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Bob Ryan's column on Spre
In today's Globe, this column by Bob Ryan was posted to the web site.
For those who don't think Spre has a problem, check out the account of
him going after Jerome Kersey. The url is:
http://www.boston.com:80/globe/sports/packages/sprewell/
> Latrell Sprewell suspension
>
> Shameless rhetoric can't smooth over this
> violent spree
>
> By Bob Ryan, Globe Columnist
>
> was quite impressed with the Latrell Sprewell Defense Committee.
> There were seven lawyers and one accountant - or was it six lawyers
> and two accountants? - and among them, I would say we were looking at at
> least $8,000 worth of suits and $100 worth of shoeshines. The Japanese
> surrendered on the USS Missouri with less fanfare.
>
> I also liked the way NBA Players Association head Billy Hunter shot down
> the earnest, arms-waving, fist-pounding African-American reporter who
> suggested that what had set Mr. Sprewell off 10 days ago was P.J.
> Carlesimo's use of the ''N-word.''
>
> ''I know this isn't what you want to hear,'' said Hunter, himself an
> African-American, ''but there is no evidence to support that.''
>
> There is, however, much evidence to refute Sprewell's assertion that he has
> led a trouble-free NBA existence the past five years and that what happened
> in that gymnasium between himself and Carlesimo was an aberrational act
> unaccountably out of character. That must have come as startling news to
> former teammate Jerome Kersey, against whom Sprewell once brandished a
> 2x4 before threatening to shoot him.
>
> The Tuesday afternoon press conference was all about a desperate
> miscreant attempting to marshal public support by rewriting history and
> reinventing his image; nothing more, nothing less. Only gullible, uninformed
> people will buy his latest act. The people who have lived with him and
> observed him during his tempestuous NBA career know better.
>
> The little show Tuesday afternoon in Oakland was fraudulent from start to
> finish. The only good thing about it was that the race card was not played,
> although the presence of the unctuous Johnnie Cochran clearly indicates that
> we will be going down this thoroughfare sooner rather than later. Latrell
> Sprewell has an agent, the skilled services of Mr. Hunter, and the advice of
> various advisers. And now he needs Johnnie Cochran? He does if he wants
> to send a message to David Stern that the fight here will be getting down and
> dirty.
>
> And may we put one thing to rest right now? Please? May we dismiss this
> notion that there was no ''due process'' for Latrell Sprewell? No fewer than
> 23 people were interviewed by a team of NBA investigators within 48 hours
> of the incident, and one of those people was Sprewell himself, who was
> interviewed by Horace Balmer, the NBA's security chief. Mr. Balmer, it
> probably should be pointed out, is a fellow African-American (sadly, it will
> be an important point in the NBA's favor before this plays out). We were
> informed by Mr. Hunter that Mr. Balmer's line of inquiry was, and I quote,
> ''too accusatory,'' and therefore, Sprewell chose to terminate the
> conversation.
>
> And yet Cochran referred to Stern's decision to suspend Sprewell for a year
> as a ''rush to judgment.'' I suppose that depends on your point of view.
>
> ''We talked to 23 people,'' says one highly placed league source. ''How long
> does it take to write it up and evaluate it? What would they prefer that we
> do? Wait around for a couple of weeks and have this thing in limbo?''
>
> That, of course, is exactly what would have happened if this incident had
> taken place in major league baseball, a k a The Headless Horseman. Thank
> the Hoop God for David Stern, who clearly recognized the gravity of the
> situation.
>
> There was far more than the immediate future of Latrell Sprewell at stake
> here, and the NBA commissioner knew it. The entire sports world was
> watching, and by that, I mean every professional, college, and high school
> team in the land, no matter what sport. For Sprewell, a multiple recidivist,
> had this time crossed a very special line. He had physically attacked a coach,
> and in so doing had declared war on all sports authority figures.
>
> Stern wasn't trying to ruin Sprewell's life. Given sufficient time, Sprewell
> could prove perfectly capable of doing that himself. What Stern had to do
> was make sure that Sprewell could not prosper from his act in the short run.
> He could not have Sprewell, who had very much wanted to be traded,
> extricating himself from the Bay area by choking his coach and then winding
> up playing for a contender in the 1998 playoffs. The frightening thing is that
> NBA owners and coaches were apparently lining up to secure Sprewell's
> services once the Warriors terminated his contract. These selfish people
> might not have had a proper grasp of the Big Picture, but Stern did.
>
> There is neither enough time nor space here to annotate completely the
> number of misleading, disingenuous, or downright false utterances emanating
> from the lips of Messrs. Sprewell, Hunter, Arn Tellem (Sprewell's agent),
> and Cochran during the press conference. If you had no background
> information, you would have thought that here was a hardworking, dedicated
> young athlete who had made one teeny-weeny mistake, for which he should
> be immediately forgiven after a belated insincere apology. You'd think he had
> never had any problems with previous coaches or teammates (the Kersey
> incident was not the only physical confrontation Sprewell had engaged in
> with someone wearing the same uniform) and you wouldn't have known that
> one prominent ex-teammate is on record as saying that ''If they bring him to
> this team, I'm out of here.'' You'd also think that his career was over.
>
> The fact is that Sprewell is 27, and if this one-year suspension holds up, he
> will be signed five seconds after it ends, and his career will resume with him
> at the peak of his physical powers. By 2000, he will have a sufficient
> portfolio to support himself, not to mention all current and future Sprewells
> for generations to come. Keep in mind that he has been accumulating NBA
> loot for five full years. We shouldn't have to loan him a tin cup and a supply
> of No. 2 pencils.
>
> The irony is that Sprewell, a valued athlete, will emerge from this episode in
> much better shape than Carlesimo, who is now officially done as an NBA or
> big-time college coach. Why even bother to continue the current charade?
> Half the Golden State team showed up at the press conference in support of
> Sprewell. How is Carlesimo going to coach this team? Or any other?
>
> This is a story with major legs. Before it plays out, the issue of
> confrontational coaches will get a good airing out (OK by me) and the idea
> of league authority will be examined and, most of all, the issue of race will
> come to the fore. Johnnie Cochran will see to that.
>
> This is a story that has led both the ABC and NBC evening news during the
> past week. It is nothing less than the most important sports story of the year.
> But do brace yourself. By the time it's over, there will be people wondering
> aloud how P.J. Carlesimo's throat could so brazenly have attacked Latrell
> Sprewell's hands.
>
> Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist.
>
> This story ran on page D06 of the Boston Globe on 12/11/97.
> © Copyright 1997 Globe Newspaper Company.
>
--
Peace,
Bentz
bocelts@scsn.net
http://www.scsn.net/users/sclaw