Robert Williams (Merged Threads)

[KungPoweChicken]

I hate to say it, but there are a lot of racist sounding posts in this thread. I expect better from Celticsblog.

Point to one?

Below are all literally posts from this thread, and missing is the post that has since been deleted predicting that Williams' future will be as a minimum wage laborer sweeping floors.


"the thing I dislike the most is that he talks about working hard, ability to work hard....   time to get my sheet together"

"this guy should not be allowed to be alone. pair him up with a roommate moving forward.  And a guy who won't lie for him in case he wants to sneak out or something."

"Once he gets to Boston they can get him a babysitter."

"His agent needs to hire someone to get him through the summer."

"I'd test him for drugs the second he gets to the team and if it's positive I'd tell him to drive up to Maine where he will be remaining with the Red Claws till at least the All Star break. This cycle has to end immediately. If he doesn't test positive make him carry the bags and fetch everyone water during all summer league. In practice he wears a yellow jersey till he earns a green one."

"Well what is the good reason for missing the flight?  I mean how much are we going to baby this guy and shrug our shoulders? Were you late for work your first day? How about your 2nd day? There need to be immediate clear consequences. Personally I think he was gonna be on the flight but then he got high. Na na na na na na. I'd like to know why."

"Keep him away from our young guys.  I don’t want Williams to influence any of our young players. Heck, if it was me, I will not let him inside the facilities,  cut our losses now."


"I'm with eja117 in that I thought it was some kind of substance abuse when he missed the conference call and this episode reinforces my thoughts.  What else would cause the guy to not care about the responsibilities related to his new job?  It could also be the reason he hightailed it out of Boston and flew home for such a short time."


"I'm off the band wagon on this guy. Probably a bust. He doesn't have the commitment clearly to succeed. Sad case of a talented player who doesn't like basketball."

"This has substance abuse all over it. Hopefully he's getting the last bits of need out of his system."

That's just attributing a whole lot of mundane noises to the movements of ghosts.

These are not "ghosts." It is racial stereotyping, and it is dangerous.

Maybe it's you who is racial stereotyping. You seem to be the only one attributing these criticisms to being black.

Agreed, you could have seen the same exact (non-racist) comments about Chris Herren and how he handled his off the court stuff back in the day.

Chris Herren failed 63 drug tests at Boston College and 12 at Fresno State. It was public knowledge he had deep substance abuse issues. The comments about Williams having substance abuse problems are baseless. There's a difference.

[Eja117]

I don't see anything racist.  He's showing legitimate warning signs of substance abuse (at worst) and extreme dysfunction and immaturity (at best).  The team should get him the help he needs before he flames out of the league or becomes Lenny Bias.

I honestly can't believe this sentiment. You have no idea what is going on, but you are making huge assumptions.

Missing a plan is not extreme dysfunction. Invoking the name of Lenny Bias is ridiculous. Flaming out of the league is pretty far away. There is no evidence of substance abuse.

Woah woah woah. As I think the original poster who said he should be tested I agree with all of this. I would point out half the reason for testing is to confirm the guy is NOT on drugs, and the other part is to get him help if he is.

I would think the Celtics, as his employer, would want to know, but not for the purpose of destroying his career before it has begun. Destroying his career is his choice, not ours.

The testing is meant far more as info gathering and a wake up call. Not some public execution

I get that your intention is not aggressive, but the act of making a guy take a drug test because he was late for a plane, especially if he is innocent, is extremely insulting. It may sour the rest of the working relationship.

Being insulted when you're in the wrong is a choice.  The guy should get a million dollars a year at the age of 20, but doesn't bother to show up twice in a week, and we should worry about him being insulted? 

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I don't see anything racist.  He's showing legitimate warning signs of substance abuse (at worst) and extreme dysfunction and immaturity (at best).  The team should get him the help he needs before he flames out of the league or becomes Lenny Bias.

I honestly can't believe this sentiment. You have no idea what is going on, but you are making huge assumptions.

Missing a plan is not extreme dysfunction. Invoking the name of Lenny Bias is ridiculous. Flaming out of the league is pretty far away. There is no evidence of substance abuse.

Woah woah woah. As I think the original poster who said he should be tested I agree with all of this. I would point out half the reason for testing is to confirm the guy is NOT on drugs, and the other part is to get him help if he is.

I would think the Celtics, as his employer, would want to know, but not for the purpose of destroying his career before it has begun. Destroying his career is his choice, not ours.

The testing is meant far more as info gathering and a wake up call. Not some public execution

I get that your intention is not aggressive, but the act of making a guy take a drug test because he was late for a plane, especially if he is innocent, is extremely insulting. It may sour the rest of the working relationship.

Being insulted when you're in the wrong is a choice.  The guy should get a million dollars a year at the age of 20, but doesn't bother to show up twice in a week, and we should worry about him being insulted?

Should we test his hands for gun residue while we're at it? Run his clothes under a UV light to see if there is blood? Run a complete audit of all his finances to determine if he is embezzling?

Your jump from being late to doing drugs is insulting.

Again, his immaturity has been annoying and he should be disciplined, but your leap into checking for drugs is just not how you treat another human being.

[KungPoweChicken]

I don't see anything racist.  He's showing legitimate warning signs of substance abuse (at worst) and extreme dysfunction and immaturity (at best).  The team should get him the help he needs before he flames out of the league or becomes Lenny Bias.

I honestly can't believe this sentiment. You have no idea what is going on, but you are making huge assumptions.

Missing a plan is not extreme dysfunction. Invoking the name of Lenny Bias is ridiculous. Flaming out of the league is pretty far away. There is no evidence of substance abuse.

Woah woah woah. As I think the original poster who said he should be tested I agree with all of this. I would point out half the reason for testing is to confirm the guy is NOT on drugs, and the other part is to get him help if he is.

I would think the Celtics, as his employer, would want to know, but not for the purpose of destroying his career before it has begun. Destroying his career is his choice, not ours.

The testing is meant far more as info gathering and a wake up call. Not some public execution

I get that your intention is not aggressive, but the act of making a guy take a drug test because he was late for a plane, especially if he is innocent, is extremely insulting. It may sour the rest of the working relationship.

Being insulted when you're in the wrong is a choice.  The guy should get a million dollars a year at the age of 20, but doesn't bother to show up twice in a week, and we should worry about him being insulted?

Should we test his hands for gun residue while we're at it? Run his clothes under a UV light to see if there is blood? Run a complete audit of all his finances to determine if he is embezzling?

Your jump from being late to doing drugs is insulting.

Again, his immaturity has been annoying and he should be disciplined, but your leap into checking for drugs is just not how you treat another human being.

But he is a black kid from the south. He is a suspect.

[Eja117]

I don't see anything racist.  He's showing legitimate warning signs of substance abuse (at worst) and extreme dysfunction and immaturity (at best).  The team should get him the help he needs before he flames out of the league or becomes Lenny Bias.

I honestly can't believe this sentiment. You have no idea what is going on, but you are making huge assumptions.

Missing a plan is not extreme dysfunction. Invoking the name of Lenny Bias is ridiculous. Flaming out of the league is pretty far away. There is no evidence of substance abuse.

Woah woah woah. As I think the original poster who said he should be tested I agree with all of this. I would point out half the reason for testing is to confirm the guy is NOT on drugs, and the other part is to get him help if he is.

I would think the Celtics, as his employer, would want to know, but not for the purpose of destroying his career before it has begun. Destroying his career is his choice, not ours.

The testing is meant far more as info gathering and a wake up call. Not some public execution

I get that your intention is not aggressive, but the act of making a guy take a drug test because he was late for a plane, especially if he is innocent, is extremely insulting. It may sour the rest of the working relationship.

Being insulted when you're in the wrong is a choice.  The guy should get a million dollars a year at the age of 20, but doesn't bother to show up twice in a week, and we should worry about him being insulted?

Should we test his hands for gun residue while we're at it? Run his clothes under a UV light to see if there is blood? Run a complete audit of all his finances to determine if he is embezzling?

Your jump from being late to doing drugs is insulting.

Again, his immaturity has been annoying and he should be disciplined, but your leap into checking for drugs is just not how you treat another human being.

Give me a break. This isn't practice starting at 9 and the kid hit traffic and got there at 9:15.  What discipline should he get? A back rub? Maybe they could watch Mr. Rogers together and explain to him that they love him just the way he is. Or he could be held accountable like a professional and a man.   Maybe you don't think the Celts have a right to know anything about him before they hand him a million bucks. I totally disagree and find your attitude to be the absolute worst kind of enabling. It's worse than enabling. It's coddling.

[KungPoweChicken]

I don't see anything racist.  He's showing legitimate warning signs of substance abuse (at worst) and extreme dysfunction and immaturity (at best).  The team should get him the help he needs before he flames out of the league or becomes Lenny Bias.

I honestly can't believe this sentiment. You have no idea what is going on, but you are making huge assumptions.

Missing a plan is not extreme dysfunction. Invoking the name of Lenny Bias is ridiculous. Flaming out of the league is pretty far away. There is no evidence of substance abuse.

Woah woah woah. As I think the original poster who said he should be tested I agree with all of this. I would point out half the reason for testing is to confirm the guy is NOT on drugs, and the other part is to get him help if he is.

I would think the Celtics, as his employer, would want to know, but not for the purpose of destroying his career before it has begun. Destroying his career is his choice, not ours.

The testing is meant far more as info gathering and a wake up call. Not some public execution

I get that your intention is not aggressive, but the act of making a guy take a drug test because he was late for a plane, especially if he is innocent, is extremely insulting. It may sour the rest of the working relationship.

Being insulted when you're in the wrong is a choice.  The guy should get a million dollars a year at the age of 20, but doesn't bother to show up twice in a week, and we should worry about him being insulted?

Should we test his hands for gun residue while we're at it? Run his clothes under a UV light to see if there is blood? Run a complete audit of all his finances to determine if he is embezzling?

Your jump from being late to doing drugs is insulting.

Again, his immaturity has been annoying and he should be disciplined, but your leap into checking for drugs is just not how you treat another human being.

Give me a break. This isn't practice starting at 9 and the kid hit traffic and got there at 9:15.  What discipline should he get? A back rub? Maybe they could watch Mr. Rogers together and explain to him that they love him just the way he is. Or he could be held accountable like a professional and a man.   Maybe you don't think the Celts have a right to know anything about him before they hand him a million bucks. I totally disagree and find your attitude to be the absolute worst kind of enabling. It's worse than enabling. It's coddling.

He should be offered every resource possible to be the best basketball player he can be for as long as he in on the team. That is all.

[KGBirdBias]

I'm willing to wait until after summer league to do anything drastic. Once he gets on the court and starts showing that athletic ability they may just need to put a vet with him and give him some guidance.

All can be forgiven when you're good. 

[Eja117]

I don't see anything racist.  He's showing legitimate warning signs of substance abuse (at worst) and extreme dysfunction and immaturity (at best).  The team should get him the help he needs before he flames out of the league or becomes Lenny Bias.

I honestly can't believe this sentiment. You have no idea what is going on, but you are making huge assumptions.

Missing a plan is not extreme dysfunction. Invoking the name of Lenny Bias is ridiculous. Flaming out of the league is pretty far away. There is no evidence of substance abuse.

Woah woah woah. As I think the original poster who said he should be tested I agree with all of this. I would point out half the reason for testing is to confirm the guy is NOT on drugs, and the other part is to get him help if he is.

I would think the Celtics, as his employer, would want to know, but not for the purpose of destroying his career before it has begun. Destroying his career is his choice, not ours.

The testing is meant far more as info gathering and a wake up call. Not some public execution

I get that your intention is not aggressive, but the act of making a guy take a drug test because he was late for a plane, especially if he is innocent, is extremely insulting. It may sour the rest of the working relationship.

Being insulted when you're in the wrong is a choice.  The guy should get a million dollars a year at the age of 20, but doesn't bother to show up twice in a week, and we should worry about him being insulted?

Should we test his hands for gun residue while we're at it? Run his clothes under a UV light to see if there is blood? Run a complete audit of all his finances to determine if he is embezzling?

Your jump from being late to doing drugs is insulting.

Again, his immaturity has been annoying and he should be disciplined, but your leap into checking for drugs is just not how you treat another human being.

Give me a break. This isn't practice starting at 9 and the kid hit traffic and got there at 9:15.  What discipline should he get? A back rub? Maybe they could watch Mr. Rogers together and explain to him that they love him just the way he is. Or he could be held accountable like a professional and a man.   Maybe you don't think the Celts have a right to know anything about him before they hand him a million bucks. I totally disagree and find your attitude to be the absolute worst kind of enabling. It's worse than enabling. It's coddling.

He should be offered every resource possible to be the best basketball player he can be for as long as he in on the team. That is all.

Great. Now what does he give in return? Feeling all insulted when people call him out? Being a locker room cancer? Dogging it? Blowing people off? Because that's where we are right now.

[KungPoweChicken]

We already know who he is. He was one of the best college basketball players in the country and good enough to be drafted into the NBA.

[celticsclay]

I hate to say it, but there are a lot of racist sounding posts in this thread. I expect better from Celticsblog.

Point to one?

Below are all literally posts from this thread, and missing is the post that has since been deleted predicting that Williams' future will be as a minimum wage laborer sweeping floors.


"the thing I dislike the most is that he talks about working hard, ability to work hard....   time to get my sheet together"

"this guy should not be allowed to be alone. pair him up with a roommate moving forward.  And a guy who won't lie for him in case he wants to sneak out or something."

"Once he gets to Boston they can get him a babysitter."

"His agent needs to hire someone to get him through the summer."

"I'd test him for drugs the second he gets to the team and if it's positive I'd tell him to drive up to Maine where he will be remaining with the Red Claws till at least the All Star break. This cycle has to end immediately. If he doesn't test positive make him carry the bags and fetch everyone water during all summer league. In practice he wears a yellow jersey till he earns a green one."

"Well what is the good reason for missing the flight?  I mean how much are we going to baby this guy and shrug our shoulders? Were you late for work your first day? How about your 2nd day? There need to be immediate clear consequences. Personally I think he was gonna be on the flight but then he got high. Na na na na na na. I'd like to know why."

"Keep him away from our young guys.  I don’t want Williams to influence any of our young players. Heck, if it was me, I will not let him inside the facilities,  cut our losses now."


"I'm with eja117 in that I thought it was some kind of substance abuse when he missed the conference call and this episode reinforces my thoughts.  What else would cause the guy to not care about the responsibilities related to his new job?  It could also be the reason he hightailed it out of Boston and flew home for such a short time."


"I'm off the band wagon on this guy. Probably a bust. He doesn't have the commitment clearly to succeed. Sad case of a talented player who doesn't like basketball."

"This has substance abuse all over it. Hopefully he's getting the last bits of need out of his system."

That's just attributing a whole lot of mundane noises to the movements of ghosts.

These are not "ghosts." It is racial stereotyping, and it is dangerous.

Maybe it's you who is racial stereotyping. You seem to be the only one attributing these criticisms to being black.

Agreed, you could have seen the same exact (non-racist) comments about Chris Herren and how he handled his off the court stuff back in the day.

I don't usually get involved in these race debates on here, but I do want to say I don't see it as racist that people questioned someone having issues with substance abuse concerns as being tied to his race. If you looked closely at the thread he was actually compared to Manziel cause he went to the same school and had serious partying problems (and obviously is a different race). If someone starts missing really basic functions like catching a flight to do their job and then there are reports they are partying in a different town, its fair to wonder if someone's partying is getting out of control and I honestly don't think that has anything to do with race.

[IDreamCeltics]

Let's be real, the first two days of your new job are the two days you work the hardest to make a good impression on everyone - even if those two days are the ONLY days you pretend to care you still do it because you need the job and you care at least a little about endeering yourself enough not to get fired for a month or two.


If you've ever had a job where you didn't show up for the first day... and then didn't show up for the second day... please respond and tell us how it worked out.

[hwangjini_1]

I don't see anything racist.  He's showing legitimate warning signs of substance abuse (at worst) and extreme dysfunction and immaturity (at best).  The team should get him the help he needs before he flames out of the league or becomes Lenny Bias.

I honestly can't believe this sentiment. You have no idea what is going on, but you are making huge assumptions.

Missing a plan is not extreme dysfunction. Invoking the name of Lenny Bias is ridiculous. Flaming out of the league is pretty far away. There is no evidence of substance abuse.

Woah woah woah. As I think the original poster who said he should be tested I agree with all of this. I would point out half the reason for testing is to confirm the guy is NOT on drugs, and the other part is to get him help if he is.

I would think the Celtics, as his employer, would want to know, but not for the purpose of destroying his career before it has begun. Destroying his career is his choice, not ours.

The testing is meant far more as info gathering and a wake up call. Not some public execution

I get that your intention is not aggressive, but the act of making a guy take a drug test because he was late for a plane, especially if he is innocent, is extremely insulting. It may sour the rest of the working relationship.

Being insulted when you're in the wrong is a choice.  The guy should get a million dollars a year at the age of 20, but doesn't bother to show up twice in a week, and we should worry about him being insulted?

Should we test his hands for gun residue while we're at it? Run his clothes under a UV light to see if there is blood? Run a complete audit of all his finances to determine if he is embezzling?

Your jump from being late to doing drugs is insulting.

Again, his immaturity has been annoying and he should be disciplined, but your leap into checking for drugs is just not how you treat another human being.

Give me a break. This isn't practice starting at 9 and the kid hit traffic and got there at 9:15.  What discipline should he get? A back rub? Maybe they could watch Mr. Rogers together and explain to him that they love him just the way he is. Or he could be held accountable like a professional and a man.   Maybe you don't think the Celts have a right to know anything about him before they hand him a million bucks. I totally disagree and find your attitude to be the absolute worst kind of enabling. It's worse than enabling. It's coddling.

He should be offered every resource possible to be the best basketball player he can be for as long as he in on the team. That is all.

Great. Now what does he give in return? Feeling all insulted when people call him out? Being a locker room cancer? Dogging it? Blowing people off? Because that's where we are right now.

I must of missed it. Where did RW say he was insulted? When did he get labeled a cancer and by whom?

The kid has been immature. Lets see if he matures. The rhetoric here is getting out of hand.

First, you talk with people, especially young ones and see what is happening. Then you take actions to help them improve. Then if all fails you take strong action. This is standard procedures in HR.

RW is barely into step one here. So, as I usually do, I urge us all to wait and see before casting final judgements.

[knuckleballer]

Let's be real, the first two days of your new job are the two days you work the hardest to make a good impression on everyone - even if those two days are the ONLY days you pretend to care you still do it because you need the job and you care at least a little about endeering yourself enough not to get fired for a month or two.


If you've ever had a job where you didn't show up for the first day... and then didn't show up for the second day... please respond and tell us how it worked out.

The NBA is not a normal job and most people don't begin their careers at age 20.  There are plenty of irresponsible and immature 20 year olds who mess up at their jobs by calling out sick or showing up late.  Most of those people eventually mature and get their acts together.  The Celtics and his agent will do their best to help, support few people have. 

[hpantazo]

Let's be real, the first two days of your new job are the two days you work the hardest to make a good impression on everyone - even if those two days are the ONLY days you pretend to care you still do it because you need the job and you care at least a little about endeering yourself enough not to get fired for a month or two.


If you've ever had a job where you didn't show up for the first day... and then didn't show up for the second day... please respond and tell us how it worked out.

The NBA is not a normal job and most people don't begin their careers at age 20.  There are plenty of irresponsible and immature 20 year olds who mess up at their jobs by calling out sick or showing up late.  Most of those people eventually mature and get their acts together.  The Celtics and his agent will do their best to help, support few people have.

Most 20 year olds also don't get paid 7 figure salaries. If they did, the certainly would not show up late or miss work the first week.

[celticinorlando]

Williams better get his crap together because I am already liking what I see from Spellman