Amazing Washington Post feature on John Wall

The other option was to run his father's entire arrest record and not tell John about it ahead of time, which would have been even worse.

To not run it in the paper would be a crime. I was wondering throughout the story what the real story was behind his dad. He had to do it, and the ethics behind it shouldn't even be debated. There is no issue.

 

Awesome story.

 

Did that stuff about Wall ever get written in any of the Kentucky papers? I ask because there's no college basketball team covered more thoroughly than how Louisville and Lexington cover UK. I can't believe they would have missed something like that that was out there on Wall.

 

Reminds me a little of the DeShawn Stevenson background I found on wikipedia while doing a little research for an article
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeShawn_Stevenson

DeShawn Stevenson was born in Fresno, California to Genice Popps and Darryl C. Stevenson. A year after DeShawn's birth, Darryl Stevenson was hospitalized for threatening family members, allegedly attacking his brother with a butcher knife. Stevenson's parents never married, although when the boy was 3, his father signed a court order agreeing he had a duty to support his son. Two months after being released from a Fresno County mental health facility, Darryl Stevenson held up a gas station with an accomplice who held a knife to a woman's throat. Darryl was found incompetent to stand trial and wound up in Atascadero State Hospital. Psychiatrists diagnosed him as a paranoid schizophrenic. He eventually was placed on probation, but arrested again for kidnapping a woman in 1985 and jailed in April 1986. In 1993, when Stevenson was 12, his father Darryl murdered his own mother, Clara, by strangling her.[1] Darryl Stevenson died in Corcoran State Prison of lung cancer at age 36 in 1999. Tattooed on his chest was one word: "DeShawn."[2]

 

Here's the thing about Prisbell: If I had a scoop, a really, juicy scoop, I bet he could coax it out of me before my Podunk newspaper went to press.

This is all ridiculous hyperbole, of course, because Prisbell owns his beats like nobody else on the East Coast. I would never scoop him. Never.

He's a fearless reporter. He's not particularly loud. He's not a pompous, self-important asshole like certain ESPN personalities and metro reporters he's worked alongside on press row. And most importantly, I get the sense he still believes in the journalistic cause. A lot of us have given up, become bitter and started mailing it in. But Prisbell is out there constantly cultivating sources and hunting down angles. He's relentless but respectful and courteous about how he goes about it.

 

Interesting story but oddly pedestrian.

Pretty much reminds me of half the NBA- Father in jail, Mother holds family together working as domestic, adviser / AAU coach takes player under his wing, Player/ mother buys into pitch of slick talking college coach. Player accepts full 4 year ride. Player leaves after freshman year for the NBA and lives happily thereafter.

Only thing missing in this one are the out of wedlock kids. No doubt sure to show up before the ink is dry on contract.

 

Betcha Wall knew and long ago decided not to talk about it.

 

I kind of had the same feeling when I read that. Maybe he found out about it long ago and put it out of his mind. I think any kid would probably do that.

 

One other future thing missing. The inevitable bankruptcy filing after the star takes care of all his homies from the hood after the star talks about remembering where he came from.

 

And his 10 kids from 9 shorties.

 

Steve Garvey laughs and laughs.

 

Wall responds to the article...

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/dcsportsbog/2010/06/john_wall_on_eric_prisbells_st.html