Michael Beasley says he was blackballed from the NBA

[Lalouie]

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.

So the way I look at it. after a while a player develops a rep he earns. if nobody wanted to deal with his sh** that's the rep he earned.

him saying he was blackballed means he lost his get out of jail free card

[Mr Peanut]

I think Enes Kanter was blackballed. I think Beasley's career had just run its course and his talent started to be outweighed by his ability to cause a headache.

[prophet_of_rage]

I know a few professional athletes and all of them have told me that politics rather than merit play much more of a role in roster decisions than fans would like to think and the politics can get weird. Beasley doesn't exactly seem to be the greatest example to illustrate that point, though

Politics is the big separator at that level. If you have replaceable talent and won't play along you're out. Iverson never wanted to come off the bench. Bet. He was done in the league. Carmelo did the same thing and they refused to hire him for nearly three years until he changed.

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[prophet_of_rage]

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.

That is blackballing. It isn't the communist witch hunt of the McCarthy era. Beasley was able to still play basketball. Everybody agreed he wasn't worth it.

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[vagelis]

Beasley had the talent to have a better carreer.
He was a really good scorer. He could average 20-25ppg in his career.
I believe what he is saying.

But maybe he was just a bad character and thats why he got that treatment.

Maybe he paid for his character and maybe the drugs that he was rumored to use.

I believed his talent but if everybody does not want to cooporate with you, maybe it is your fault too.

He should not wait an NBA team to give him contract and just play in Europe and not in China.
He can still make the difference in Europe for one season or 2. He is 36 ok.
if he wants to play and if he is in a good condition which I think he is.

[brutalitops]

I think Enes Kanter was blackballed. I think Beasley's career had just run its course and his talent started to be outweighed by his ability to cause a headache.

Enes Kanter made Beasley look like Jrue Holiday on defense.


Beasley was nice. But just not nice enough or consistent enough to really build a team around

And if your not nice enough/good enough to be the 1/2 best player in your team..you have to defend at a reasonable NBA standard, or pass the ball. Beasley couldn't.

He was Melo without the consistency nor even the will to be a good defender. You can at least say Melo sort of cared. Beasleys attitude was "whatever I'll score on you the other end"

[Mr Peanut]

I think Enes Kanter was blackballed. I think Beasley's career had just run its course and his talent started to be outweighed by his ability to cause a headache.

Enes Kanter made Beasley look like Jrue Holiday on defense.


Beasley was nice. But just not nice enough or consistent enough to really build a team around

And if your not nice enough/good enough to be the 1/2 best player in your team..you have to defend at a reasonable NBA standard, or pass the ball. Beasley couldn't.

He was Melo without the consistency nor even the will to be a good defender. You can at least say Melo sort of cared. Beasleys attitude was "whatever I'll score on you the other end"

Yeah Kanter was a poor defender. But in his second to last season for Portland he averaged a double double in only 24 minutes per game. And he was only 29 years old when he played his last season. At the very least he was still an end of the bench guy/emergency big.

The comments about China and also LeBron definitely led to teams turning off him entirely.

[HMFFL]

Such an underrated talent because he never gave the game his all at the Pro level.

He's going to beat Lance 1 on 1 for the $100k bag.

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[Airmiess]

This current era is very tweener friendly, he was a bit too early while also carrying a stigma of being immature and a pothead.

[Calvin Klein]

One of the worst players Ive even seen related to his potential/talent. Watching him alongside Shannon Brown for a whole season was torture.

[tsherkin]

He wasn't very good. And he wasn't very healthy.

He wasn't blackballed, he just wasn't worth a look when he hadn't figured it out by the age of 30. On his 8th team.

[DimesandKnicks]

I think Enes Kanter was blackballed. I think Beasley's career had just run its course and his talent started to be outweighed by his ability to cause a headache.

Enes Kanter made Beasley look like Jrue Holiday on defense.


Beasley was nice. But just not nice enough or consistent enough to really build a team around

And if your not nice enough/good enough to be the 1/2 best player in your team..you have to defend at a reasonable NBA standard, or pass the ball. Beasley couldn't.

He was Melo without the consistency nor even the will to be a good defender. You can at least say Melo sort of cared. Beasleys attitude was "whatever I'll score on you the other end"

Yeah Kanter was a poor defender. But in his second to last season for Portland he averaged a double double in only 24 minutes per game. And he was only 29 years old when he played his last season. At the very least he was still an end of the bench guy/emergency big.

The comments about China and also LeBron definitely led to teams turning off him entirely.

You can even be a third stringer in todays NBA if you can’t defend, and Kanter is as bad as it gets in that department

[dhsilv2]

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.

This isn't being black balled. And that is every competitive job on the planet. If you're not an absolute star, you better act the part and be a team player.

[dhsilv2]

I know a few professional athletes and all of them have told me that politics rather than merit play much more of a role in roster decisions than fans would like to think and the politics can get weird. Beasley doesn't exactly seem to be the greatest example to illustrate that point, though

I mean...so? If I get 20 applications for a job, HR will have already removed people who aren't qualified. Now what? I'm going to take the people I think will fit into the culture or are just so stupid obviously smart that I can't NOT hire them. So of course if you're looking at a guy like 32 year old Beasley, the only reason you'd bring him in is if you think he'd add to your culture. He certainly couldn't play well enough to justify a roster spot. But he could play well enough to have one if he added other things.

[TheGeneral99]

He had a 10 year career and never came close to his potential or expectations, lol.

[mastermixer]

It shouldn’t have taken four pages for this gif to show

[Billl]

I don't think that's a reasonable use of the term "blackballed". Blackballed implies there was some sort of pressure from the league as a whole that influenced individual teams to not sign him. There are a few instances of players getting blackballed because the league just didn't want them involved anymore. Beasley isn't one of them. He just developed a rep over the years as someone who didn't really work that hard, wasn't particularly interested in winning , and wasn't someone you want mentoring young guys. Teams are going to use their deeper roster spots on guys who are willing to play a roll or guys with potential to improve into something more. By age 30, beasley was neither.

[og15]

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.

That is blackballing. It isn't the communist witch hunt of the McCarthy era. Beasley was able to still play basketball. Everybody agreed he wasn't worth it.

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The implication in blackballing is that everyone (or at least a lot of people) behind the scenes agreed together to not give him a chance or wilder, there was like a league initiative to de- incentivize teams from signing him.

Everyone deciding you're not worth signing on their own is not blackballing, if that's what these guys think blackballing is, they are just making up a victim mentality.

[TheGeneral99]

This whole blackballing thing is a myth...if you were really still that productive, a contender team would take a chance with you as a bench player. The issue is many of these players who act like they were blackballed had enormous ego issues and couldn't handle taking a lesser role.

[ShootersShoot]

Nba teams dont want tweeners who cant shoot threes nor defend