Le Basketbawl

Larry Brown has to have at least a little bit of a masochistic streak as far as New York Vinnie is concerned. Why else would he keep bringing players to play for him on the Charlotte Bobcats who have been malcontents on other teams? Now to his credit and much to New York Vinnie’s amazement Brown has already this season brought in a player with a terrible rep; and has turned him into a valuable commodity. The Bobcats brought in Stephen Jackson who was nothing but a headache in Golden State early in the season. However Jackson has helped Charlotte get into a position where they may actually get into the NBA Playoffs for the first time in team history.

Brown has decided to take a chance on another player who wore out his  welcome at previous stops in the NBA. The “Associated Press” reported  Saturday that the Bobcats have signed veteran Free Agent Larry Hughes for the rest of the season. Brown and Charlotte General Manager Rod Higgins are hoping that Hughes can give the club some depth in their back-court. There had been reports that Higgins was against signing the veteran due to a broken finger, but the damaged digit is healed and they expect to have him ready to play in about a week. 

Hughes was sent to the Sacramento Kings last month in a three team deal that also involved the New York Knicks and the Houston Rockets. He was then waived by the Kings and became a Free Agent. The veteran guard is not thought of as a team player; as he is far more concerned about his personal numbers than the team’s that he is employed by.

 Brown has coached Hugthes earlier in their careers when both were with Philadelphia. Brown has shown with Jackson that he can get players to buy into his system. However Jackson wanted to play for a winner; something that does not seem to be a priority for Hughes. Whether Brown will be able to get through to him after a series of NBA head coaches have failed remains to be seen.

One of the greatest educations in the world is growing up in an “Ethnic Neighborhood” as Your Old Pal New York Vinnie did. The neighborhood that New York Vinnie grew up in was comprised of Italian-Americans and Latino-Americans; two sets of very Frickin passionate people. Nothing is held back everything comes just Frickin pouring out. They do not pull punches where New York Vinnie grew up; and there is no Frickin time or room for diplomacy. One of the by-products of that is you get to hear a whole bunch of colorful sayings some of which New York Vinnie has shared with you.

One of the most accurate sayings from the old neighborhood is “Once A Douche; Always A Douche” kind of a variation on a leopard can not change his spots. Well with every rule there come exceptions and whether you believe it or not one of those exceptions may be going on currently in Charlotte. “The Player Formerly Known As Captain PUD” Charlotte Bobcats guard Stephen Jackson may have finally gotten a Frickin wake-up call from life!

The “Sacramento Bee” has reported that the “Problem Child” who was traded from the Golden State Warriors for Raja Bell earlier this season may finally be growing up! New York Vinnie is as shocked as you are; however the Frickin proof speaks for itself. As of Sunday morning the Bobcats are 21-21 and currently have the seventh seed for the NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs. And a lot of that success is directly due to Jackson.

New York Vinnie was totally against this trade as far as Charlotte was concerned and I wrote it at the time. Bobcats coach Larry Brown got rid of all the malcontents on his team last season; one of them being Jason Richardson who was traded to the Phoenix Suns for Boris Diaw and Raja Bell. The two former Phoenix players helped the team grow last season and it appeared that they might be on their way to their first Playoffs since becoming part of the NBA.

Unfortunately Bell had a partially torn tendon in his left wrist and his options were to try to play through the injury or have surgery to correct the problem. Things did not seem as rosy in Charlotte after that news hit the Frickin streets. Meanwhile across the country Stephen Jackson wanted out of Golden State. The Frickin PUD forced the Warriors hand and they did deal him for guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic. The Bobcats along with Jackson got guard Acie Law in the deal.

The thing that surprised New York Vinnie most about this trade was Jackson going to play for Larry Brown. If you somehow had the ability to create a basketball player that contains every quality that Brown hates in today’s NBA you would end up with Stephen Jackson. Brown traded guys like Frickin Adam Morrison and Jason Richardson last season because he did not like their attitudes. Now he brings in this Frickin Pud? Does this make any sense?

Well apparently it did as Charlotte General Manager Rod Higgins told reporters that Jackson has been nothing but an asset to his club. The Bobcats G.M. said “I just said, ‘Stephen, let’s just try to treat this like a situation kind of like the one you just got out of, where you helped that club that hadn’t been to the postseason in quite a few years get there. ‘Come help this young ballclub, and we’ll provide you with what you need.”

Jackson it seems has bought into the program doing it with his skills and actually playing the Frickin role of leader on the team! Higgins knew this deal could be a Frickin Nuclear Holocaust for his team; however he felt the team had the right people in place to make Jackson toe the Frickin line. He said “With Larry and Michael and myself, we could manage him if we allowed the communication to be wide open. There’s a risk in any trade you do, but he’s what our team needed: another playmaker, another guy you could count on to score night in and night out. I thought it was the perfect fit.”

So far the gamble has paid off; Big Frickin time! Whether it stays like this the rest of the season or for the three remaining years on his contract remains to be seen. But as of this moment it looks like Jackson may have finally Frickin grown up!

New York Vinnie is not in a very good mood as I sit down to write this article because for the second year in a row the bad guys won again in the NBA. Last season the Sacramento Kings caved in and traded Ron Artest to the Houston Rockets because he was becoming such a distraction for the team. Monday this season’s “NBA Most Annoying PUD“  Stephen Jackson had his requests fulfilled according to the “Associated Press“ as the Golden State Warriors traded their veteran to the Charlotte Bobcats.

Jackson did not end up getting all that he wanted as he was not traded to one of the teams he specifically said he wanted to be traded to. But The Frickin PUD forced the Warriors hand and did deal him for guard Raja Bell and forward Vladimir Radmanovic. The Bobcats along with Jackson got guard Acie Law in the deal. Jackson wanted to go to a team guaranteed to make the Playoffs which Charlotte is not. However they are far more likely to make the Post Season than the Warriors are.

 New York Vinnie believes that this trade is an indication that Bell will have surgery on his left wrist which will keep him out of action for the next four months. Bell had tried playing even though he has a partially torn tendon in his wrist. New York Vinnie believes that the Bobcats knew the surgery was imminent hence he was included in the trade.  Radmanovic is a role player and will be no great loss to Charlotte.

However the thing that surprises New York Vinnie most about this trade is Jackson going to play for Larry Brown. If you somehow had the ability to create a basketball player that contains every quality that Brown hates in today’s NBA you would end up with Stephen Jackson. Brown traded guys like Frickin Adam Morrison and Jason Richardson last season because he did not like their attitudes. Now he brings in this Frickin Pud? Does this make any sense?

New York Vinnie has come up with two different scenarios as to why this trade went down. Either Brown truly believes that he can get inside this Frickin PUD’s head and truly change him. Or Brown has just given himself his eventual excuse to leave the Bobcats for “Greener Pastures.”  New York Vinnie believes that Larry Brown is one of the best coaches in the NBA today. However New York Vinnie does not think that Brown will be able to make this player a decent human being.

New York Vinnie could have understood the Bobcats bringing in Iverson because of the history between him and Larry. Nobody ever got more out of Allen than Larry Brown did in his entire career in the NBA. Does Brown truly think he can have that same effect on Jackson? New York Vinnie does not believe it is possible. So Larry good Frickin luck My Man because you are going to need it.

New York Vinnie just realized that 2009 has been “The Year Of The Jacksons.” All summer long all we heard about were more and more sad details of the all too early death of legendary entertainer Michael Jackson. And for those of us who are fans of the “The Greatest Game On Earth” the NBA our autumn has been spent talking about legend in his own Frickin Mind and perennial PUD Stephen Jackson. The situation that has evolved between the Golden State Warriors and the “Problem Child” veteran is like passing this Frickin terrible traffic accident on the highway. You truly want to look away but you just stare and get further horrified.

Jackson started the ball rolling when he told a reporter in New York City back in September that he had wanted to be traded from the Warriors. The veteran said he was sick of playing for a losing team even though he had Frickin signed a three year contract extension with the Warriors last November. The contract extension does not even kick in until next season.

Warriors head coach Don Nelson was originally understanding of his veteran’s remarks. He told reporters he would allow Jackson to remain team captain and act as if his forward never made the comments. But Jackson would not let sleeping dogs lie; causing a ruckus in a preseason game against the Lakers which would lead to a two game suspension. During a meeting with Nelson and Warriors General Manager Larry Riley the following week Jackson gave back his team captain title.

Thursday Jackson told the “Associated Press“ he was quite upset at being portrayed as “the bad guy” in the ongoing controversy. Jackson said that “people want me to be somebody to point the finger at and say, ‘He ain’t doing this, or he’s not humble, or he’s not doing this.”

Yo Jacko; you know what people want you to really do? Shut Your Frickin mouth and concentrate on playing basketball. If New York Vinnie ran the NBA I would immediately void Jackson’s contract for the balance of this season and the three year extension he signed last November and make him an unrestricted Free Agent. And you know what would be the Frickin end result Jax? You would be out of a whole lot of Frickin money; because no other team would be stupid enough to pay you what you are guaranteed to get from the Warriors.

Why are you being portrayed as “the bad guy” Jax? Because this whole Frickin thing is your own Frickin fault! There is no one else to blame; You caused this you started it and you keep pushing it along with moronic comments like this one. Just shut up and play ball you selfish Frickin PUD.

After months of taking the high road it looks like Golden State Warriors head coach Don Nelson has finally been pushed to the limit. The “Oakland Tribune” has reported that Nelson told the paper that the club is now making every effort to get rid of former team captain and full-time head-case Stephen Jackson. Jackson started the ball rolling when he told a reporter before Training Camp had started he wanted to be traded from the Warriors. That comment led to fall-out which is still landing as New york Vinnie writes this article.

Nelson was originally understanding of his veteran’s remarks. He told reporters he would allow Jackson to remain team captain and act as if his forward never made the comments. But Jackson would not let sleeping dogs lie; causing a ruckus in a preseason game against the Lakers which would lead to a two game suspension. During a meeting with Nelson and Warriors General Manager Larry Riley the following week Jackson gave back his team captain title.

Nelson though seems to have hit his limit with the veteran however. The Warriors coach told the paper “At some point and I don’t know when, we have to trade him. He asked to be traded, and we’d like to trade him. That’s if we can.”

New York Vinnie can totally understand the frustration that Nelson, the management and the other Warriors players must be going through right now with this Frickin PUD on the team. New York Vinnie also totally understands that you want to get rid of this Scumbago as soon as possible. The only problem is if the Warriors do trade him than Jackson wins. And it will be just a matter of time before some other PUD in the NBA pulls the same act.

 As New York Vinnie was reading the latest developments in the Frickin ever escalating war between the Golden State Warriors and their disgruntled forward Stephen Jackson all of a sudden I had this Frickin huge revelation. This situation is turning into the NBA version of Reality TV; this is that Frickin show “Jon And Kate Plus Eight!”

New York Vinnie has never watched any sort of Reality TV show of any kind. That stuff just does not float New York Vinnie’s boat; American Idol, Survivor, Can You Dance Like A Fifth Grader have never made an appearance on my TV. However as New York Vinnie’s Grand Pops used to say “That is why Howard Johnson’s has so many Frickin different flavors of ice cream. So everybody can have something that they will enjoy.”

Think about the analogy though between the big mouthed pushy wife who wants to become a Frickin star and her no ambition slug of a husband and the Jackson situation. Both situations are in the Frickin paper every day; you can’t help hearing about them if you want to or not. Although Jackson told a Bay Area newspaper on Monday he would play the good soldier he has done exactly the opposite starting Tuesday. Thursday the veteran decided to throw more gasoline on the bonfire he has started.

The situation between the Warriors and their “Problem Child“ has been going on for a month now and seems like it is not going to die down anytime soon. In case you have been out of the country and away from the Internet for the last month New York Vinnie will bring you up to date. Last month Jackson did a promotional stop in New York City and told reporters that he wanted to be traded from the Golden State Warriors to a contending team. There was just one Frickin problem; Jackson last November signed a three year contract extension with the Warriors for big bucks that will not even start until the 2010-2011 season.

Warriors coach Don Nelson said he was not bothered by his players comments and that as far as was concerned Jackson was still the Captain of the team. Then another Frickin problem arose when the Frickin “Grand Poobah” of the NBA Commissioner David stern decided to fine Jackson 25 grand for his statements.

Last Friday night the Warriors played the Los Angeles Lakers in a preseason game and Jackson acted like a total PUD. He was in the game less than ten minutes and picked up five fouls and a technical during his time on the floor. He was pulled from the game got into a shouting match with Nelson on the bench and Frickin stormed into the locker room never to return. The next day Jackson was suspended for the next two exhibition games and a meeting was scheduled for Tuesday between Jackson, Nelson and Warriors General Manager Larry Riley.

During the meeting Jackson stepped down as captain of the team. Thursday the “San Francisco Chronicle” printed an interview with the forward who seems to have the attitude that right now its is just him against the Frickin world. It seems that Jackson did not feel he was properly treated by his teammates during the game against the Lakers. Jackson said “It was only me standing up for myself. I don’t think anybody else stood up for me. But if the shoe were on the other foot, I would have stood up for somebody on my team, and they didn’t do the same for me.”

Jackson was asked why he got so agitated during his time on the floor? He responded “To beat a dead horse, (Kobe Bryant) was just playing dirty. He was getting favoritism out there. I’m not saying the refs were cheating. I’m not saying that at all. I think he was getting away with stuff that I couldn’t get away with, and I didn’t think it was fair. So I reacted on it, and if it happens again, I’m going to react the same way.”

Jackson made sure that the reporter knew that the veteran was not a fan of the Lakers All-Star. The forward said “I’m not a fan of Kobe. I’m not somebody who looks up to him. I’m a grown man, so when I go out there and play the game, I play the game. I feel like I’m just as good as him. I might not get the publicity or the notoriety he gets, but I feel like I can play with anybody in the NBA. I think everybody should feel like that. Everybody should be a competitor, and I don’t back down from anybody. I’ve never been like that, and I’m not going to start today.”

New York Vinnie is in no way any kind of Frickin expert on Mental Health; but do these Frickin statements sound rational to you? Because New York Vinnie has to be honest with you after reading this; all I could think of was this man needs some sort of help, some form of counseling. This is a man who has the Frickin world on a string and he is consumed with nothing but Frickin anger and hate. Has this man snapped? New York Vinnie is not trying to be funny here; this man sounds deranged.

Somebody that Jackson trusts right now should tell him how irrational he is acting and he is on a Frickin one way ride to self-destruction. If this is a Frickin act than he truly ought to end it now; if it is not New York Vinnie hopes he gets help he needs.

Back on July 4, 1776 a fledgling nation decided to declare independence from the country that controlled it. After a long and bloody battle we established a democratic republic that we named the United States of America. Our ancestors came up with a system of one man one vote so that we would elect our own leaders and not be like the country we would break away from England which was ruled by royalty.

We fast forward 333 years to the present day USA and we still are electing our government leaders via a democratic process. So that means we have no Royalty here in the USA correct? Both you and New York Vinnie know better than that; we do have Royalty here in America in 2009. They are our Movie stars, our Rock and R&B stars, and our Professional athletes. We Americans love our Royalty and we fill their heads and egos with praise and their pockets with money. They get paid handsomely for things that most of us would gladly do for free; entertain the public.

As in all other areas of our society there are good and bad people in these professions. There are are many Actors and Actresses that support meaningful causes and use their celebrity to try to get others to follow their examples. Others are spoiled little babies that put up a hissy-fit if everything does not go their way. We have Recording Artists who use their status to help the world guys like Bono and Neil Young to just skim the surface.

Our Professional Athletes are the same way; you have talented players like D-Howard, Chris Paul and Brandon Roy who do great things on the hardwood and in the community. And then of course you have the PUDS like Stephen Jackson, Stephon Marbury, Allen Iverson and Ron Artest. Guys who who bring great talent to the game but are nothing but a constant headache for the teams they play for.

Players like that have what is known as a “Sense Of Entitlement” a feeling that just because they can perform these amazing athletic feats it puts them on a higher level than the rest of society. Who is to blame for these men thinking that they can do no wrong and can get away with the worst kind of behavior? Unfortunately to a certain extent each and every one of us.

From the time we are toddlers we realize that Pretty Girls and Athletically Gifted Boys can get away with a lot more Crapolla than the rest of us. And the older they get the better the perks; in a way it truly is surprising that so many athletes are truly quality people given the different sets of standards they have. A lot of that stems from the example the parents set from the start; or sometimes they just have a good set of internal values.

And in New York Vinnie’s eyes maybe the saddest thing of all these PUDS like Jackson, Iverson, Marbury and Artest truly believe that they are in the right. For some stupid Frickin reason Stephen Jackson decided to tell the Golden State Warriors he no longer wanted to be the team captain. Why would a grown man act in such a childish manner? Because in his mind he was disrespected by his club and this was his way of getting back at them! But guess what Stephen? The only one who loses is you; the Warriors will play no better or worse if you are the team captain or not. However you are now without your title, which by having it given to you in the first place was a Frickin sign of respect, right?

The athletes that New York Vinnie has named here are beyond our help at this point. However we can prevent future PUDS in the NBA by showing our children what is acceptable and what is not regardless of what they can do on the field or the hardwood. Let us end this “Sense Of Entitlement” by nipping it in the bud during childhood.