Monday, June 23, 2008

Beasley Getting a Bad Wrap?


Michael Beasley has talent, there's no question. Averaging 26 and 12 in his freshman year at K. State, the 6 foot 8 inch Beasley has a great jumper and an endless skillset, as evidenced by his dominant performance shown in this big 12 game (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VHgaRgZCZgk). Notice the half-court shot off the tip, and you can see why scouts are have never questioned his on-court abilities. A high school phenom born in Philadelphia, Beasely later moved to Bel-Air california, where his pranks at Bel-Air Academy have been well-documented and have become a red flag for NBA Scouts.

(Rare photo of Beasley playing street-ball in his native Philadelphia)

Preeminent sports journalist KC Johnson has noted that Beasley's off court troubles "run the gamut from stereotypically abhorrent behavior as a 12-year-old—slashing tires to a dead rat in a teacher's drawer." And new allegations of deliquent High-School behavior are still leaking from basketball blogs on a daily basis. This blurry camera-phone picture shows him in the act stealing his dean's (possibly Scott Skiles?) cap and showing a blatant disregard for Bel-Air Academy's strict dress-code. Michael was also found guilty of academic fraud after plagarizing several poems from well-known urban wordsmith Raphael De La Ghetto, including Street Beat, and several other modern classics.


(Beasley, left, was known as a high-school prankster)


But is Beasley getting a bad wrap? Several of his high school shifts can be attributed to his move from West Philadelphia to Bel Air, where Beasley relocated in order to live with his affluent uncle Phillip Banks and avoid trouble from area gang members. Life in Bel-Air wasn't all Cross Colours and "fly honey dips" either. Beasley has also overcome numerous hardships on his path from Philly to the NBA. Few NBA scouts are talking about the time Michael was shot in a february 1995 episode while being robbed with alongside his cousin Carleton.

(Beasley takes the tip during K. State's first victory at KU in more than 20 years)

Scouts are also too often overlooking Michael's family-first mentality. Beasley assisted his cousin Carleton move past his speed addiction, and played procterate to his cousin Ashley after she began dating Jaleel White. These are the characteristics that Paxson and Del Negro have shown an inclination towards in past drafts. Will the stories of a wily prankster who used his uncle's mansion to film a Bel Biv Devoe video stop the Bulls from drafting the prodigy, or will the Bulls' brass take a more holistic view?

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Let me start by saying that I didn't know my man Mike back when he
lived in west Philly, but I got to know him real well after he moved
to Bel-Air (I played the drums in a little music thing we had going,
and was the love interest of his cousin Hillary, although she tried to play it cool and deny our cosmic connection) and he is getting a bogus rap. See, what happened was, my man will—I mean Mike—was just chillin
out maxin' relaxin' all cool when these two guys who were up to no
good started makin trouble.

Anonymous said...

It was just one little fight that
happened to involve this dude lifting mike over his head, spinning him
around a few times, and body slamming him, that got his mom all worked
up. Trust me, he didn't even start the ruckus, and certainly didn't
get kicked out of school. Plus, ever since he took that cab with the
dice in the mirror to bel-air, he's been nothing but a good guy.
Let's judge him by his basketball prowess rather than speculation
about his character, I mean if it weren't for carlton hogging the
ball, he would've led bel-air to the state championship. Not even
Billy Hoyle or Sidney Deane had that kind of game. So respect the man and stop picking on him, because any man that shoots 100% from the field throughout his entire career while only looking the basket 7% of his attempts deserves better.