Le Basketbawl

The question now becomes did they(Darrell Arthur and Mario Chalmers) learn anything from the experience? Such as we all have rules we have to follow, even the most talented athletes.
Sense Of Entitlement Leads Athletes On Path To Trouble

The excerpt above is from an article written on September 4, that I wrote concerning an incident that took place earlier this week. “ESPN The Magazine” NBA beat writer Chris Broussard reported former Kansas Jayhawks stars now NBA rookies Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur were sent home by Association officials, from the NBA Rookie Transition Program.

Broussard reported that the pair apparently set off a smoke alarm at 2:00 am Wednesday in their hotel room. The rookies refused to open the door, so hotel security opened the door with a pass key. Broussard reported that Chalmers who is now with the Miami Heat, and Arthur who is with the Memphis Grizzlies were found in the room with two women, and allegedly the room smelled from marijuana. There were no drugs or drug paraphernalia found in the room according to the report. All rookies were told that they were not allowed visitors or guests during their stay.

NBA Commissioner David Stern was none to happy with the incident according to reports. He is said to have told the remaining rookies about the incident, and that the pair would be forced to attend the same session next year. Friday the “Memphis Commercial Appeal” reported that Grizzlies power forward Darrell Arthur spoke with reporters about the incident. Although he denied any involvement with pot, he took full responsibility for breaking the rules about visitors. And judging from his statements, Arthur has learned a very valuable lesson from what took place.

The paper reports that Arthur spoke with Memphis coach Marc Iavaroni and General Manager Chris Wallace about his behavior. Arthur told reporters “I told them it won’t happen again. I want people to know I’m a good kid. I used bad judgment by bringing the girls in and violating the rules. This is the first really bad thing that’s happened to me. But I’m going to prove to people that I’m worthy to be on this team, I have good character and I’ll be good in the community.”

Incredible, isn’t it? This young man actually gets it! No excuses, no ducking responsibility. He is flat out admitting he was wrong. Somebody who owns up to their actions, in 2008 it’s actually pretty refreshing! And maybe even more incredibly, he wants youngsters to learn from his mistake.

Arthur said “I want kids not to make the mistake I made. I want to try to teach them the right thing to do. If you follow the rules you won’t be in the same position I’m in. I feel terrible. I should have never opened the door. If I wouldn’t have done that, everything would have been cool. I knew the rules and I made a mistake. The thing I’ve learned is that you’ve always got to make the right decisions. I’m young and starting off in a hole so I’m going to try to dig myself out of this hole and make this thing right. I’m going to make sure I do the right thing. The rules are clear. Letting those girls come in my room was just a bad idea. It was bad judgment and I just have to learn from it.”

Darrell as far as this reporter is concerned, you have climbed out of the hole you created. Not only climbed out, but put back all the dirt, and laid fresh sod on top. No one in this world is perfect, we all make mistakes. What you have proved to at least one NBA observer, is you are enough of an adult to admit you were wrong. And if you retain the attitude you have, along with the talent you showed at Kansas you are going to be in good shape.