Can someone fill in the blanks on Tinsley for me?

[jazzfan1971]

I don't really know what he did to deserve the treatment he received from Indy. Seems like it must have been some terrible ****, but, I've never heard much beyond just dogging it.

Can you guys fill me in on specific transgressions Tinsley made? Or is it all just general stuff?

[PR07]

Attitude, work ethic, multiple off-court incidents, and injuries. I'm sure there's even more behind the scenes that we never heard.

[jazzfan1971]

I guess you guys don't know what it was either then. There had to be a smoking gun on this, don'tchathink?

[jazzfan1971]

Wjat was the nature of the off court incidents?

[benefit1970]

Larry Bird is old and fat and not a good GM

I am not sure what good he thought would come from benching someone who averaged over 8 assists in his last season. No trade value, pissed off the player, and hurt the team.

Unless Tinsley was eating babies, he didn't deserve it.

-Brandon

[joeshmoe]

Here is an article from a local columnist:

http://www.indystar.com/article/20090723/SPORTS15/907230409/1004/SPORTS/Price+tag+is+huge++but+worth+it

[chatard5]

Larry Bird is old and fat and not a good GM

I am not sure what good he thought would come from benching someone who averaged over 8 assists in his last season. No trade value, pissed off the player, and hurt the team.

Unless Tinsley was eating babies, he didn't deserve it.

-Brandon

Sooo Bird should have kept Tinsley and played him so the # of season ticket holders would drop another 40%? You've gotta draw the line somewhere. If he lets Tinsley do whatever he wants, then what are the other players going to try and do? You can't just do whatever you want without consequences.

Tinsley deserved it. He got sooo many chances. He is just a lazy thug. Man, I wonder how many games he didn't play in just because he was too lazy/too high/too hungover to play? Being hungover was a very common "injury or illness" for him.

[basketballwacko2]

I guess you guys don't know what it was either then. There had to be a smoking gun on this, don'tchathink?

JT was involved in several off court incidents. 1. he was with Stephen Jackson at Club Rio, Indy area strip club when a fight broke out and Jax shot the parking lot up with his gatt! Tinsley had a gun, which he had a license for and pot was found in his car, it was decided that the pot belonged to a 3rd person, aka "the Fall Guy." JT was not charged. 2 JT was in a bar called 8 Seconds when a dispute over a jacket erupted and JT beat the holy hell out of a bar manager, it wasn't even his coat! 3. While out partying JT and his posse got into a thing with some thugs and were chased around town and shots were fired at the Tinsley group, a Pacers employee was hit in the shooting but lived. Arguably not JT's fault that a gang of thugs started chasing them but fact is they were at sleazy joint that they should have not been at.

There might have been one or two other issues but that's the major stuff. In addition to that JT could not stay healthy, and with the problems our other players have had with their behavior, Artest, Jax, Shawne Williams, JT became the last of the thugs. Bird came out and said, "He's done he'll never play for the Pacers again." He then became untradeable appearently.

[basketballwacko2]

Larry Bird is old and fat and not a good GM

I am not sure what good he thought would come from benching someone who averaged over 8 assists in his last season. No trade value, pissed off the player, and hurt the team.

Unless Tinsley was eating babies, he didn't deserve it.

-Brandon

And Jamaal Tinsley is young fat thug who 97% of Pacer fans hate! Maybe the Pacers management could have handled his departure better but this is not Larry's fault.

[chatard5]

97% of Pacer fans hate Jamaal? That is a high number, but I think it's even higher. I don't know any1 that doesn't hate Jamaal. I mean I don't know anyone that likes him, let alone being indifferent. They all literally hate him. He had sooo many chances, but blew it. But hey, I hope a team sees how good he can be and pays him well (just for our benefit). Either way a few years after Tinsley is out of the league he will have financial problems. He'll probably be sued for doing something stupid like Pacman or just waste it on shoes that have diamonds all over them.

[basketballwacko2]

97% of Pacer fans hate Jamaal? That is a high number, but I think it's even higher. I don't know any1 that doesn't hate Jamaal. I mean I don't know anyone that likes him, let alone being indifferent. They all literally hate him. He had sooo many chances, but blew it. But hey, I hope a team sees how good he can be and pays him well (just for our benefit). Either way a few years after Tinsley is out of the league he will have financial problems. He'll probably be sued for doing something stupid like Pacman or just waste it on shoes that have diamonds all over them.

You know the things he did could have been a lot worse considering the stuff that other pro player bad boys have done in recent years. Hate is probably a strong word but we 97-98% of Pacer fans who don't want JT to ever play for us again really don't like him. I can imagine what's gonna happen if he resigns with a team like Philly, the Boo Birds are gonna be making their feelings known.

[chatard5]

Oh maaaan, I may have to buy tickets to the game Tinsley comes back. I would loooove to boo him.

I forget if I posted this or meant to post it but forgot... I wonder how many more season tickets will be sold just b/c TJ is off the team? I mean I know there were some more just because we made him inactive. I feel like there has to be a few more sold. If the economy wasn't so bad it could've been more. Tinsley should help pay considering the Pacers will still be paying him and he'll get paid by another team!

I think I know this answer and it has probably already been asked... But let's say his buyout is for 75% of his remaining contract--that has nothing to do with the cap space, that stays at the full price, correct? I am 99% sure that is right and am sure it has been asked, but I will ask it again.

Oh yeah, we should sign Steve Francis to the vet minimum. I really like him. I think he could still play a little ball. He could take Earl Watson and on a good day I think he could take TJ. He was a starting All-Star for like 4 years in a row or something crazy--a lot of people forget that. I may be his only remaining fan, but bring on The Franchise!

[basketballwacko2]

No stevie franchise please that guy is a cancer. He was great for a yr or two but he's done I bet.

[Dedicated_76ers_fan]

To me, Tinsley's a guy that needs to find out where his life is and where he wants to go. If he wants to be a cancerous thug, then no team's gonna even give him the Vet Min.

I think David Stern should take a Roger Goddell Approach. Goodell is maddening at times, but he fixed the league.

[fienX420]

I'll always be a Tinsley fan. He's had conditioning, shooting, injury, and man-to-man defense issues in the past, but he always worked on his weaknesses and I thought he got a bad rap - he's a true PG.

That being said, there sure is a 'smoking gun.' A Pacers employee was with Tinsley at the club when their group was followed to a hotel and shot at. The employee alleges that Tinsley personally is responsible for him being locked inside a vehicle under incoming fire and is suing him. He was shot in both elbows and will suffer permanent disability. Apparently, the Pacers management believes Tinsley is sufficiently to blame for the situation and considered it the 'last straw' for an unpopular, often-injured, and under-performing player.

By the way, does everyone remember when Bird said that Tinsley was going to be the next Pacer to be an All-Star?

[cdash]

He sodomized a kitty.

...no, but seriously, it was just a perfect storm of bad things. To the outsider, it may not seem worthy of banishment, but the timing of everything and his overall level of frustration really culminated into what it became.

[count55]

This wasn't a punishment...it was a business decision. Tinsley was the last of the dead enders that were largely reviled in the Pacer community. His presence on the court hurt them on the court and in the box office.

They banished him, but no one, including Tinsley, thought it would go on very long. They figured they'd be able to trade him. In fact:

http://nationalsportsreview.com/sports/ ... l-tinsley/

In February, a grievance was filed against the Pacers by the NBA Players Association in behalf of Tinsley. A hearing scheduled next week will now be avoided. Tinsley was banished from the team in the summer of 2008, pending a trade. Tinsley signed an agreement that allowed this, but when the Pacers were unable to trade him in February, the NBAPA filed the grievance.

There are myriad off court issues, including minor drug use, showing up to practice drunk (on more than one occasion), and the well documented bar/gun incidences. However, he was not held out for last season as punishment for those. He was held out because allowing him back would have undercut the direction the team was going and probably completely undone the efforts this franchise has made to regain the goodwill of the community.

[mizzoupacers]

Here's a blank no one has filled yet: SINUSITIS.

Personally, I suspect Tinsley's bouts with sinusitis might be aided by joining a team located in a dry climate. The Utah kind of dry climate, not the Arizona kind.