Tuesday, August 11th, 2009 at 10:00 am | 157 responses
J.R. Smith: ‘I’m Not a Gang Member’
Smith attempts to clear his name following accusations in his local paper: “I’m not a ’hood guy,’ Smith said. ‘I’m not a street guy. And I’m not a gang member’… ‘J.R. grew up in the woods of Millstone,’ his father, Earl, said. ‘There’s no Bloods. There’s no Crips. The only gangs were the deer.”’
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I see your hood peeking out in your first comment.
Wow!
That’s just downright ignorant.
I mean, ignoring the fact that I’m a tall, doofy white guy.
People, there are far more valid reasons to dislike JR Smith, they are pretty plentiful, this is stupid and not one of them.
Do I think that he’s in a gang?
No.
Do I think this is an easy way for less racially accepting people to pick an easy target?
Yes.
Do I think journalists are scratching at nothing to break down a smart, innocent black man?
JR destroyed Carmello Anthony’s car because of his reckless driving. Undetered, JR Smith killed his friend in a car accident because he’s a “cool dude” and refused to wait for the guy infront of him to move up. After “showing” remorse, he got three more traffic related tickets. JR Smith attacked a WOMAN in a nightclub, spitting on her and trying to grab her and ripping her dress.
Now JR is throwing up “signs” during televised NBA Playoff games (gang related or not), and he’s replacing his c’s with k’s (gang related or not) to be a ‘cool dude.’
And everyone is suddenly SHOCKED the media is trying their best to break down this dude? They feel BAD for JR Smith? No way!
The media is not “grabbing at nothing” here. Replacing your c’s with k’s is what the bloods do, and whether JR Smith knew it was gang related or not, he was doing it on purpose. He should get crap for it. It’s well deserved.
Is JR getting more flak for this than he probably should get? Of COURSE he is.
But once again, the media, as an entity, is TIRED of this guy and being harsher on him BECAUSE of his f ups always in the news. Vick was almost castrated for going to a strip club. Is goign to a strip club bad? No! But he’s Michael F’in Vick and he slaughtered dogs for fun! He’s going to get more slack for it! Same with JR!
JR needs to be smarter, but that seems impossible for the dude, so this is going to happen. I’m not mad at Denver Post for portraying him out to be a ‘gangster’ at all. He DESERVES it for thinking he’s a cool guy flashing gestures at the crowds of LA and writing like that in his twitter articles.
I think neither of them are making good decisions.
However, being a gang member, or former gang member, is not the worst thing in the world. Sometimes cats make bad decisons and grow from them.
Unfortunately, I don’t think that is the case with JR Smith, and I think his parents, witty one-liners aside, might want to look themselves in the mirror.
FACT: The Bloods throw up Bs as a gang sign
FACT: JR Smith threw up a hand gesture that looked more like a B and less like a three
FACT: The bloods replace C’s with K’s in their writing
FACT: JR Smithw as replacing his C’s with K’s in his writing
I mean, how is this not f’ing proof?
Once again, do I personally think he was trying to imitate the bloods?
No. Probably not.
Do I think he was tryign to look COOL knowing that the bloods do it, or trying to look COOL knowing it was a cool, urban thing to do?
Yes.
And I never said anything about the slang JR uses or the tattoos he has. Never once. You brought that in, buddy.
But JR deserves a LOT of the flak he’s getting. Stop saying it’s cause he “wasn’t spelling words right.” It’s cause he was spelling words like he was in a gang.
Great job guys!
He’s trying to imitate the Bloods.
It’s obvious.
However, you made some GREAT points about the double standard employed–ahem, cough, Birdman–by the media.
Think about what “Birdman” looks like. Think about the fact that the “bird sign” he now uses was something he stole form a New Orleans rapper (Baby of Cash Money) and was used to signify the fact that narcotics where going to be coming to the hood, or that pigeons were being released by lookouts to warn of cops coming.
And think about how many kids now throw up that sign because a cat who was busted for a serious drug problem uses it in every game.
And then think about the fact that not only has Birdman not been chastised, they have done halftime reports lauding his comeback and championing his “wild” antics.
That’s the problem here. Selectice anger and outrage.
And people like Rikson who like to equate black skin and tattoos with thugs and gang members, but hate the idea that somebody else would judge them based on their skin color and mannerisms.
Funny how that works.
You missed the point of the Cherokee Parks mention.
Cherokee Parks fits a certain stereotype based on his dress and tattoos. However, nobody rushed to label him with that stereotype, while that exact thing is done to black athletes.
Nobody likes racial profiling, but people consistently justify doing it to other folks while becoming upset when it happens to them.
He explained it because it wasn’t going away. Nobody “owes” anybody an explanation for anything. But, you give people explanations because it makes life easier.
I don’t think he’s in a gang, he probably just like to think himself as a gangsta. He’s an idiot.
Also, Birdman got so much sh*t before his comeback, it’s not even freaking funny. that dude was one of the most hated dude’s in the NBA. But everyone loves an underdog so now people root for him.
You make a lot of good points about the double standards that the media has, it’s impossible to debate, but I think JR Smith is getting a lot of this crap because he’s JR Smith, and if he had a clean record (IE not attacked a random woman in a nightclub, not killed his friend in a car accident and got his lisense suspended twice afterwards), he wouldn’t be getting the media CRAP that he’s getting now.
I’ll say once again, a lot of racist journalists are taking advantage of this, and it’s sad and it’s sick. But I can’t defend JR Smith and call him a victim, and say “oh man he was just mispelling words.”
I actually think YOUR TAKE on the situation (realizing JR is causing the problem himself but also shaking a finger at the media) is probably the best take on the situation so far, Allen.
Probably no one even remembers it.
Was it BS that people even THOUGHT he should get crap for being a young black man flashing a gang sign when a bajillion people do it on MySpace and Facebook?
Yeeeeep.
Did the media continue their tirade after Rose, with his squeeky clean image and nice-guy attitude, apologized?
Nope.
Does that make more sense about what I’m trying to say?
I think JR Smith is actually being treated like a regular dude.
Like a regular black dude.
People have different expectations of different folks based on a whole bunch of issues. JR is just the latest in a long line of examples.
That said, Jukai and Z have extremely valid points and I have not problem with the way they have been expressed. JR Smith has made terrible decisions, kind of like Pacman Jones, so I understand him catching flak
But, like you said, you can’t go to Defcom Infinity when some athletes with bad reputations mess up, but consistently issue passes to other athletes with similar reps. It’s just a blatant problem.
Jukai
Actually I don’t remember Birdman getting blasted. I remember some drug jokes, but nobody accusing him of being the scum of the Earth, or wondering about his parents or the pathology in his community. Nobody talking about how his actions were a sign of the rot in his community.
Pretty much the standard response when a black dude gets popped.
He hasn’t been chastised at all for the Birdman sign, despite it’s narcotics ties.
He received some chastisement for the drug arrest, but it was mild.
I would compare it to what Brad Miller got when he was busted for testing positive for weed for the THIRD TIME a while back.
There were stories about what led him to drugs, how his life went wrong, the wasted potential. Nobody was rushing to condemn him and talk about how this is a sign that his parents and community didn’t raise him right.
Rose has been called out for making “stupid” decisions despite only getting a speeding ticket and flashing a gang sign.
I think the media attention he’s received has been OUTRAGEOUS when you consider the infractions he’s accused of committing. I mean, the were discussing his character on draft night because of the speeding thing. His character! And now it gets brought up every time anything happens with him. The gang sign was just another step.
The gang thing disapeared almost instantly.
Rose is pretty much viewed as a smart, nice kid in the NBA. Maybe I don’t read the publications that are still bashing him and I’m a bit ignorant on the matter, I just remember him getting a small amount of crap for it but after his apology, all reporters sort of said “alright, yer a good lad, just go run along and don’t go causin’ no trouble!”
Stupid things always get brought up during draft day. I know this is a much worse infraction, but remember JJ’s DUI where he was just a hundrendth or two out of the legal limit to be driving? People pretty much witch hunted him. In the end, it resulted in nothing.
http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_nba_experts__25/ept_sports_nba_experts-26741987-1243364000.jpg?ymh6cUBDdXR3bnFW
My god, they’re identical!!!!
I was mainly talking about the media reaction to these things because that’s where the real problem lies. I had no problem with how David Stern or the Nuggets handled the situation.
Birdman should have a job, he should be allowed to move on with his life, he should NOT be called a horrible human despite his love for stupid hand signs.
I think people need to pay more attention to how decisions are made by many mainstream media sources, particularly ESPN, and then ask themselves if they don’t see an ulterior motive.
I agree with you wholeheartdly on most things you say.
The problem is, JR Smith IS a horrible human being. The gang signs have nothing to do with it. It’s a problem here, since some journalists ARE going out of their way to hate on JR for being a black youth associated with gangs (“his parents raised him terribly, his community is all gangs”) but others just hate JR for being JR.
You are ABSOLUTELY on track with ESPN.
I would suggest checking out the website Sports on My Mind and viewing the archives of a cat named Charles Modiano, who goes by the name MODI. He documents ESPN’s efforts in extreme detail.
Honestly, I think you could make the case that Calderon was flashing a sign for Barcelona, given his ties, and that Pierce was flashing a gang sign given his ties. Nothing in Calderon’s past says “bloods” while I think Pierce has talked about gangs being a regular part of his youth, although he’s never said he was a member.
I don’t think gang signs need to be flashed at basketball games. Period. But, dammit, neither
does the “bird sign.” Or “the shocker” or whatever.
Strangely, the one player who is an admitted “Blood”, Stephen Jackson, does not flash any sort of game signs. Seems like the cat who actually lived that lifestyle to some degree has a different perspective.
We may not all agree, but the disagreement has been cordial and mainly we’re arguing over nuances and degrees. We are not shouting at each other, which is always a pleasant surprise. I may blog about this whole issue.
See, I get your guys’ points on the media and its subtle stereotyping. But I dislike when people bring real issues like this up over examples that don’t have much to do with the issue at all. Kind of like that Harvard Professor/Cop beer summit story.
http://cache.boston.com/bonzai-fba/Globe_Photo/2008/04/29/1209470880_2063.jpg
I really think a registration system for the comment section would do amazing.
Also, I had no idea Jay Bilas was this bad, but that’s also cause I stay away from listening to Jay Bilas
I see you.
Oh, and Shannon Brown got a story on ESPN when somebody reported they INTENDED to sue him over some sexual shenanigans, but Big Ben couldn’t get a story for a week because it would hurt his reputation and the allegations might be false, according to Vince Doria the head of ESPN news.
So, nobody was concerned about Shannon Brown’s rep? Or was ESPN just convinced that Shannon Brown must have done something since he fits the profile?
Just so y’all can think about it.
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Nobody knows with TO after his tearful (un?)intentionally comedic “he’s my Quarterback” Mexico trip-Romo-Simpson-Gate after he murdered every QB he ever played for in his rise to checking his stats. Now he’s on reality shows, yelling at soap stars, scripted or not, so he’s not coming back from (or to) where he wants to be anytime soon.
That’s what happens when you’re THE BEST IN THE PLANET!
Plus, every documentary I’ve seen shows Babe Ruth getting tons of crap.
I mean, that comparison was so far off base and ridiculous that… man, how insane!!
3rd on all-time home run list with 714
10th on all-time batting average list with .342
2nd on all-time RBI list with 2,217
1st on all-time slugging % with 0.690
2nd on all-time on-base % list with .474
1st on all-time OPS with 1.164
4th on all-time runs list with 2,174
6th on all-time total bases list with 5,793
3rd on all-time bases on balls list with 2,062
Also, I mean, let’s not forget about the seven championships he won.
And the fact he didn’t do steroids.
I figure you really don’t watch baseball, BETCATS, so I’m letting it slide, but… god… that was really really stupid…
And your point seemed racially motivated. Jordan, to my knowledge, is black. If you had a generic “the media picks favorites” message, then yes, thank you Mr. Obvious.
How is Babe Ruth going to be considered the best baseball player when he played no defense and didn’t play against black people or hispanics?
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