AJC > Sports > Hawks > Blog > Archives > 2007 > August > 15
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Call off the search
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Seriously, call off the search
Put down the phone.
And don’t worry about paging Dog the Bounty Hunter.
Josh Childress finally called me back (and if you can wait a day or two there will be a rather enlightening Q&A with Chils up on the site. You won’t want to miss it, as it contains plenty of basketball stuff but also some other nuggets that you’ll only get here, of course).
For the record, Marvin Williams is in Hong Kong on NBA business (some type of Basketball Without Borders type deal but I haven’t been able to track down the details). But I talked to Chils at length about Marvin and he said they worked out together in San Diego earlier this summer and that Marvin looked really good.
During our conversation (which lasted a while and touched on tons of topics that will not be addressed in that Q&A) we got on the current state of professional sports and why it seems so tough for some of these guys to steer clear of trouble (off the court).
We couldn’t come up with a good answer other than poor choices. That’s one area the Hawks score high marks, whether you think it’s important or not. Collectively, this has to be one of the better groups in terms of their ability to navigate the usual pitfalls that await pro athletes early in their careers. I know what you’re thinking - “Why’s it so freakin’ hard when most everyone else in society avoids legal trouble?” But if you look at the rash of nonsense that goes on around the pro sports landscape and then realize how you basically never hear about a Hawks player (youngster or veteran) being involved in the nonsense, it is refreshing. (And when I tell you that to a man, all the Hawks are working diligently this offseason to improve, that’s a legitimate statement. And that’s not saying other teams aren’t doing the same thing, but since we like to focus on the fellas from Hawksville, that’s what I’ll speak on here. When you hear about these guys being spread around the globe, literally, working at their craft, don’t dismiss it.
Granted, the organization more than makes up for it with bad press for other reasons (ownership feud, botched and questionable personnel moves and other general goofiness). But I can’t knock the players (knock on wood) for being “good guys.” I don’t need faux street cred, so long as you’re tough enough when it matters on the court - and I’ll be the first to acknowledge that the Hawks, collectively, could use an upgrade in that department.
Watching Denver Broncos receiver Javon Walker on HBO’s Real Sports last night was all the reminder I needed about the diabolical results of when keeping it real goes wrong (sorry for lifting that from you Dave Chappelle but I couldn’t think of a more appropriate phrase).
Walker watched a teammate and friend die in his arms earlier this year after an altercation at a Denver nightclub (the same club I was in one night in Denver a couple years earlier with my boy Marc Spears who covers the Nuggets for the Denver Post). Listening to his story was a stark reminder of just how quickly things can escalate when people caught up in the moment make irrational decisions. This particular story had a tragic ending.
I’m no prude. Far from it. So I’m not advocating that anyone give up partying, because you have to make your own choices. But you have to make sound decisions (pro athlete or not), because no one else will do that for you.
The entire thing was just a reminder of how fragile life is for us all. So please understand that Chils and I were conversing about something bigger than just the Hawks, basketball and the celebrity culture of pro athletes. We were talking about so much more than that. We were talking about life and the drama that sometimes comes along with that topic (and despite what you might hear and read about these guys, they are more than capable of having extremely thoughtful and eloquent conversations about these things. Talking to both Josh Smith last week and now Chils this week is a very good reminder of that).
Aaaa’ight, enough of the preachin’ folks. Feel free to return to our usual dialogue of … well, whatever we were talking about before I went all TD Jakes on ya.
Just FYI, I don’t mind hunting players in the offseason. They don’t mind either. They’re just usually scattered all over the place and difficult to track down. For those of you who think the Hawks’ PR staff could do more, trust me when I tell you they are easily among the best four or five crews in the league (they helped me hound Chils until he called me back). I’ve dealt with every crew in the league in one capacity or another and I promise you it could be MUCH, MUCH worse (I’d point fingers at a couple organizations if I wanted to be nasty today but I don’t).
Also, if you spend practically every single day with someone (you’re not married to, in love with or sharing a prison cell with) for seven months, I don’t think a little space is too much to ask for in the offseason. These cats need a break from each other and their coaches during the summer, so you know they need one from Killuh (what’d you think the K in Sekou K. Smith stood for?) and my constant snooping. But they’re among the best in the league at returning calls in the summer - contrary to what some of you think, not every crew is this easy to track down in the summer. I was just having a little fun with Chils when I called him out here twice (he apologized profusely for not calling be back sooner even though he knew I was clowning around as well). Most of you know when I’m making a joke, so I won’t belabor the point any more than necessary.
Finally, and I mean this, the Dr. Phil-styled (over) analysis of every word of every sentence of what I write and what is said in quotes is bordering on a ridiculous. The grand conspiracy theory most of you believe is playing out behind closed doors is simply a figment of your blogimagination. If something requires further explanation you know I’ll provide it (have you realized how long you’ve been reading this? … I’m not exactly concerned about the conservation of cyber space here, I’m gonna let it all out as best I can).
