AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > April > 10
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Can’t we all just get along?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Of all the interesting things we could be discussing today, we’re stuck with another Hawks mini-drama.
While I’d love to yap about Don Imus and his ridiculously stupid comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team, I’ve got nothing but Josh Smith and Mike Woodson going (bleep) for (bleep) on each other Sunday night.
We could be here rehashing what everyone I know has told me was one of the better 24 episodes ever (I missed it but thank Crom for TiVo), but instead this day will be spent dispelling rumors and assorted other urban legends.
I’d love to spar with you about the merits of Greg Oden over Kevin Durant in the June draft (rumors are swirling about both of these future stars declaring for the draft as early as this week), yet we’ve got to clear up this mess that has become these Hawks once again.
Can’t we all just get along? (Rodney King on ya!)
I said the other day and I’ll say it again, there is no excuse (and I mean NO EXCUSE) for Smith blasting off on his coach the way he did. Whatever argument anyone makes about Woodson’s inability to coach or manage games or players properly is useless. There’s simply no excuse for a player handling himself the way Smith did (he’s admitted that to me repeatedly, on and off the record, which makes it tough to understand why so many here are making a case for his tirade?).
If it’s not acceptable for Terrell Owens or any other athlete to publicly jaw-jack his coach, then how in the world can anyone justify what Smith did?
All that said, I don’t know if there is a more ridiculous reaction than the one that comes from afar. I’ve read all sorts of stories and blog entries regarding what went on Sunday night (funny, I don’t remember seeing anyone else around reporting what went on …) and the fallout has been nothing short of comedic.
Some of the foolishness will be addressed in Wednesday’s print edition of the paper. Some other things can’t wait.
In the what is perhaps the funniest line I’ve read in, um, forever, a noted New York Post columnist wrote this: - Last year, Smith’s belligerence got so out of hand, I’m told, Zaza Pachulia pinned him to the Hawks’ locker room wall after a game. “Talk to me like you just did on the court,” the 6-foot-11, 250-pound Georgian warned, in essence, “and you’ll miss the rest of your career.”
I don’t know who told that version what happened (Pachulia uttered words along those lines, but across a crowded locker room and not directly at Smith), but they’ve got a future in storytelling. The next time Zaza has someone pinned up against a wall or anything else, on or off the court, will be the first time. I can promise you that this scene never took place (it sounds darn good though. And if I didn’t know better I’d be willing to drink some of that Kool-Aid with you).
The fact is, part of the reason Smith acted out the way he did is because there is no culture of peer accountability that exists in the Hawks’ locker room. Not one of his teammates got in his face Sunday night, like I would have to not only to help squash an ugly situation but to help a teammate save himself from an embarrassing situation (and some serious cash money). One of my main gripes about this team from the first day I set foot in the locker room is that these guys (every incarnation they’ve had since I’ve been around), is that they don’t police each other enough. To me, that’s one of this team’s greatest flaws (and we all know they have plenty).
I’ve written it here before, there has not been a single, live face off between Hawks since I started covering this crew nearly three years ago. So if there was a real mess going on, please believe that it would be reported here in all its glorious detail.
But when you clown the way some of these young Hawks have the past three years, you open the door for all sorts of embellishments about what actually happened.
