It's not often that Bill Simmons makes a poignant column worth posting about, but his recent Basketball Blog is a great read and sums up modern-day basketball in a nutshell. It also rails against the overhyped O.J. Mayo.
Like it or not, Mayo's style of game resonates with a certain demographic, with his final high school dunk symbolizing the divide between traditional fans and the budding generation that was weaned on Slam Magazine and me-first "superstars" like Stephon Marbury and Vince Carter (neither of whom has played on a 50-win NBA team, by the way). Head over to YouTube and you'll find an unedited clip of the dunk that makes Mayo look like an attention-seeking punk, as well as a heavily edited clip of the same dunk that lionizes it. Is it alarming that a 19-year-old kid throwing himself a halfcourt alley-oop in the final minute of a 40-point win, dunking it, tossing the ball into the stands and getting thrown out of his final high school game, then soaking in a standing ovation could be considered a beautiful moment by some people? Probably not. That's just our culture now. Rappers sing songs with their own names as the chorus. Wannabe celebrities intentionally leak sex tapes to make themselves famous. Rich teenagers make fools of themselves on "My Super Sweet 16" and don't even get that they're the joke.
I remember watching the clip of Mayo's last basketball game and thinking that basketball has found its Terrell Owens. Add that to the kid ALREADY getting busted for drugs and attempting the game-winning shot after going 4 for his last 16 shots before that in the McDonalds All-American game and I'm ready to jump on the anti-O.J. bandwagon along with Simmons. There's also the fact that he's apparently calling the shots regarding his recruitment that just might make people dread his inevitable arrival in the NBA.
This Kevin Love guy, on the other hand, sounds like someone worth keeping an eye on.
(edited by It's False on 29.3.07 2232)
The Wisdom of Homsar: AaAaAa! I'm a trendy tote bag!
From another blog: Paul Klee of the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, about OJ Mayo:
"After the game Wednesday night, a swarm of on-lookers and autograph seekers crowded the entrance to the players' bus. Mayo was one of the last players to board. One player was handing over a signed shoe to a boy.
A mad scramble ensued, and a kid named Cole Gossett, who couldn't be more than 10 years old, was injured in the brief melee. He held his ribs and was taken to a nearby training room, crying.
Mayo heard about the incident and sought out Cole in the training room. Mayo took off his own shoes, the red-and-orange McDonald's pair he had just played in. He signed them. He gave them to the boy."
As of 2/28/05: 101 pounds since December 7, 2004 OFFICIAL THREE-MONTH COUNT: 112 pounds on March 9, 2005 OFFICIAL SIX-MONTH COUNT: 142 pounds on June 8, 2005 OFFICIAL ONE YEAR COUNT: 187 pounds on December 7, 2005 As of 2/27/06: 202 pounds "I've lost a heavyweight" As of 7/31/06: 224 pounds
It still doesn't excuse the atrocious display he put on in that Youtube clip that Simmons links to. The kid is heading down the wrong path, even if he gave some shoes to a crying kid.
Reasonable minds can differ on whether Mayo's theatrics in his final high school game were a bad thing. However, I fail to see what's wrong with him "calling the shots regarding his recruitment." So he calls up a coach and says he wants to play for him. This.. is a problem?
I don't know enough about him yet, but I think you're jumping the gun a bit.
So a kid went crazy at the end of his last game in high school? Wait, wait a high school kid did something kinda stupid and immature?? I just can't fathom this.
And a misdemeanor marijuana charge!! OMG you mean we might have an NBA player soon who smokes pot!?!?!?!?!
As for attempting the game winning shot on an off day, I dunno. Was the play called for him? Is he a ball hog? Is he just that confident in what he can do?
Could be a big freak that gets in constant trouble. Could just be a typical high school kid. Perhaps we should wait before deciding to hate him already.
Originally posted by StingArmyReasonable minds can differ on whether Mayo's theatrics in his final high school game were a bad thing. However, I fail to see what's wrong with him "calling the shots regarding his recruitment." So he calls up a coach and says he wants to play for him. This.. is a problem?
- StingArmy
Given that it is/was being done through an AAU "broker," it's a little off-putting.
There's also the whole "won't give the coach his phone number" thing.
Originally posted by wmatisticI don't know enough about him yet, but I think you're jumping the gun a bit.
So a kid went crazy at the end of his last game in high school? Wait, wait a high school kid did something kinda stupid and immature?? I just can't fathom this.
And a misdemeanor marijuana charge!! OMG you mean we might have an NBA player soon who smokes pot!?!?!?!?!
As for attempting the game winning shot on an off day, I dunno. Was the play called for him? Is he a ball hog? Is he just that confident in what he can do?
Could be a big freak that gets in constant trouble. Could just be a typical high school kid. Perhaps we should wait before deciding to hate him already.
Kid?
Mayo is 19 years old and will be 20 in November. He's approximately the same age I was when I was a sophomore in college. He's almost one full year older than Kevin Durant. The "kid" argument simply does not hold water.
The "dunk" exposed him as a showboat and a me-first kind of guy.
I'm sure he also has some good qualities - as Eddie's blurb pointed out. There are 2 "too bads" here. Too bad he's not going to play college ball for Bobby Knight and too bad he's only going to college for one year. He would leave a much more humble, mature, man if that were the case.
University of Kentucky basketball isn't a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that.
I heard Tim Floyd say that he wouldn't give his phone number because his mom is paying the cell phone bill, and she can't afford to be paying for coaches to be calling all the time.
Mayo is 19 years old and will be 20 in November. He's approximately the same age I was when I was a sophomore in college. He's almost one full year older than Kevin Durant. The "kid" argument simply does not hold water.
Are you serious? You think a 19yo is a mature, full-grown adult? No chance. Not physically, not mentally, not emotionally. There may be some exceptions, but cut him some slack. He's a teenager, and by definition teenagers are prone to making bad decisions. I agree with wmatistic, let's just wait before we call him the devil. It's not like he's doing anything most kids his age wouldn't have done if put in the same situation.
Originally posted by wmatisticI don't know enough about him yet, but I think you're jumping the gun a bit.
So a kid went crazy at the end of his last game in high school? Wait, wait a high school kid did something kinda stupid and immature?? I just can't fathom this.
And a misdemeanor marijuana charge!! OMG you mean we might have an NBA player soon who smokes pot!?!?!?!?!
As for attempting the game winning shot on an off day, I dunno. Was the play called for him? Is he a ball hog? Is he just that confident in what he can do?
Could be a big freak that gets in constant trouble. Could just be a typical high school kid. Perhaps we should wait before deciding to hate him already.
Kid?
Mayo is 19 years old and will be 20 in November. He's approximately the same age I was when I was a sophomore in college. He's almost one full year older than Kevin Durant. The "kid" argument simply does not hold water.
The "dunk" exposed him as a showboat and a me-first kind of guy.
I'm sure he also has some good qualities - as Eddie's blurb pointed out. There are 2 "too bads" here. Too bad he's not going to play college ball for Bobby Knight and too bad he's only going to college for one year. He would leave a much more humble, mature, man if that were the case.
Um, yeah college kids aren't known for being mature adults either there champ.
The "dunk" wasn't nearly that big a deal to me after watching it. Last game of your high school career, you get the ball with no one anywhere near you and a free shot at the basket so you can and do pull of a trick dunk. Then I think a lot of the arm raising was because he was walking off the floor for the last time. I don't really have a big problem with it. Sure he could have behaved better, but it doesn't make him a horrible person. What would you have him do, slow up and wait for the defense to get set? Lay in and easy one off the glass? Cause so many other star basketball players would? Come on now.
I think you and SportsGuy need to relax a little on this for the time being.
Originally posted by wmatisticSo a kid went crazy at the end of his last game in high school? Wait, wait a high school kid did something kinda stupid and immature?? I just can't fathom this.
And a misdemeanor marijuana charge!! OMG you mean we might have an NBA player soon who smokes pot!?!?!?!?!
So just because there are already immature punk drug addicts in the NBA it doesn't matter? Hell no i'm not going to like a kid like that even if he's ten times better than Jordan. I don't care if it's the norm in the NBA. If you want to like him then fine, but I don't think it's ridiculous for someone to dislike him because of the way he's acted.
(edited by Quezzy on 31.3.07 1604) Lance's Response:
Looks like to me the kid gave the fans what they wanted. Basketball's purpose is ultimately entertainment, and he was entertaining. And considering they were winning by 40 points in the state championship game, he certainly must have not done much to hurt the team. I don't see what the big deal is either. Don't mean I necessarily like him, or would like him if I knew him. But I'm not going to demonize him either. If the worst problem we ever had in society was a little marijuana usage and a little showboating in sports, we would be in pretty darn good shape.
The Bored are already here. Idle hands are the devil's workshop. And no... we won't kill dolphins. But koalas are fair game.
Originally posted by wmatisticSo a kid went crazy at the end of his last game in high school? Wait, wait a high school kid did something kinda stupid and immature?? I just can't fathom this.
And a misdemeanor marijuana charge!! OMG you mean we might have an NBA player soon who smokes pot!?!?!?!?!
So just because there are already immature punk drug addicts in the NBA it doesn't matter? Hell no i'm not going to like a kid like that even if he's ten times better than Jordan. I don't care if it's the norm in the NBA. If you want to like him then fine, but I don't think it's ridiculous for someone to dislike him because of the way he's acted.
(edited by Quezzy on 31.3.07 1604)
I never said I liked him. Personally basketball bores the hell out of me these days so I could care less. I was saying it's stupid to already have judged him one way or the other. Being caught in a car, that isn't yours, with several others guys, while in high school that happened to have weed in it does not make him a drug addict. To even go there is the reason I replied. It's a huge overreaction.
Especially from a person who is a basketball fan, as it's known that most of them do it. Yes, even the players you like.
Originally posted by wmatisticI don't know enough about him yet, but I think you're jumping the gun a bit.
So a kid went crazy at the end of his last game in high school? Wait, wait a high school kid did something kinda stupid and immature?? I just can't fathom this.
And a misdemeanor marijuana charge!! OMG you mean we might have an NBA player soon who smokes pot!?!?!?!?!
As for attempting the game winning shot on an off day, I dunno. Was the play called for him? Is he a ball hog? Is he just that confident in what he can do?
Could be a big freak that gets in constant trouble. Could just be a typical high school kid. Perhaps we should wait before deciding to hate him already.
Kid?
Mayo is 19 years old and will be 20 in November. He's approximately the same age I was when I was a sophomore in college. He's almost one full year older than Kevin Durant. The "kid" argument simply does not hold water.
The "dunk" exposed him as a showboat and a me-first kind of guy.
I'm sure he also has some good qualities - as Eddie's blurb pointed out. There are 2 "too bads" here. Too bad he's not going to play college ball for Bobby Knight and too bad he's only going to college for one year. He would leave a much more humble, mature, man if that were the case.
Um, yeah college kids aren't known for being mature adults either there champ.
The "dunk" wasn't nearly that big a deal to me after watching it. Last game of your high school career, you get the ball with no one anywhere near you and a free shot at the basket so you can and do pull of a trick dunk. Then I think a lot of the arm raising was because he was walking off the floor for the last time. I don't really have a big problem with it. Sure he could have behaved better, but it doesn't make him a horrible person. What would you have him do, slow up and wait for the defense to get set? Lay in and easy one off the glass? Cause so many other star basketball players would? Come on now.
I think you and SportsGuy need to relax a little on this for the time being.
(edited by wmatistic on 30.3.07 1440)
Re-read what I wrote "champ".
The dunk exposed him as a me-first showboat. He could have passed the ball to a teammate. He could have done the fancy dunk without whipping the ball into the stands.
The only reason that Mayo is at Huntington is that his buddy Bill Walker was ruled ineligible at North College Hill in Ohio (so Walker did a GED and went to K-State, becoming elible for the second semester). Mayo is from Huntington and Huntington just so happened to be defending state champs and the home of fellow McD AA Patrick Patterson. I wonder if he would have enrolled at Huntington if the team hadn't been so loaded? He is something of an opportunist as well.
As for the age thing - I was simply saying that 19 1/2 years old is relatively old for a high school senior, thus I would expect him to be very mature compared to his peers.
I even went on to admit that he does some good things.
University of Kentucky basketball isn't a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that.
Originally posted by Rudoublesedoublel The dunk exposed him as a me-first showboat. He could have passed the ball to a teammate. He could have done the fancy dunk without whipping the ball into the stands.
The only reason that Mayo is at Huntington is that his buddy Bill Walker was ruled ineligible at North College Hill in Ohio (so Walker did a GED and went to K-State, becoming elible for the second semester). Mayo is from Huntington and Huntington just so happened to be defending state champs and the home of fellow McD AA Patrick Patterson. I wonder if he would have enrolled at Huntington if the team hadn't been so loaded? He is something of an opportunist as well.
As for the age thing - I was simply saying that 19 1/2 years old is relatively old for a high school senior, thus I would expect him to be very mature compared to his peers.
I even went on to admit that he does some good things.
What teammate could he have passed to? How does it make him a "me-first showboat" to take the ball to the hoop when he's the only one on that side of the court?
OMG, wait he enrolled at his local school only because they were good. WHAT A PIECE OF SHIT!!
I can totally see why you hate him already. That bastard.
You're expecting an awful lot, and I think it's more than a bit unfair to the kid (yep, still a kid).
What teammate could he have passed to? How does it make him a "me-first showboat" to take the ball to the hoop when he's the only one on that side of the court?
He didn't have much opportunity to pass (though a pass backwards to the guy who made the steal and threw him the ball in the first place would have been nice), but what was basically a pass to himself like he was at a slam-dunk contest was pretty dumb. You want to slam it, go ahead and slam it. But trying that kind of nonsense in an actual game situation looked pretty dumb.
I don't know where I saw this, but I think they were up by 40 points at the time that he slammed it. I want to say the score was listed in the comments on one of the utube videos.
Why would being coached by Bobby Knight be a good thing for a talented player wanting to play professionally?
As of 2/28/05: 101 pounds since December 7, 2004 OFFICIAL THREE-MONTH COUNT: 112 pounds on March 9, 2005 OFFICIAL SIX-MONTH COUNT: 142 pounds on June 8, 2005 OFFICIAL ONE YEAR COUNT: 187 pounds on December 7, 2005 As of 2/27/06: 202 pounds "I've lost a heavyweight" As of 7/31/06: 224 pounds
Originally posted by Eddie FamousWhy would being coached by Bobby Knight be a good thing for a talented player wanting to play professionally?
After reading through this thread, I think some of my thoughts have been mis-interpreted or that I did a horrible job of expressing them.
I've "kept up with" Mayo for a few years because at one time it was rumored that he could possibly have interest in UK (probably around his sophomore year).
It seems that his guardian (possibly his grandfather if my memory serves) has taken him (and at one time) Bill Walker from Rose Hill Christian School in Kentucky to North College Hill in Ohio. At one time Keenan Ellis was a third member of this "team", but he seemed to fall out of grace last year. When Walker was ruled ineligible to play this year I seem to remember (though it might not have happened) that they put out feelers to Oak Hill and were rebuffed, thus they went home to Huntington, which just happened to be loaded.
To answer Eddie's question, there was an incident of some sort at a school dance involving some combination of Walker and Mayo. Yes, things happen at school dances, but part of being in the spotlight is understanding that people will constantly needle you and try to push your buttons. Part of being in the spotlight is learning to brush those situations off. I sincerely feel that Mayo would benefit from a coach that would challenge him and give him the discipline to walk away from trouble. I'll quickly concede that Bobby Knight was a horrible example, but maybe someone like Tom Izzo (you rarely hear of MSU players getting into trouble and they seem to be good pros).
I'm not throwing any stones for the "possession" incident. I don't know if I buy the story, but it definitely pales in comparison to JamesOn Curry's brush with the law that cost him his UNC scholarship - and bottom line I think prohibition is stupid.
The dunk didn't bother me, it was him throwing the ball into the stands that bothered me. It was his earlier incident this year when he bumped a ref that bothered me (though the ref apparently sold the bump like Shawn Michaels). It was the fact that they were up by 40 when he performed the dunk that bothered me - though his coach should be blamed for having him in the game at that point.
I won't even blame Mayo. I'll blame Durant and Oden. They didn't do anything like this last year when they were seniors in high school. I'll blame LeBron, he didn't do anything like that when he was in high school.
Boffo, you are correct. I wasn't thinking about his November birthday - that would put him a class behind most kids born the same year. He's probably only been held back one year - and that's not an entirely uncommon practice with athletes.
I don't hate Mayo. I just think he's a "me-first" guy and a showoff. I also think he's an excellent player. I also think that he's been exploited to some degree by the AAU circuit, private schools, and his guardian.
University of Kentucky basketball isn't a matter of life and death, it's much more important than that.
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