WHAT?!?!?! An NBA player who's only about the money?

I've got to second what Smith said in his column.

Although I only dealt with him a few times last season, the last time being in the Final Four, the one overriding thought I had in my head afterward was, 'What a fucking prick.'

 

I was thinking of what Smith would say because I just finished re-reading The Jordan Rules (randomly picked it up at B&N to finish off a gift card). I hadn't read it since high school. Man, that book must've been something when it came out. Great reporting, color and opinion mixed in. I wonder if it's on Cuban's Amazon wish list?

 

That's one way of saying it. Another would be he's too thoughtless to understand the ramifications of his utterances, i.e. he lacks the capacity to think before he speaks. Obviously he's not what Joe Biden would consider to be of Presidential timber.

 

Great column by Smith...

 

Very good column by Smith. And I'll third the "Tyrus Thomas is a dick without a real reason to be" theory.

 

I think it's pretty clear that the kid's fine has only fleeting connection to his slam-dunk contest comment. The Bulls just want to show him that he can't be a punk all the time.

 

Thomas may be a real tool, but what he said isn't going to surprise a lot of folks. In fact, most of the sporting public would agree. The slam dunk contest has run its course; it's lame and the same old, same old. Unless you let these guys start using props, how much more can they actually do that hasn't been done last year. And the year before. And the year before....

 

Sam Smith's "The Jordan Rules" was a super book ... it both maintained my interest - on an NBA subject, no less - and it was one of the first publications to my knowledge that didn't fawn over Mr. Jordan.

Smith's column was spot-on, as usual given a chance to tackle this type of subject. Tyrus Thomas is a jerk, but if being a jerk is a fineable offense, most pro athletes would be much lighter in the wallet.

 

If I was Stern, I'd find someone to replace him.

 

Yeah ... but, Sam ... it sounds like he's been a monumental jerk.

 

No doubt, Shot. But you know as well - perhaps better - than I do that Thomas is not alone. Sure, he scored no points for tact, but it's still not a fineable offense. Can't the Bulls worry about bigger issues - like headbands?

 

Well, that's just it, Sam. The bigger issue is ... the bigger issue. That's why I'm saying the Bulls shoved back for reasons more far-ranging than an off-handed comment about the slam-dunk contest. They got fed up with this kid, like so many of these high schoolers coming into pro ball, failing to show respect for history or the game itself.