How out of control is crime within the NBA community?

[TradeProposalDude]

I read a portion of this very telling book

"Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence, & Crime"

It discusses an in-depth manner about how 40% of NBA players have at the very least been arrested (or otherwise, been charged with a serious crime). He concludes that they get away with it, and that the NBA contributes to the high crime rates, because they take little to no action to deter it.

You have extreme cases like Ruben Patterson, Ron Artest, and Latrell Sprewell who are outcasts within the NBA as well as society. They could be mentally unstable - people you wouldn't want to get mad at you.

Yet, the perception of the outcast criminal can be extended to even "lovable" characters like Shaq, Scottie Pippen, and none other than Charles Barkley, recently arrested for suspicion of DUI. They have had run-ins with law enforcement for a variety of reasons.

I really wonder how "out of control" the situation regarding crime actually is. We all know that many NBA players smoke pot, for instance. Hell, a great number of society members do. And the NBA might re-inforce this poor behavior by off-hand punishment to an average of 1 or 2 players a year when they are "caught" with it in their system during a random testing session with a jarring (sarcasm aside) 5 game suspension. Recently we heard about Ricky Davis, who was suspended the standard 5 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy. You wonder though, is 5 games really punishment for an activity Ricky will probably not cease to partake in? Come on now, look at him. Ricky LOVES the sticky.

Pot, though, is a petty offense, compared to charges players are tagged with like assault & battery and rape. Tony Allen was cleared of charges a few years ago when he broke a man's eye socket in a bar room brawl. If he were just your ordinary citizen, I'm sure most of you would be calling for his head, insisting how he should be arrested, and possible inaction is a reflection of the lax criminal justice system in our country. The number of rape crimes in the NBA are unknown because what goes on in a bedroom usually stays there. The author of the aforementioned book makes it clear that women will generally not sue because the player can easily retort by saying the supposed victim is after his money.

The common denominator: a lot of victims, but a disproportionate advantage to athletes who get away with crimes of relatively major magnitude ONLY because of their station in life.

I feel that when we place professional athletes above a "veneer" of regular citizens like you and me who are just ordinary go to work 8 hours a day kind of people, we are making it acceptable to have a class system that excuses the behavior of those who didn't earn their money any harder than most of us. I know the NBA is an organization that like every other is geared towards making money and garnering public support, but doesn't this negligence take a toll eventually when the league's very integrity is called into question? Maybe I'm making this a bigger issue than I should be, but quite frankly, I am tired of inequities and seeing people get off the high road so easy.

[Steve Weinman]

I read a portion of this very telling book

"Out of Bounds: Inside the NBA's Culture of Rape, Violence, & Crime"

It discusses an in-depth manner about how 40% of NBA players have at the very least been arrested (or otherwise, been charged with a serious crime). He concludes that they get away with it, and that the NBA contributes to the high crime rates, because they take little to no action to deter it.

You have extreme cases like Ruben Patterson, Ron Artest, and Latrell Sprewell who are outcasts within the NBA as well as society. They could be mentally unstable - people you wouldn't want to get mad at you.

Yet, the perception of the outcast criminal can be extended to even "lovable" characters like Shaq, Scottie Pippen, and none other than Charles Barkley, recently arrested for suspicion of DUI. They have had run-ins with law enforcement for a variety of reasons.

I really wonder how "out of control" the situation regarding crime actually is. We all know that many NBA players smoke pot, for instance. Hell, a great number of society members do. And the NBA might re-inforce this poor behavior by off-hand punishment to an average of 1 or 2 players a year when they are "caught" with it in their system during a random testing session with a jarring (sarcasm aside) 5 game suspension. Recently we heard about Ricky Davis, who was suspended the standard 5 games for violating the league's anti-drug policy. You wonder though, is 5 games really punishment for an activity Ricky will probably not cease to partake in? Come on now, look at him. Ricky LOVES the sticky.

Pot, though, is a petty offense, compared to charges players are tagged with like assault & battery and rape. Tony Allen was cleared of charges a few years ago when he broke a man's eye socket in a bar room brawl. If he were just your ordinary citizen, I'm sure most of you would be calling for his head, insisting how he should be arrested, and possible inaction is a reflection of the lax criminal justice system in our country. The number of rape crimes in the NBA are unknown because what goes on in a bedroom usually stays there. The author of the aforementioned book makes it clear that women will generally not sue because the player can easily retort by saying the supposed victim is after his money.

The common denominator: a lot of victims, but a disproportionate advantage to athletes who get away with crimes of relatively major magnitude ONLY because of their station in life.

I feel that when we place professional athletes above a "veneer" of regular citizens like you and me who are just ordinary go to work 8 hours a day kind of people, we are making it acceptable to have a class system that excuses the behavior of those who didn't earn their money any harder than most of us. I know the NBA is an organization that like every other is geared towards making money and garnering public support, but doesn't this negligence take a toll eventually when the league's very integrity is called into question? Maybe I'm making this a bigger issue than I should be, but quite frankly, I am tired of inequities and seeing people get off the high road so easy.

An intriguing topic and well said, TPD.  I'll need to think a bit more before I put together any fairly cogent commentary on this of my own, but I wanted to weigh in briefly just to note that the Jeff Benedict book ("Out of Bounds") is an excellent read.  Certainly, it's not too positive, and it's eye-opening - and parts of it are a bit more graphic than some might bargain far (re: Ruben Patterson) - but it's very well done.

The book is a couple of years old now but not to the point that the studies should be considered "dated."  And the anecdotes are no less valuable as a look inside the league's culture.

-sw

[Redz]

Well said TPD.

I too have some thoughts here, but I'm not sure I want to get into it.

[TradeProposalDude]

An intriguing topic and well said, TPD.  I'll need to think a bit more before I put together any fairly cogent commentary on this of my own, but I wanted to weigh in briefly just to note that the Jeff Benedict book ("Out of Bounds") is an excellent read.  Certainly, it's not too positive, and it's eye-opening - and parts of it are a bit more graphic than some might bargain far (re: Ruben Patterson) - but it's very well done.

The book is a couple of years old now but not to the point that the studies should be considered "dated."  And the anecdotes are no less valuable as a look inside the league's culture.

-sw

True, it's an old book. I came across it recently at my town's public library, and it looked like a good read, so I picked it up. Being the basketball junkie I am, it drew to my senses quicker than almost every other read. There aren't many good basketball books out there, FYI. Even autobiographies BY former players that are sop-filled.

Good point sw, but I don't even need my prior research methods / stats classes to determine that a few anecdotes that detail the same types of behaviors within a subset of players reveal a deeper sociological problem. Some people would insist that I'm stereotyping against black people and am therefore racist. This is not true because I think the NBA gets the MOST rap out of any league for that specific reason. In other words, I think these issues are a universal problem across all American sports leagues. But since this is an NBA board, and specifically a Celtics board, I think basketball will be my focus.

FYI - did you know that Antoine Walker, Chauncey Billups, and Ron Mercer were all involved in a case involving rape? Actually the rape allegedely occurred in Walker's apartment, while Toine wasn't present. Mercer, Billups, and a friend of their's, according to the testimony, raped a woman and forced her into acts of oral and anal sex. I believe the case was dropped because there was not enough information to charge any one of the participants.

Personally, I don't know if Billups or Mercer truly did perform those vilifying acts. I don't know what kind of human beings they are. But did you know Mercer got arrested in a case involving a stabbing only last year (I can say that for 3 more hours)?
http://www.checkoutmycards.com/CardImages/Cards/013/761/05b.jpg

I agree with you that the descriptive language in the book was a little graphic for my taste, but it did serve a purpose after all.

There was also a former Celtic in 1993 by the name of Marcus Webb who was cut by the Celtics after news broke out about a rape that he admitted to. He was sentenced to prison. The scary part is that cases where the guilty party actually is given punitive justice with regard to the crime he committed is rare; most players are charged but the process either carries out for very long, or doesn't affect the player's standing one way or the other because he can afford lawyers who will bail him out of troubling situations.

[dark_lord]

one thing i would be interested in knowing is the percentage of americans arrested between the ages of 18-42 (the age range of the nba's players).  i wonder if it will be around the same as the statistics the OP posted about the nba's players.  the nba might be a microcosism of society

[nickagneta]

Unfortunately the story of people with fame, money and priviledge getting away without having to pay for crimes that they have committed is not a new story to human society. Royalty has gotten away with some of the most depraved crimes in human history. Kings, queens, princes, Popes, heads of states, presidents, and the rich and powerful have gotten away with murder for centuries(both figuratively and literally).

Why would any of us be surprised that behind the scenes the people we read about in the sports pages of the local newspaper, hear about on ESPN or watch every night on NESN, CSN, ESPN, ABC, CBS, TNT, or CBS are any different?

I have two friends, very close to me, that are a Sports Information Director and an Assistant Athletic Director at major universities in the ACC and the Big 12. I have another friend of the family that is an actual player on the Boston Red Sox. The behind the story scenes I could tell you about certain Heisman Trophy winning running backs that Mike Dikta traded a whole team for the right to draft, certain Red Sox World Series starting shortstops that the Sox decided not to resign, and other much more not so famous but easily recognizable people would baffle the mind.

TPD's subject is a good one and probably doesn't miss the mark as portraying athletes and those in the money of big time athletics as being morally somewhat questionable, and I'm being nice. Lots of stuff happens behinds the scenes that people never hear about. As an Sports Information Director(SID), my best friend spends more of his time hiding stories of date rape, unforseen pregnancies, payoffs, NCAA violations, drinking and drug problems and other assorted crap than he does actually putting together media guides, setting up interviews, providing time with coaches and players with reporters and others, giving out tickets and other duties you would think would be his major priorities, that it isn't funny. Hiding controversial situations at big time colleges and putting out potential problems created by athletes and coaches, probably keeps thousands of people employeed every year in this country.

Good subject and I could speak intelligently on the subject for hours but I've said all I'm going to on the subject. Have fun with the discussion and know that it's a subject many would probably be better off not knowing about.

[Scalablob990]

Might not be 100% correct, but I remember reading that Len Bias (old news) was a coke head for a LOOOOOOOOOOOOONG time before he even was looked at by the Celts. Besides that supposedly he diddn't even have enough credits to graduate or something related   to that, I just remember reading it and being like wow.....thats a hell of a list.

[bdm860]

I remember when this book came out, I looked at it at the bookstore and thought it was crap.  I never read it, so I can't give an opinion an the actual book, but here's my perceived problems with it:

It's about allegations, not facts.  40% of the NBA players have been arrested?  That automatically portrays a negative image, but doesn't paint an accurate picture.  Last I checked, people were innocent until proven guilty in the US, but books like this take the opposite approach.  They try to make it seem like if someone is accused, he's guilty.  It seemed he was using anecdotal evidence to draw broad conclusions.  Just my opinion here, but I bet high paid entertainers are falsely accused way more than average people just because of the financial benefit of the accuser.  Even if the accusation is completely bogus, a multi-million dollar entertainer is probably more likely to cut a check and settle out of court just to make sure it never sees the light of day.  Kobe Bryant has never been convicted of rape, but now he'll probably always be thought of as a rapist.  Even if that case went to trial, and Kobe was found not guilty, he would still be considered a rapist by most (like he is today), so it makes a whole lot of sense for a player to just cut a check.  I've known some people that came into a little money, and then accusations started coming in so others could cash in too.  Funny how those accusations never came about when the people I knew had nothing.  You either cut a check or get you name forever linked with an offense you never even committed. 

It seemed to be a way to capitalize on the Kobe Bryant rape case.  It definitely came off like a hidden agenda, like he was trying to bring to light how corrupt the NBA is, when really he was just trying to get paid himself.  Pretending to have righteous intents when you're only motive is money for yourself doesn't sit well with me.

It seemed he was saying today's NBA is terrible and absolutely corrupt, but the NBA of years past were a bunch of perfect role models.  Personally, I always viewed this point of view as somewhat racist, now that the NBA is so much more hip hop centric, crime has now become rampant throughout because of it.  How about all the cocaine use by players in the 80's and before, or how about guys like Karl Malone essentially statutorily raping a girl 20+ years ago?  How about all the fights that used to happen on the NBA hardwood?  He doesn't attack these things because then it wouldn't make it seem like hip hop and the urban vibe has corrupted the NBA as much as some would like us to believe.

What percentage of Senators and such have been arrested over this same time frame?  It seems like I see Senators being accused more often in the news than pro athletes (just my opinion, I have no backing evidence for this).  If you think athletes get things covered up and never see the light of day, what about these guys?  Again I think it's just an attack on hip hop and the "blackness" of today's NBA, and an excuse to cash in on the Kobe case.

Again, I've never read the book, I picked it up at the bookstore, looked through it, and refused to support it.  Of course maybe I'll try and pick it up at the library now.  In no way am I saying the NBA is perfect, I know there are criminals in professional sports, but there's criminals in the Senate too, there's criminals everywhere.  Go google "teacher arrested" and see how many news links come up.  Don't try to make the NBA seem worse than it is and painting a negative image by focusing on accusations.

[KungPoweChicken]

From wikipedia

"Black on Black Crime"

"Homicide is the leading cause of death for African American males aged 15 - 34. In the year 2005 the Black homicide victimization rate was 6 times higher than the rate for Whites at 20.6 per 100,000,[4] with 94% of Black homicide victims being killed by a Black offender.[4] Explanations offered for the higher rates of crime among African Americans include family structure, the higher rates of single parent families, gang activity, close proximity to dangerous and violent urban drug trade, unemployment and ecological concentrations of urban poverty, and other socio-economic causes."

"In the US, the media gives much attention to black crime, more so than white crime."


Crime Data

Lifetime chances of a person going to prison are higher for

    -- men (9%) than for women (1.1%)
    -- blacks (16.2%) and Hispanics (9.4%) than for whites (2.5%)
 
 -------------------------------------------------------------
"From Radford University."

"Based on current rates of first incarceration, an estimated 28% of black males will enter State or Federal prison during their lifetime, compared to 16% of Hispanic males and 4.4% of white males.

Sixty-five percent of state prison inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 1991, up from 60% in 1986.

At current levels of incarceration newborn black males in this country have a greater than a 1 in 4 chance of going to prison during their lifetimes, while Hispanic males have a 1 in 6 chance, and white males have a 1 in 23 chance of serving time. NCJ 160092

The number of drug trafficking convictions in State courts more than doubled between 1986 and1990. Of persons convicted of drug trafficking in State courts in 1990--85% were male 42% were white, 57% black, and 1% of other races."

[Steve Weinman]

Just my opinion here, but I bet high paid entertainers are falsely accused way more than average people just because of the financial benefit of the accuser.  Even if the accusation is completely bogus, a multi-million dollar entertainer is probably more likely to cut a check and settle out of court just to make sure it never sees the light of day.  Kobe Bryant has never been convicted of rape, but now he'll probably always be thought of as a rapist.  Even if that case went to trial, and Kobe was found not guilty, he would still be considered a rapist by most (like he is today), so it makes a whole lot of sense for a player to just cut a check.  I've known some people that came into a little money, and then accusations started coming in so others could cash in too.  Funny how those accusations never came about when the people I knew had nothing.  You either cut a check or get you name forever linked with an offense you never even committed. 

Just wanted to take a moment to highlight this - no matter what perspective one has on this stuff, I think bdm's point here is an important piece of the discussion.  Well said, sir.

-sw

[Who]

I think the NBA has an abnormally high amount of high character players and an even higher amount of solid characters .... and a freakishly low amount of true trouble makers in comparison to other sports.

[gustusias]

I don't like the topic at all and the book is a disgrace. Aren't there other things in life to worry about? Is it that boring?  Look,  who does not know about the childhood of many of these players? They have worked hard to get where they are and been given huge sums of money at a young age... you know what! I am leaving this all alone. It is boring. Money talks and the rest walks. NBA, Hollywood, politicians, etc.... the world is not just and, too often, very cruel.

[tb727]

The part I never got is all these commercials you're inundated with about all the charity work NBA players do for their community.  That's all mandatory stuff that's built into their contracts.  They have to appear a certain number of times per year.

The title of this thread should be: The NBA, where crime happens 

[Andy Jick]

I don't like the topic at all and the book is a disgrace. Aren't there other things in life to worry about? Is it that boring?  Look,  who does not know about the childhood of many of these players? They have worked hard to get where they are and been given huge sums of money at a young age... you know what! I am leaving this all alone. It is boring. Money talks and the rest walks. NBA, Hollywood, politicians, etc.... the world is not just and, too often, very cruel.

yes, let's just shelve this topic, right?  one never should confront or discuss things that are wrong.  we should just hold hands and sing.  because people with money just can't help themselves...it's not their fault...blame our parents or our environment.  a tiger can't change his stripes...the apple doesn't fall far from the tree (and stuff like that...).

sorry to sound sarcastic, but all the original poster was doing was shedding light on a topic that has merit.  we may not like it...and if we don't we can click the button that takes us to another section of this site.  but to ignore it because we don't like what we see isn't the answer either.

[JBcat]

I think the NBA has an abnormally high amount of high character players and an even higher amount of solid characters .... and a freakishly low amount of true trouble makers in comparison to other sports.

Who,  I have to agree with you on this.   You talk about the best players in the game today many of them seem like high character guys from our big 3, Tim Duncan, Chris Paul, Steve Nash, Wade ect and represent our league well in my opinion.  As always I think the minority that are true trouble makers will overlook some of the good/great things some of the players have done.   Look at Mutombo with what he has done in his homeland or Chris Paul with his charity work in New Orleans but nobody really talks about it.  

With that being said if we expect them to be angels we will let ourselves down.   I know 2 people who used to work for the Red Sox and some of the stories I've heard are shocking.  So I think it's across all sports where there are some problems (I'd like to see stats comparing to other major sports)  and football more than any other sport seems like it's getting the most negative press recently from Michael Vick to Pacman Jones and baseball had it's share of problems with steroids.