thebuzzardman wrote:Clyde_Style wrote:thebuzzardman wrote:
This is where I question KP's relationship with his brother. On the one hand, they were all very realistic about how they knew they had a budding star on their hands, since he was young. And they've obviously groomed him etc. And I'm not sure that's wildly different from a lot of families when they see they have an awesome talent on their hands. The part that sort of worries me is that Janis and KP think they've absorbed the "American culture" way of going about things (not entirely unique to usa but a lot) so there's the relentless promotion etc etc. It's not even that I think Janis is some major ahole or is deliberate leading KP astray. The part I worry about is this:
Janis was a pro player, so perhaps he has a bit of hubris in "knowing what the pro thing is all about", where, maybe he doesn't, completely. Janis and the family are CLEARLY looking to cash in on KP, which again, isn't such a big deal, but Janis has taken the outsize position as agent and consigliere to KP, which is ok, but again, what if Janis is a little blind to certain things, and while is acting in KP's best interest, may not have the wide ranging expertise of a different agent? KP shows an inclination to want to be a media star/be media savvy. Glass half full he's a smart guy who sees it as part of the modern athlete/performer game (I'm sure this is mostly true), glass half empty is that KP is a little prone to getting too caught up in it and SO IS JANIS. Pro or not, Janis was a pro in a league and a country (no offense Latvia) where the wealth and relentless fame hype cycle isn't the same as the US of A\NYC.
The worry is that both Janis and KP, potentially a little too caught up in the media-hype lifestyle could have blind spots or not be making the completely best choices, and fatally for KP's career, they had the wrong idea in trainers, being impressed with a trainer with something of a track record, but what sort of instinctually sold them on him was his outsize personality and the fact that he had trained other celebrities etc. Now, I get that celebrities and athletes exchange people who provide services and people get a reputation, generally good, and get more clients etc. Totally understandable. My worry is that both KP and Janis, in this instance, instead of carefully considering exactly what sort of trainer KP should have and following a really cold, rational approach, got a little caught up this current trainer's hype, because it's the sort of thing they sort of like. Meaning, guy's rep is ok, but another voice in their room might have said "Yeah, the guy's great and everything, but what you need is this super boring scientist trainer guy with a long track record of rehabbing knee issues in tall guys" but instead KP and Janis are "this guy is supposed to be good and LOOK AT HIS INSTAGRAM FEED!"
We'll see. All my Sean Van Camby and "KP is a backup" off season sarcasm and trolling aside, I've always been wary, from the moment that KP was drafted - since he had this next big thing hype around him, is that as a really tall guy he'd get hurt a lot and eventually bad enough to just basically kill his career. That he'd be one of those all time "what if" players - sort of like Bill Walton, or maybe even realize less of his talent in the NBA than Walton did.
Bill Walton did win a ring though so even though he got the short end of the stick with his injury shortened career, you can still say he reached his potential during the brief time he was healthy. Plus, he was a champion at UCLA too.
I'm sure you'd agree KP is nowhere close to Walton's caliber yet. Bill Walton was probably one of the finest passing big men of all time. KP's passing skills are weak.
Oh yeah. Walton could have been listed as the all time great C if he didn't get hurt (ok, much higher on the list). I was more pointing out the big "what if" injury component. It's the Knicks. KP definitely not going to work out for one reason or another. First everyone got hyped he was a franchise player, only now it seems most people feel he isn't. The next phase in disappointment will be that he's never healthy. Final phase is early career ending injury. #Knickslife.
Well aren't you being a little bit too much of a Miss Pre-Emptively Disappointed Little Dirty Diaper Woman?
I know you have a long dour off-season testing your ability to uphold your faux doomsaying role, but your bad juju about his health is bringing me down babe
