According to ESPN sources, Andrew Bynum to sign with Pacers

[sed522002]

Great signing for Indy just because now he can't sign with the Heat.

Yep..lol. They don't need Bynum and he knows it, but he's a nice piece to have if he's able to play.

[barefacedmonk]

Perhaps, it wasn't all Bynum's fault. Maybe the coach and organization is to be blamed as well. I just came across this:

As Deng recently told one close friend, “the stuff going on in practice would never be tolerated by the coaching staff or the front office back in Chicago. It’s a mess."

Deng was brought in to help clean it up when he arrived in a deal for Andrew Bynum on Jan. 7. But since then, he’s seen players get thrown out of practice, take off their uniform tops at halftime and threaten not to play, mouth off to Brown and generally act like spoiled brats.

There is no accountability, as Dion Waiters found out when he was kicked out of practice last week but still got his usual minutes against the Knicks. Brown isn’t getting much help from GM Chris Grant, who is expected to be fired at season’s end because of the losing and problems in the locker room.

Link

[Roy H.]

Perhaps, it wasn't all Bynum's fault. Maybe the coach and organization is to be blamed as well. I just came across this:

As Deng recently told one close friend, “the stuff going on in practice would never be tolerated by the coaching staff or the front office back in Chicago. It’s a mess."

Deng was brought in to help clean it up when he arrived in a deal for Andrew Bynum on Jan. 7. But since then, he’s seen players get thrown out of practice, take off their uniform tops at halftime and threaten not to play, mouth off to Brown and generally act like spoiled brats.

There is no accountability, as Dion Waiters found out when he was kicked out of practice last week but still got his usual minutes against the Knicks. Brown isn’t getting much help from GM Chris Grant, who is expected to be fired at season’s end because of the losing and problems in the locker room.

Link

Definitely a terrible organization, and Brown is a joke.

[staticcc]

He's a force in the middle and about as tough as you'll find in the NBA.

Being a thug doesn't mean you're tough.

Maybe cool it on the use of 'thug' to describe a black man..

Maybe cool it with reading racism into arguments where there isn't any. It says a lot about your own prejudices.

No, it says a lot about your ignorance to the power of language in shaping a human being's thoughts. Like how you could have said punk, or jerk, or child, but chose thug. This exact issue has actually come up recently...

http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/01/22/3194121/richard-sherman-thug-acceptable-version-word/

But you are probably right, I was definitely intimating you are a racist and not trying to subtly point out that the word has a lot of negative connotations tied to it. Since I moved on and continued talking about the Celtics.

I know you are a very respected poster on this forum, and that respect comes from my perspective as well. But don't try to imply that I have some knee-jerk reaction to something that is actually an issue within society. And don't tell me how I view other human beings cause I never said anything of the sort concerning you.

I am sorry that I posted this to the thread and not directly to Roy H. but considering I was called out publicly I felt the need to defend myself publicly.

No, I totally understand that many liberals (and worse, race-baiters) are trying to redefine a race-neutral term. I just don't buy into it.

Bill Laimbeer was a thug. So is Andrew Bynum.

I notice that every time an issue about race is raised, the person raising the issue is assumed to be "liberal" lol.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Perhaps, it wasn't all Bynum's fault. Maybe the coach and organization is to be blamed as well. I just came across this:

As Deng recently told one close friend, “the stuff going on in practice would never be tolerated by the coaching staff or the front office back in Chicago. It’s a mess."

Deng was brought in to help clean it up when he arrived in a deal for Andrew Bynum on Jan. 7. But since then, he’s seen players get thrown out of practice, take off their uniform tops at halftime and threaten not to play, mouth off to Brown and generally act like spoiled brats.

There is no accountability, as Dion Waiters found out when he was kicked out of practice last week but still got his usual minutes against the Knicks. Brown isn’t getting much help from GM Chris Grant, who is expected to be fired at season’s end because of the losing and problems in the locker room.

Link

Was about to post this.

Celticsblog thinks this Celtics team is Armageddon? They worry that the team isn't tanking hard enough? Worried Ainge will screw up?

That Cavs team has multiple lottery picks. Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson, Varejao and Luol Deng? That's some promise right there. Should have been awesome, right?

[Eddie20]

He's a force in the middle and about as tough as you'll find in the NBA.

Being a thug doesn't mean you're tough.

Maybe cool it on the use of 'thug' to describe a black man..

Maybe cool it with reading racism into arguments where there isn't any. It says a lot about your own prejudices.

No, it says a lot about your ignorance to the power of language in shaping a human being's thoughts. Like how you could have said punk, or jerk, or child, but chose thug. This exact issue has actually come up recently...

http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/01/22/3194121/richard-sherman-thug-acceptable-version-word/

But you are probably right, I was definitely intimating you are a racist and not trying to subtly point out that the word has a lot of negative connotations tied to it. Since I moved on and continued talking about the Celtics.

I know you are a very respected poster on this forum, and that respect comes from my perspective as well. But don't try to imply that I have some knee-jerk reaction to something that is actually an issue within society. And don't tell me how I view other human beings cause I never said anything of the sort concerning you.

I am sorry that I posted this to the thread and not directly to Roy H. but considering I was called out publicly I felt the need to defend myself publicly.

No, I totally understand that many liberals (and worse, race-baiters) are trying to redefine a race-neutral term. I just don't buy into it.

Bill Laimbeer was a thug. So is Andrew Bynum.

I notice that every time an issue about race is raised, the person raising the issue is assumed to be "liberal" lol.

Sorry to rehash this, but the term is often used in basketball and not with any subliminal meaning as you're insinuating.

``I got a shooter, and I got another thug power forward,'' Shaquille O'Neal said recently. ``Ain't no excuses now for me or anybody else in this locker room. We should be on our way.''

The "thug forward" he was referring to was Rodman.

[jojowhite10]

Shaquille O'Neal--The Ultimate Authority on everything that is politically correct when it comes to language and race.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/news/2003/01/10/shaq_yao_ap/

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal said he was joking, not being a racist, when he used a mock Chinese accent while talking about Houston center Yao Ming.

A columnist for AsianWeek complained in his newspaper that O'Neal made several derogatory comments recently about Yao, with the Lakers' center saying, "Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh."'

Give it a rest, guys. I get you don't think it's offensive. I do. Move on and talk about Bynum like Roy H. suggested. Yeesh.

[sed522002]

He's a force in the middle and about as tough as you'll find in the NBA.

Being a thug doesn't mean you're tough.

Maybe cool it on the use of 'thug' to describe a black man..

Maybe cool it with reading racism into arguments where there isn't any. It says a lot about your own prejudices.

No, it says a lot about your ignorance to the power of language in shaping a human being's thoughts. Like how you could have said punk, or jerk, or child, but chose thug. This exact issue has actually come up recently...

http://thinkprogress.org/sports/2014/01/22/3194121/richard-sherman-thug-acceptable-version-word/

But you are probably right, I was definitely intimating you are a racist and not trying to subtly point out that the word has a lot of negative connotations tied to it. Since I moved on and continued talking about the Celtics.

I know you are a very respected poster on this forum, and that respect comes from my perspective as well. But don't try to imply that I have some knee-jerk reaction to something that is actually an issue within society. And don't tell me how I view other human beings cause I never said anything of the sort concerning you.

I am sorry that I posted this to the thread and not directly to Roy H. but considering I was called out publicly I felt the need to defend myself publicly.

No, I totally understand that many liberals (and worse, race-baiters) are trying to redefine a race-neutral term. I just don't buy into it.

Bill Laimbeer was a thug. So is Andrew Bynum.

I notice that every time an issue about race is raised, the person raising the issue is assumed to be "liberal" lol.

Sorry to rehash this, but the term is often used in basketball and not with any subliminal meaning as you're insinuating.

``I got a shooter, and I got another thug power forward,'' Shaquille O'Neal said recently. ``Ain't no excuses now for me or anybody else in this locker room. We should be on our way.''

The "thug forward" he was referring to was Rodman.

Then don't rehash it...

[Eddie20]

Shaquille O'Neal--The Ultimate Authority on everything that is politically correct when it comes to language and race.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/news/2003/01/10/shaq_yao_ap/

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal said he was joking, not being a racist, when he used a mock Chinese accent while talking about Houston center Yao Ming.

A columnist for AsianWeek complained in his newspaper that O'Neal made several derogatory comments recently about Yao, with the Lakers' center saying, "Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh."'

Give it a rest, guys. I get you don't think it's offensive. I do. Move on and talk about Bynum like Roy H. suggested. Yeesh.

I'm just saying that term has to do with ones actions and not with race.

http://ideas.time.com/2014/01/24/richard-sherman-thug-n-word/

[D.o.s.]

He's a force in the middle and about as tough as you'll find in the NBA.

Being a thug doesn't mean you're tough.

What is your definition of thug as it pertains to Bynum?

Multiple flagrant fouls with the seeming intent to injure.

His off court behavior seems more "punk" than "thug".

Well we might as well call Sully a thug then with his old school fouls  . I heard KG being called a fake thug a lot by others...lol.

I just think he's still childish and from my understanding some say he'd rather be a computer engineer than a basketball player..this isn't his real passion.

I mean, he won the genetic lottery. Not much you can do if you're 7 feet tall, you know?

Also, for what it's worth, you could say Bynum is a thug because, etymologically speaking, it comes from a Hindi word for swindler, or thief.

But, uh, it's absolutely used (a lot) as a racist workaround. No question about that, and regardless of your political affiliation.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Shaquille O'Neal--The Ultimate Authority on everything that is politically correct when it comes to language and race.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/basketball/news/2003/01/10/shaq_yao_ap/

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal said he was joking, not being a racist, when he used a mock Chinese accent while talking about Houston center Yao Ming.

A columnist for AsianWeek complained in his newspaper that O'Neal made several derogatory comments recently about Yao, with the Lakers' center saying, "Tell Yao Ming, 'ching-chong-yang-wah-ah-soh."'

Give it a rest, guys. I get you don't think it's offensive. I do. Move on and talk about Bynum like Roy H. suggested. Yeesh.

I'm just saying that term has to do with ones actions and not with race.

http://ideas.time.com/2014/01/24/richard-sherman-thug-n-word/

That article is stupid. So basically, "thug" is used like the "n word" but because we already have issues with the use of the "n word"  let's ignore the use of the word "thug". I mean, afterall, they already listen to our complaints about "n word" use, we don't want to make them think we complain about everything! Yea that makes sense, the problem is me taking offense to someone offending me, not the offender.


I also never understand the "black people say it too" side either, because context matters! For instance, if my father calls me sweetheart, that's a term of endearment but if my male boss said it to me it'd be considered being condescending. Most women would take issue with that.

So, you call hockey players who are white thugs, that's because they are actually doing things that are considered "thuggish" (I'm not saying it's right or wrong but it at least has merits)... all a black man (Sherman) has to do is raise his voice in an animated way to be labeled as one, when in reality he is no more thug than the president (oh wait... @.@), unless being a footballer automatically qualifies you as one 0.o

To me it just sounds like, "I don't find it offensive, you shouldn't. If you do, you're just playing victim" usually followed by "Black people love playing the victim." O.O

Also to the "I'm just saying that term has to do with ones actions and not with race". I really can't tell if you're being serious. Are you really saying that it's never about race? Maybe you are talking about in the case of Bynum? If you mean it as a whole, that's HI-larious! I hope I don't get banned but I have to say, you should do comedy.

[Roy H.]

At this point, let's get back to discussion of the signing please.  The race tangent shouldn't have been brought up or discussed, as 1) it's off-topic and 2) it's kind of silly.

One more time.  Please get this back to Bynum, folks.

[slamtheking]

At this point, let's get back to discussion of the signing please.  The race tangent shouldn't have been brought up or discussed, as 1) it's off-topic and 2) it's kind of silly.

One more time.  Please get this back to Bynum, folks.

agreed -- there's always some fool willing to pay some lazy loser in the hopes that THIS time, that waste of space will make an effort to be productive.

Every GM should just turn their back on this clown and get him out of the league.  Plenty of other players that would bust their butts for a spot in the league.

[D.o.s.]

At this point, let's get back to discussion of the signing please.  The race tangent shouldn't have been brought up or discussed, as 1) it's off-topic and 2) it's kind of silly.

One more time.  Please get this back to Bynum, folks.

agreed -- there's always some fool willing to pay some lazy loser in the hopes that THIS time, that waste of space will make an effort to be productive.

Every GM should just turn their back on this clown and get him out of the league.  Plenty of other players that would bust their butts for a spot in the league.

Spoken like a true Celtics fan--word coming from Cleveland and from Philly (via Doug Collins) is that Bynum busted his ass in rehab trying to get healthy.

[Roy H.]

At this point, let's get back to discussion of the signing please.  The race tangent shouldn't have been brought up or discussed, as 1) it's off-topic and 2) it's kind of silly.

One more time.  Please get this back to Bynum, folks.

agreed -- there's always some fool willing to pay some lazy loser in the hopes that THIS time, that waste of space will make an effort to be productive.

Every GM should just turn their back on this clown and get him out of the league.  Plenty of other players that would bust their butts for a spot in the league.

Spoken like a true Celtics fan--word coming from Cleveland and from Philly (via Doug Collins) is that Bynum busted his ass in rehab trying to get healthy.

I haven't seen those articles.  It doesn't surprise me that Bynum would be motivated to try to earn a contract, though.  His level of play and his demeanor wasn't good enough, though. You would think with $18 million on the line he would have been a model citizen.