Rondo+ Carmelo+ (insert player here?) on Celtics= Legit contender.

[Eja117]

I don't care what athletes do off the court.

Really?

Really.

Do I hope they're good Samaritans? Sure. Is it a requirement for my enjoyment of their play? Absolutely not.

The average fan knows almost nothing about the average player by design. That's why it's so easy to say something like "Carmelo Anthony hangs around with thugs and drug dealers" while ignoring the fact that Rondo hangs out with people like Snoop (if you're into the whole "character assassination by virtue of photographed peers and assumed insight into their lifestyle by extension" thing) or Jared Sullinger was arrested for domestic assault.

That sort of thinking irritates me. Do I really care that Sullinger might've beaten up his girlfriend? Not any more than I care about people engaged domestic violence in general. Do I really care that Carmelo was in the stop snitching video? Not any more than I would take issue with anyone else on camera in that situation. etc. Athletes can be terrible people just like anyone else. You don't need to be Nelson Mandela to put the ball in the hoop.

It wasn't just that Melo was in the stop snitching video. It was that when they asked him if he would ever help police combat the problem he laughed in the reporter's face.   

[Onslaught]

So you'd pull for someone like Kobe who could've possibly raped a woman? And at best cheated?

Sorry, but for me I can't pull for someone like that. They don't need to be perfect. Larry Bird can't win the dad of the year award but I still like him. But they can't be a scum bad either.

[guava_wrench]

Legit contender for what? For major disappointment? Yes, I would agree with that.

[vjcsmoke]

Sorry,  Melo isn't worthy to hold PP's jock.  Not just yet.

That being said, I would trade Jeff Green plus extras for Melo as long as we aren't losing anyone critical.

The Celtic's real problem is that they don't have a true C yet.  Faverani is alright, but doesn't look like a starting 5 to me.  Hump is... trade fodder.  We just lack that dominant defensive center.

[vjcsmoke]

I don't care what athletes do off the court.

I'm sorry but I draw the line at MURDER.  Apparently your standards are lower.

[BballTim]

  This thread's certainly gone to hell in a hand basket.

[D.o.s.]

I don't care what athletes do off the court.

I'm sorry but I draw the line at MURDER.  Apparently your standards are lower.

Innocent until proven guilty? CAPITAL LETTERS. For what it's worth, being a football fan is almost certainly condoning intentional brain destruction... so there's that.

So you'd pull for someone like Kobe who could've possibly raped a woman? And at best cheated?

See above. I'm not going to let my views on monogamy dictate which athletes I should root for or against. I'm going to let which team they play for do that. That's why I don't want Sullinger off the team ASAP. 


Again, we don't know these people. They're entitled to live their lives off the court however they want--I'm obviously not condoning rape or any kind of sexual assault (or normal assault), but the fact is, per the Kobe example, we don't know what happened in that hotel room. I will only add that if you decided only to cheer for athletes who had never cheated on their significant other, you'd have some slimmer pickings than you might suppose. Is it ok to cheer for a player who cheats/does drugs/supports terrorism if we don't know about it?