04/23/24
January 28, 2006
The Birdman has been flying high.: NOKC Forward Chris Anderson has been booted from the NBA for two years for a positive drug test. Under the current collective bargaining agreement, a player may only be tossed out of the league for a first positive drug test if the drug detected is amphetamines, cocaine, LSD, opiates or PCP. This news comes on the day that the Hornets announce they'll remain in OKC for the '06-'07 season, playing a handful of games in New Orleans.
posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 01:05 PM - 23 comments
I love the fact that hard drugs recieve a harder suspension than performance-enhancing ones. Essentially, this is a social sentence rather than one affecting the actual sport.
posted by dfleming at 02:07 PM on January 28, 2006
Its such a shame to see these athletes waste their careers on such trivial things as drugs.
posted by chemwizBsquared at 04:03 PM on January 28, 2006
This guy reminds me of a player named Richard Dumas that played for the 93' Suns. A great athlete, with incredible hops. Dumas was suspended a few times and eventually left the league. If the NHL and the NFL had such strict policies, there would be about 25 players left in each league. The sad thing is, if this guy didn't get caught doing drugs, odds are you never read an article about him, and you certainly wouldn't see a thread about him on sportsfilter. Why are we so hungry for negative media? If only league officials, owners and refs were subject to the same policy. I bet they'd be quick to change it. The policy is more strict than the one currently in place for US school teachers. If a teacher tests positive and claims to have a drug problem, the local Board of Education will put the teacher in a program. After completed successfully, the teacher will be reinstated. Question? More important person to keep sober? Person teaching our kids? Or NBA second string center?
posted by BlogZilla at 05:25 PM on January 28, 2006
Hey, NOW I know how he made the league in the first place, he was so HIGH, he thought he had GAME!
posted by DA ASSX3N at 06:01 PM on January 28, 2006
Actually, BlogZilla, most public schoolteachers are already subject to drug testing (at least in the U.S.A.; I know nothing of other countries). Many private schools also test, and as state employees, most of the faculty and support staffs at public universities are already subject to drug testing.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 08:09 PM on January 28, 2006
Hate to joke about it but, he should have tried a WIZZANATOR, and if he got caught with it, say it was his cousins.
posted by BossHogg313 at 01:08 AM on January 29, 2006
Im sorry but I cant feel sorry for anyone, much less some spoiled athlete. Wish him well but think about those kids wearing his jersey. What are they up to?
posted by GoBirds at 04:42 AM on January 29, 2006
I personally think the nba is being way to hard on this kid. He did drugs, a lot of people have. Eventhough drugs use is unhealy and stupid, that does not make him a bad person. 2 years for a mistake. The nba has allstars that get conviced of beating the shit out of there wives. I think some peoples morals are real messed up.
posted by Snipes at 07:19 AM on January 29, 2006
blogzilla was right on the money and the black hand yes they drug test teachers but they dont get fired for testing positive ...i want to know what anderson tested positive for? it wasnt lsd because they would have to do a spinal tap for that hmmmm he went to blinn university in brenham texas which is about 2 hours from where i live and i saw him at parties back in the day and folks would be like "hes a badass basketball player" and i was like"really"and sure nuff he made it to the nba but i guess he never stopped partying either hahahaha i just hope he isnt a crack or cocaine addict that woudnt be cool at all opiates would be understandable in that basketball is a high impact sport and they have been used for pain since waaaaaaaay back in china and japan ummmmmm yeah anyways too bad so sad he messed up and now hes going to have to go back on whatever they taught him at Blinn yo yo Blinn Blinn yall for shizzy
posted by humans1 at 01:16 PM on January 29, 2006
Players know what the drug policy is going into the league, if they don't then they don't deserve to be there. They should have the responsibility to bear down and not do these things which will get them in trouble and suspended, banned, ect. If the league was to make a less harsh philosophy, all that would do is it would increase the number of people doing drugs. Plus, what if they were just normal people? They could be put on probation, jailed, ect. but since their athletes the suspension is harsher than hell.
posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 01:41 PM on January 29, 2006
Im sorry but I cant feel sorry for anyone, much less some spoiled athlete. Wish him well but think about those kids wearing his jersey. What are they up to GoBirds, I like yourself am a die hard Philly Fan. I just disagree with your thought pattern here in reference to Pro Athletes. You say this guy was spoiled without even knowing him personally. Maybe 1 of his parents passed away, and he like a lot of human beings turned to drugs to easy his personal pain. My point is, we just don't know what he his going through. We tend to assume that all athletes are over paid brats that don't go through anything. They are first human regardless of their career. They are not all sitting back laughing at the world because they get paid an insane amount of money to play a game. Every time we hear about an athlete doing drugs, we think its some guy smoking weed laughing at us hard working regular guys. Again, maybe he caught his fiance with his best friend and he got high so he wouldn't think about it, like some people do. Some people drink to drown their sorrows. I'm not saying its right, I'm just saying some of these guys go through the same things everyday people go through. They certainly have feelings just like you and I. Just don't be so quick to judge until you hear the whole story. As you can tell from Humans1's post, he was just a regular guy going to local high school or college parties like a lot of us. He had some athletic talent and made it to the league. Does that make him not have feelings like the rest of us? I never understood why we look at athletes differently then say actors or musicians. We buy Cd's of our favorite group knowing that half of them get high. We go see our favorite actors movies knowing they just got out of the Betty Ford clinic, and we say, "I hope they do ok". We let our kids listen to the music of these groups out now that promote nothing but drug use and partying. They hang their posters on their walls. But that's ok because its just music or a movie, so its not real. I got news for you, your kid doesn't want to be like some second string center. More of them want to be like what they hear on MTV not ESPNEWS. Besides, what if U2, Greenday, or The Whitestripes couldn't go on tour, or release any CD's for 2 years because the lead singer smoked weed. Or what if Tom Cruise, Jamie Fox, or Keifer Sutherland couldn't make any Movies/TV shows for 2 years because they got high. The President can admit he got high or that he had a DUI and he can continue to run the most powerful nation in the world, but a second string basketball player has to go home for 2 YEARS!Its the hypocrisy of our American culture.
posted by BlogZilla at 04:43 PM on January 29, 2006
I agree with you there, BlogZilla, and would even contend that the people that profit from an organization have a vested interest and possibly a responsibility to help someone in Andersen's situation. There are a lot of folks that profit off of variouis aspects of the NBA, but when something happens and the player becomes unpalatable to the public, they toss them aside like a banana peel. If Andersen has a problem, I hope the league and the Hornets franchise can at least point him in the proper direction towards getting some help. At the very least, they owe him that.
posted by Ufez Jones at 05:02 PM on January 29, 2006
I'm sure a lot of cracks will be made about Andersen's lamentable showing... No pun intended. I love the fact that hard drugs recieve a harder suspension than performance-enhancing ones. Essentially, this is a social sentence rather than one affecting the actual sport. Word, dfleming. Its such a shame to see these athletes waste their careers on such trivial things as drugs. -- posted by chemwizBsquared So sez the chemwiz. To clarify, the chemwiz means "non-state-sponsored and/or socially-stigmatized drugs". See: dfleming, above. Other drugs, such as Prozac, etc. are created by chemical wizards in huge conglomerates every day, and are quite legal. Its the hypocrisy of our American culture. Great point Blogzilla. In the final analysis, though, can anyone say they were surprised to find out that the Birdman was into the hard stuff? Not at all....the surprise was that only one test for that could have you gone for 2 years.
posted by smithers at 08:03 AM on January 30, 2006
We tend to assume that all athletes are over paid brats that don't go through anything. These guys spend their lives on a pedestal, from when they're first scouted in middle school, and never have to work for a living. I'm not convinced that they sit around deriding the normals for their pedestrian existence. But the idea that they have some right to their job, or that they could be compared to someone who works hard for a living (yeah, "works hard" and "plays hard" don't mean the same thing, that's right), is ludicrous. Yeah, they have practice every day, but when it's "playing a game" it isn't hardly work. And game night? They get paid for that? Lucky dogs. So what if some never-been fucks up his NBA "career" on drugs. There's another guy who's never worked a day in his life waiting to fill his spot. Maybe this'll knock some sense into Andersen and he'll either quit drugs or get a job where he isn't tested. Or open a restaurant with all the money he made playing a game for the last few years, hire someone else to do the work, set his own rules, and snort all he wants with no fear of drug testing. These are good options. Andersen's options are better than most folks' are upon entering the workforce for the first time at age 27. And what a network he surely has of people wanting to help out. And since tall people do better in interviews, he has a natural edge.
posted by Hugh Janus at 11:07 AM on January 30, 2006
Good point dlemming.
posted by HOE.O.K. at 12:35 PM on January 30, 2006
Oh Hugh Janus is so right. Proffessional athlete's aren't really people at all and they should be hated by us 'normal' people. I mean they are no different than us but the're athletic so we must all resent them for it. If I had the ability they have I would turn down all that money and continue to work a 'real job' because that's an honest living.
posted by tron7 at 12:40 PM on January 30, 2006
Well it wasn't lsd.only a spinal-tap can detect that.
posted by HOE.O.K. at 12:45 PM on January 30, 2006
Good point dlemming. Follow that bandwagon right off the cliff, won't ya?... ;)
posted by smithers at 02:55 PM on January 30, 2006
tron7, your spin on my words is entertaining but not accurate. I never said anything about hating anyone, only the truth: that these athletes have never had to work for a living. They've played for a living, but that isn't the same thing. And one great thing about being an athlete is that folks admire you anyway, so it shouldn't be hard for Andersen to pick up some work, somewhere, as long as he can control himself. What's there to hate about that? As far as idiots who can't be bothered to read before jerking out a reaction are concerned, there's not much to hate there, either. Pity, maybe, but why would I bother?
posted by Hugh Janus at 03:17 PM on January 30, 2006
Hugh, tron7 looked right through you and he was right on. Your animosity towards people with more athletic ability then you is obvious. These guys spend their lives on a pedestal, from when they're first scouted in middle school I guess you have never heard of anyone from low income housing working on their game day and night while working a part time job, just to get into the league. You almost sound jealous of athletes. Ever heard of Juan Dixon? Both of his parents were addicted to drugs, contracted HIV and passed away by the time he was 17. What a great pedestal to be put on. Educate yourself before you lump an entire group of people together. You obviously don't know anything about what it takes for a regular player to make it to the league. Sure there are going to be Jordans, Iversons, Lebrons, and Kobes. But for everyone of them there are 10 other guys on a 1 year contract or even a 10day contract that have certainly worked, struggled, and suffered just like you and I. What's there to hate about that?
posted by BlogZilla at 07:00 PM on January 30, 2006
You make a great point, BlogZilla. Shame you had to throw the insult to Hugh in with it.
posted by Ufez Jones at 12:40 AM on January 31, 2006
I guess you have never heard of anyone from low income housing working on their game day and night while working a part time job, just to get into the league. Of course I have. Those guys worked hard to make it into college on an athletic scholarship just out of high school, and ditched their part-time job immediately. Do you put the part-time job you had in high school on your resume? (Assuming you're over 20). Even if they didn't, they were the guy on the block destined for the NBA, and treated as such by family, friends, neighbors, and part-time employers, allowed to go "work" on their game, to go "work" out with weights, and "work" the system to make it to the NBA, where they can play all they want. The low income housing angle, the addict parents angle; that's where a guy is from. Life may have been hard for his parents, but if he's a basketball prodigy (and so many of them are prodigies in the NBA) he'll never have to work 9 to 5 to support his family. I'd love to see the stats on journeyman NBAers' income from sideline jobs, and see how they got their job (whether it was a good interview or a "holy shit! Juan Dixon wants to work at my car dealership? Oh man, what an honor!"), and see what clients/customers think of their work (people are usually quite impressed by former athletes). At any rate, this was in the context of a player leaving the league, and an attempt to allay any concern for Andersen; as long as he keeps his nose clean, his athleticism, height, inborn talent (and all the time he's spent playing a game), and popularity will surely land him on his feet. You've probably met folks who were jealous of athletes and said similar things to what I do, and are just lumping me with that entire group of people. No big deal, you're human. I have the utmost respect for the achievements of athletes, and I think it's great entertainment. And it looks like a lot of fun. But it doesn't look like work.
posted by Hugh Janus at 08:46 AM on February 02, 2006
I'm sure a lot of cracks will be made about Andersen's lamentable showing in last year's dunk contest, but this really makes me sad. I've no affinity to him, but I went to the Mavs/Hornets game in OKC last November and he definitely is a favorite of a lot of the kids. In spite of his low playing time and lack of scoring, his jersey sells just as well, if not better, than any of the players on the starting squad. The fans in Oklahoma have done a hell of a job embracing the Hornets, in spite of their lackluster record, which is kind of surprising for a state where football reigns supreme. This is going to be a crushing blow for a lot their fans.