Michael Beasley says he was blackballed from the NBA

[-Luke-]

If you look at the "Legal issues" section on his wikipedia page, about every second word is marijuana. From that standpoint he would probably do better in todays league because it's just not that big of a deal anymore. I doubt he would stick around longer though.

[CIN-C-STAR]

You don’t need 12 scorers on a team.
There’s only one ball, so at some point you need passing, defense, screening, IQ, professionalism… all that stuff matters.
This reminds me of when Stephen Jackson got cut from the Spurs before the 2013 playoffs because he couldn’t accept playing behind Danny Green.
He probably was still a better player than Green in some important ways, but Green gave the Spurs more of what they needed in the starting lineup (point of attack defense, screen navigation, transition defense, spot up shooting).
I think an 11-year career is pretty good for what Beasley was tbh. He was never a good enough scorer to carry a team against playoff defense, and non-playoff teams would rather give those minutes to a younger player to develop.
Honestly the fact that he’s still playing the victim instead of being introspective pretty much explains it.

[Blame Rasho]

He played 11 years in the league, making roughly 50 million dollars in earnings.

Huh, no. He was someone who should have been out of the league earlier but because of his college stature kept getting chances to figure it out. While we can point to his immaturity, the reality is that you can be plenty immature and stick around indefinitely if you're as good as Beasley was supposed to be.

The thing is that he legitimately was an awesome player…. In college. If he would have actually gotten his crap together he likely would have had a career like Pascal siakam. He just loves weed a lot. What made him great in college was his first step and last step in drives and rebounding, was mediocre in the NBA. I was surprised that his rebounding fell off because that is usually a very reliable skill that translates to the NBA. Miami knew what they had him in, and when LeBron and Bosh came around they threw his ass out to the wolves for meaningless 2nd rounders, mind you he was the 2nd pick two years ago. The fact that he was considered a mle guy after his rookie contract tells you that he just didn’t have it in him. Miami brought him back and still let him go says that he was never blackballed. He just sucked. 11 years means he gets an NBA pension, so he is just talking out of his ass.

[SomeBunghole]

I like how people are talking about him as a "scorer." Hell, even the people criticizing him as an empty stats guy are giving him too much credit because what stats exactly did he put up?

Career .520 TS and a 12 PPG career scorer. People aren't seriously looking at a season where he scored 19 a game on 17 shots on a 17-65 team and thinking this guy could score?

[Doctor MJ]

If you're good enough you won't get blackballed eg Miles Bridges

Leaving aside the whole "blackballed" term, I think it likely that Bridges doesn't last as long in the NBA as Beasley did. You wouldn't expect this given the money he's currently being paid and how much he's scoring, but unless things change in the next couple years, I doubt any team would be looking to sign him to be a part of their core next time he needs a contract. I don't think teams will be interested in him as a role player or a guy you fill out your roster with.

Even his current contract came about in a weird limbo where he was still basically the same player he was before the legal stuff when he was on pace for a rookie max, but accepted an considerably lower than that from his current team who was trying to figure out what to do given that the NBA didn't ban him. Felt to me like a "we'll give you one more chance because we might get a bargain and we're now going anywhere right now any way" contract even though it was way higher than a min contract.

[Doctor MJ]

If you look at the "Legal issues" section on his wikipedia page, about every second word is marijuana. From that standpoint he would probably do better in todays league because it's just not that big of a deal anymore. I doubt he would stick around longer though.

Marijuana has been a ubiquitous known thing in the league for over half a century. Beasley didn't get in trouble because he was the one guy using it, he got in trouble because he lacked the ability to be discreet with it. In some ways, he's to marijuana what a guy like Ty Lawson was to alcohol.

[Special_Puppy]

Were Tyler Zeller and Tim Frazier blackballed? Some players are just bad

[SomeBunghole]

If he would have actually gotten his crap together he likely would have had a career like Pascal siakam. .

I really don't like these kinds of arguments. It's like saying Draymond could've been a better Kawhi if he would have actually learned how to shoot or Embiid could have been GOAT if he would have actually been healthy. Players are who they are and it's all to a large degree the lottery of genetics. There's no reason to put Beasley's personality in some kind of a separate category from Draymond's crappy shot or Embiid's crappy body. Beasley wasn't "closer" to making it just because his issues were mental.

[Beethoven]

Watch the video he's still on drugs or still succumbing to the effects of it, typical response from someone who relatively fails at life but plays victim and blames extraneous things. (Although in conventional terms, he didn't fail of course w playing in nba for over a decade and making millions).

[Shock Defeat]

I always thought that Beasley could walk on any team and average 20 points per game, his issue was that he couldn't play team ball and offered nothing defensively. I still enjoyed watching him play because he was so good at scoring though

[adubmac]

It's not blackballing when you're just more trouble than you're worth. Beasley is 1000x more skilled than Garrett Temple, but Temple doesn't cause waves and serves as a mentor for younger players.

[Bloodbather]

Of course I agree.

If guys like Jaylen Brown and Kyrie were less talented than they are, they'd also be out of the league. Especially Kyrie. The NBA doesn't like outspoken Black men. Especially if you buck the trend. You have to be politically correct, family man, say all the right things and be in line with the right party. This goes back to the Allen Iverson days.

Sure, go ahead, play the race card instead of evaluating people on the basis of what they actually said and did. If your outspokenness translates to saying dumb **** and sharing terrible views, of course you're going to get backlash. The NBA protected MJ despite his gambling addiction, overlooked the fact that Karl Malone had a kid from a 13-year-old, Miles Bridges is still in the league despite being a wifebeater, etc. The examples are endless. Of course you're going to be out of the league if you're not good enough to deal with the baggage you bring to the table, why would it be any other way?

Beasley wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed and a was a lazy pothead, he put himself out of the league. He probably lasted longer than he should've, tbh.

[Yoshun]

I wish there was an option for "No, and I don't care."

[BruttoNostra]

Of course I agree.

If guys like Jaylen Brown and Kyrie were less talented than they are, they'd also be out of the league. Especially Kyrie. The NBA doesn't like outspoken Black men. Especially if you buck the trend. You have to be politically correct, family man, say all the right things and be in line with the right party. This goes back to the Allen Iverson days.

To call Kyrie outspoken black man is insult to outspoken black men. Kyrie is not outspoken man, Kyrie is just a lunatic dumbass who does not believe in proven science concepts and tries his hardest to be a contrarian. If Kyrie was of any other race, people would still have issues with him not believing in vaccines and promoting antisemitism... Honestly, they would probably have more problem with that.
Also, you trying to prove Beasley was blackballed by naming guys who are not blackballed? Well of course more than just basketball ability plays factor on roster building, and if you are a scrub with baggage, you are likely not to be signed, this is not some kind of shocking concept. But idiots like Beasley think they are victims of blackball, but it doesn't even cross their mind that maybe teams had a point and there is a good reason why they were blackballed, and they are the problem... Beasley was not blackballed by the way, but guy was on drugs most of the time and at one point it was apparent that he does not posses any potential anymore.

This.
He was blackballed by his IQ and BBIQ.

[Nate505]

He should have been blackballed for that stupid tattoo.

[Lalouie]

he played a decade and made overpriced money

sports is very forgiving. blackballed my @$$

[Raps in 4]

Dude was a scrub.

[og15]

Yea, like many have said, he made it to 30 years old and played 11 seasons. He could have kept playing, but in year 11, you still had the same on court issues that kept him from getting a lot of minutes.

I'm not sure this is blackballed, I don't know what the discussions were with teams in regards to him, but generally if you're not good enough at role player things and can cause distractions, teams will just look elsewhere. What's the point?

This is the same in many fields. If you have a worker that is a bit better at some skills than other workers, but they miss too many days, you'll take a less skilled worker who is more reliable.

[bovice]

i mean he might not be wrong but that's life. he coulda done more to keep himself in the league too. dude was known as a pothead, sponsors and the brand aren't gonna want that type of player to be a prominent star in the league. u're always gonna be miserable if u blame everyone but yourself.

[cgf]

My favorite ever knucklehead, Supercool Beas was who JR wished he could grow up too be. Sooo much talent but such a ditsy stoner.

JR Smith? Odd choice given that Smith began in the NBA before Beasley, lasted after Beasley, and made more money, despite having drastically less hype coming into the draft.

Pretty sure Smith is glad he's not Supercool Beas.

That’s because we are both sane and our brains do not “work” the way JR’s does