Has a lazy/unmotivated player ever "gotten it"?

[Jeff Van Gully]

Zach Randolph

ummm... yeah. about that z-bo call...

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/247150/Zach-Randolph-Arrested-On-Marijuana-Possession-Charge



you can all have your and1s back.

[GreatWhiteStiff]

The thing is if a guy is successful he's not longer considered lazy/unmotivated and the tag goes away, guys who are unsuccessful are likely to be considered lazy/unmotivated and have that as a reason they bust.

I've heard both vince and tmac as lazy/unmotivated but they were both pretty good.

[Louie_Ruckuz]

Rasheed Wallace!

He was always looked at one of the top PF in the game but always let his tempter get the best out of him. I feel he GOT IT once he went to Detroit and accepted his role.

[SKR]

Zach Randolph

ummm... yeah. about that z-bo call...

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/247150/Zach-Randolph-Arrested-On-Marijuana-Possession-Charge



you can all have your and1s back.

one charge makes you lazy unmotivated lol?

[MeestR]

Isn't this why the Most Improved Player Award was invented?

[Jeff Van Gully]

Zach Randolph

ummm... yeah. about that z-bo call...

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/247150/Zach-Randolph-Arrested-On-Marijuana-Possession-Charge



you can all have your and1s back.

one charge makes you lazy unmotivated lol?

i suppose not. but-- ohhhh.... grizzlies fan. my bad.

i love z-bo like so many. his redemption story has been great. i suppose this doesn't impact his basketball play, which has resulted in a deserved retirement of his number. but i thought he had "gotten it" in life. looks like maybe that last marijuana distribution charge he beat may have had something to it. these circumstances are kind of unacceptable for someone who has sought to be a beacon of hope.

and maybe you're right. in his case, there's nothing lazy or unmotivated about selling drugs while having made triple-digit millions of dollars playing basketball. if anything, it's a serious commitment. extreme multitasking.

[Jeff Van Gully]

Isn't this why the Most Improved Player Award was invented?

that's definitely a subset. but lots of those players have been hard workers throughout and saw substantial returns on that effort from one year to the next. those spikes influence the award.

but surely it's sometimes someone who was a bum and stopped being a bum, like hassan whiteside.

[JonFromVA]

I've been thinking about different trades (Tony Snell and a 2nd rounder for Lamb) and certain types of players....and also reading the "project thread", and it got me to pondering.

Has a lazy/non-motivated player ever become motivated? You see all of these players who have wonderful tools and could be great, but seem to just not care enough to put in the work....does it ever work out?

Danny Green even DeSagana Diop were re-focused when facing the end of their NBA career if they didn't change.

JR Smith may deserve some credit as well.

[Beethoven]

Hopefully dlo will when he starts playing for the nets. Unlikely.

[The_Hater]

TMac was incredibly lazy and unmotivated his first 2 seasons in Toronto. It's the major reason his coach Darrell Walker said that he'd be out of the league after his rookie contract ended.

[Ontario]

Jailblazer to Piston Sheed... although his career as a whole is still mostly defined by what he didn't accomplish. Shaq for sure, he was all business once he could not longer win on his own and had to hop from team to team looking for younger guys to carry his load.

[clyde21]

Isn't this why the Most Improved Player Award was invented?

Not really. Was Giannis lazy and unmotivated last year? Was McCollum the season before that?

It has as much to do with natural progression and organic development as it does with players "getting it".

[Bobbymcgee]

Rasheed Wallace!

He was always looked at one of the top PF in the game but always let his tempter get the best out of him. I feel he GOT IT once he went to Detroit and accepted his role.

Agreed, first player that came to my mind.

[Mr Funk]

A dialectical example of this topic would be Derrick Rose, that he once got it but now he's lazy and unmotivated.

[Hoopzilla]

Any player who's production increased during their contract year, but then they forget again the next year after the contract is signed, lol.

Kyle Lowry was a guy who was looked at as unmotivated as he was always pudgy. His skill was evident, he was his own worst enemy. Even now with the Raptors, there were stories of Demar chasing Lowry away from fast food at 3 a.m. He gets it now, but the first 7-8 years of his career were injury riddled and his weight was a big factor for that. The league always knew he had talent, he just needed to be more motivated/dedicated. There was a reason the Raptors were able to pick him up for a first round pick. He was good, but still a gamble on whether he was going to take the game more seriously.

https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/947405-raptors-lowry-derozan-detail-elaborate-late-night-trips-to-mcdonald-s

[Dan Z]

Usually not.
This is why Beasley is in China.

Knicks just signed him.