobe bugs the crap out of me and I don't like him, but how can we categorize him as not being a winner?  Because he lost in the Finals to the Celtics?

[crownsy]

Out here in Big 12 land, no one is surprised: About Beasley, Chalmers or Arthur.

Some of us are funny about character. Strong character wins. See KG. Weak character doesn't. See Kobe.

OK, Kobe bugs the crap out of me and I don't like him, but how can we categorize him as not being a winner?  Because he lost in the Finals to the Celtics?

yea, that doesn't make any sense, good call redz.

[Cman]

Out here in Big 12 land, no one is surprised: About Beasley, Chalmers or Arthur.

Some of us are funny about character. Strong character wins. See KG. Weak character doesn't. See Kobe.

Heheheh.  Still three months after and I love it.  TP for you!  Kobe you're a loser!

[LD42]

I hate Beasley as much as the next guy, but i dont get it he got fined for not snitching. That's it!!!!!

[Cman]

Out here in Big 12 land, no one is surprised: About Beasley, Chalmers or Arthur.

Some of us are funny about character. Strong character wins. See KG. Weak character doesn't. See Kobe.

OK, Kobe bugs the crap out of me and I don't like him, but how can we categorize him as not being a winner?  Because he lost in the Finals to the Celtics?

Yep.  Sorry, but this is just how I view it. 

To get the thread back on track, it is sad about Beasley.  Frankly, 19 might still be too young for some of these guys, and maybe the age limit needs to be raised.  Or maybe there should be a required 1 year stint in an NBA development league.  On the other hand, harsh penalties (maybe even harsher than current) might be a good way to shape future generations of ball players.  It is always a shame to see people with so much talent just not get it....

[celticsmaniac]

the dude is freaking 19.


but yeah. yall are right. it's too late for him to grow out of his pattern of behavior. it's not like people just get more mature as the progress into their 20's and turn into adults. anyone who's gonna be a decent, hard-working professional is already one by the time they're 13.