AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2006 > October > 06
Friday, October 6, 2006
The ‘Indy incident’ won’t happen here
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tell me you didn’t cringe when you heard about the four Indiana Pacers players who were involved in the disturbance at an Indianapolis gentlemen’s club early this morning? It could have been four players on any other team in the league, and given Atlanta’s reputation for fine gentlemen’s clubs (I wouldn’t know, I’m getting older and usually counting sheep by midnight), no one would have been surprised if that story had come from here.
But that’s one of the good things about this Hawks team and Billy Knight’s desire to fill his roster with “good character” guys. I know it might sound corny, and you can crush Knight for whatever else you want, but there are some benefits to having good character guys on your team (and yeah, it always helps if they happen to be great players as well).
This Pacers story has all the ingredients we seem to find in sordid stories involving athletes these days – guns, drugs, strippers, a hit and run, and, of course, the perfect villain. Former Hawk Stephen Jackson is the man caught up in the middle of this public relations nightmare for the Pacers.
And in light of the recent stories out of Indy regarding all the changes he’s made in his approach and attitude, this story is even more damaging. (And before you even go there, I asked the same questions – what in the world are these guys doing out at 3 a.m. during training camp? Why in the world are they carrying weapons? And are the training camp workouts in Indy so easy that the players have the energy to hit the clubs until the wee hours?)
I saw where some of you here were knocking Hawks coach Mike Woodson for driving his players hard during the first week of training camp. Not me. You establish your foundation, your identity and your work ethic on these first few days. If players know that it’s all business from the start, the chances of silliness like what went on in Indy are slim to none.
