Stein Report on Ty Lawson
- Thread starter swisshh
- Start date
Methinks Vlade, Joerger and co become less tolerant of such mishaps after the first 8 games of the season.
That being said, hopefully it really was a non-issue. The selfish side of me wants to believe in Lawson because I think he can really ball out for us this year. The altruistic side wants to believe in Lawson because I'm always gonna root for someone to beat their demons.
Either way, I'm glad he isn't cut.
That being said, hopefully it really was a non-issue. The selfish side of me wants to believe in Lawson because I think he can really ball out for us this year. The altruistic side wants to believe in Lawson because I'm always gonna root for someone to beat their demons.
Either way, I'm glad he isn't cut.
Nobody would touch Lawson in free agency because of past problems now during preseason he's at a club in Vegas? Not a good look, not a good decision. If the Kings were in a better position I believe he would be cut. Lawson has had four DWI's with two of them coming within a 7 month span in 2015. Lawson is on a nonguaranteed deal not because people question his talent but they question his decision making.
Right, and the fans who feel all slighted and victimized by this quick-and-partial reporting, you gotta realize you're co-conspirators in your own agony. You know how this works; you have to wait for actual evidence before you get worried and worked up over this stuff. When you give it purchase, share it, agonize about it, it gives it more gravitas than it deserves. The media works the way it does because there's a market for it. Use your good judgment and don't succumb to trashy, impartial reporting 
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That's not completely true. The Rockets did trade for him last offseason. Then, when he struggled they eventually waived him. As far as I know, there were no off the court issues. Then the Pacers grabbed him for the stretch run. With the Rockets he played the worst basketball and put up the worst numbers of any season, including his rookie year when he largely came off the bench. He was slightly better in Indiana, especially in terms of creating looks for teammates but he still didn't look like the same guy.
The reality is that Lawson was left twisting in the wind this offseason because of his DUIs/alcohol issuse AND because his play fell off dramatically. The argument can be made that he was misused in Houston (and he was - he's a PG that doesn't play well off the ball and is best when allowed to drive and kick) but he also just flat out didn't look like himself.
That said, I thought this quote from Patrick Beverly from an IndyStar article after the Pacers (with Lawson) played the Rockets was interesting:
The reality is that Lawson was left twisting in the wind this offseason because of his DUIs/alcohol issuse AND because his play fell off dramatically. The argument can be made that he was misused in Houston (and he was - he's a PG that doesn't play well off the ball and is best when allowed to drive and kick) but he also just flat out didn't look like himself.
That said, I thought this quote from Patrick Beverly from an IndyStar article after the Pacers (with Lawson) played the Rockets was interesting:
Why did Rondo's value tank after his stint with the Mavs? Why were people mocking the Kings for signing him?
The Rockets were able to trade spare parts for Lawson because the Nuggets just wanted him gone after his last DUI.
But if you remember the reaction to that deal was that if Lawson could stay out of trouble that it could turn out to be a coup for the Rockets - a team with the MVP runner up who just made the WCFs.
And Lawson DID stay out of trouble as far as I/we know. It was his terrible play/fit that caused the Rockets to waive him.
So yes, obviously his past issues with alcohol are largely to blame but I'm guessing if Lawson had a great statistical season last year and the Rockets were a serious championship contender again he wouldn't have signed a non guaranteed deal with the Kings.
A Ty Lawson back playing at a near all-star level who had kept out of trouble all season is worth a minor gamble to most NBA teams.
A Ty Lawson who played like crap last year isn't. That's the point I was making.
The Rockets were able to trade spare parts for Lawson because the Nuggets just wanted him gone after his last DUI.
But if you remember the reaction to that deal was that if Lawson could stay out of trouble that it could turn out to be a coup for the Rockets - a team with the MVP runner up who just made the WCFs.
And Lawson DID stay out of trouble as far as I/we know. It was his terrible play/fit that caused the Rockets to waive him.
So yes, obviously his past issues with alcohol are largely to blame but I'm guessing if Lawson had a great statistical season last year and the Rockets were a serious championship contender again he wouldn't have signed a non guaranteed deal with the Kings.
A Ty Lawson back playing at a near all-star level who had kept out of trouble all season is worth a minor gamble to most NBA teams.
A Ty Lawson who played like crap last year isn't. That's the point I was making.
The Kings have a pretty solid history with reclamation projects. Dating back to at least Vernon Maxwell all the way through Rondo. I'm ok with Lawson who can be cut at any time.
It's the C- level talent that we sign for B level money that kills the team. Vlade has done a pretty good job managing that so far.
It's the C- level talent that we sign for B level money that kills the team. Vlade has done a pretty good job managing that so far.
I feel like Lawson has had so many chances in the NBA already. Why are the Kings giving guys like Lawson more chances? He's certainly not a high character vet. In fact, he has a TON of character concerns.
I guess at least the Kings didn't try to file an appeal for DC's suspension. What a PR nightmare that would've been.
I guess at least the Kings didn't try to file an appeal for DC's suspension. What a PR nightmare that would've been.
He is, however, a high talent vet. And since none of us knows exactly what happened, and since Vlade and Joerger do know and decided it was tolerable...well, we're not really in a good position to second guess that. For all we know he had to rush Aunt Trudy to the hospital for emergency bunyon surgery.
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Except, there was nothing leaked aside from "Ty Lawson wasn't on the team plane". That's literally it, which isn't really a leak because every person covering the Kings on a regular basis noted that fact in their coverage of the Kentucky game.
Later TMZ finds some footage of Lawson at the club with relatively little context and posts it.
Marc Stein then ran with all of that and it somehow turned in "Lawson missed the team plane because he's an alcoholic!" while absolutely no new information made its way out to the public aside from the initial "Ty Lawson wasn't with the team in Kentucky".
Do we have reason to worry? Maybe.
But I don't think we have enough information to worry quite yet.
Later TMZ finds some footage of Lawson at the club with relatively little context and posts it.
Marc Stein then ran with all of that and it somehow turned in "Lawson missed the team plane because he's an alcoholic!" while absolutely no new information made its way out to the public aside from the initial "Ty Lawson wasn't with the team in Kentucky".
Do we have reason to worry? Maybe.
But I don't think we have enough information to worry quite yet.
The immediate conclusion that fans and media jumped to was that it was an alcohol related relapse for Lawson.
If that's not the case then it would make sense for Joerger & Divac to diffuse it as a non issue.
But it could be the case that Lawson wanted to skip the game (maybe to support his friend as some have suggested) and the team wasn't thrilled with that decision and told him so. If so that could largely be in part because they wanted to avoid the possibility of Lawson having another incident with alcohol in Las Vegas.
If that's not the case then it would make sense for Joerger & Divac to diffuse it as a non issue.
But it could be the case that Lawson wanted to skip the game (maybe to support his friend as some have suggested) and the team wasn't thrilled with that decision and told him so. If so that could largely be in part because they wanted to avoid the possibility of Lawson having another incident with alcohol in Las Vegas.
practice!!????
The character issues that the Kings need to improve on don't have to do with drunk driving or missing team flights or taking a harsher than league standard stance on domestic violence or hate speech or any of that. The character issues that the Kings need to improve on are a bad defensive work ethic and quitting because of bad calls during the game.
I do not think Vlade or Joerger are interested in establishing a boy scout troop culture.
The character issues that the Kings need to improve on don't have to do with drunk driving or missing team flights or taking a harsher than league standard stance on domestic violence or hate speech or any of that. The character issues that the Kings need to improve on are a bad defensive work ethic and quitting because of bad calls during the game.
I do not think Vlade or Joerger are interested in establishing a boy scout troop culture.
Winning is what changes "culture". Back in the last season or so of being contenders the Kings had Keon Clark who claims he never played a game sober and was later sentenced to 8 years in prison for DUI and weapons charges. In the beginning of that era of good basketball they had Vernon Maxwell whose list of ugly incidents is impressive. Chris Webber was available to the Kings in trade in large part because of his multiple incidents involving marijuana including the time he was pulled over for speeding and arrested for possession, traffic violations, resisting arrest and assault.
DeMarcus Cousins is largely viewed as a cancer by a large percentage of NBA fans and media. Yet Draymond Green was only a couple Technical Fouls behind Boogie, has gotten into it with his coach and teammates according to both Kerr and Walton, kicked three dudes in the nuts during the playoffs (two of them being Steven Adams), assaulted a Michigan State football player this offseason and snap chatted pictures of his penis for the world to see. But he's viewed as a "competitor" and a winner because of his team's success.
This isn't to say I'm okay with Lawson and his past. I'm not. Not at all. I'd rather root for him than a guy like Lance Stephenson who threw his pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs but in a perfect world I wouldn't root for any of them.
But the reality is that he's a backup PG on a non-guaranteed deal. He's a gamble that may or may not pay off. And from all accounts he's a good teammate. I worry about Ty Lawson staying sober. I don't worry about him destroying the King's "culture".
And in the best scenario he stays clean and helps the Kings become a surprise playoff team.
Because the reality is that the Kings could have 15 model citizens who get along perfectly well but would get no credit for a good "culture" if they win 12 games. Winning covers up a lot of warts.
DeMarcus Cousins is largely viewed as a cancer by a large percentage of NBA fans and media. Yet Draymond Green was only a couple Technical Fouls behind Boogie, has gotten into it with his coach and teammates according to both Kerr and Walton, kicked three dudes in the nuts during the playoffs (two of them being Steven Adams), assaulted a Michigan State football player this offseason and snap chatted pictures of his penis for the world to see. But he's viewed as a "competitor" and a winner because of his team's success.
This isn't to say I'm okay with Lawson and his past. I'm not. Not at all. I'd rather root for him than a guy like Lance Stephenson who threw his pregnant girlfriend down a flight of stairs but in a perfect world I wouldn't root for any of them.
But the reality is that he's a backup PG on a non-guaranteed deal. He's a gamble that may or may not pay off. And from all accounts he's a good teammate. I worry about Ty Lawson staying sober. I don't worry about him destroying the King's "culture".
And in the best scenario he stays clean and helps the Kings become a surprise playoff team.
Because the reality is that the Kings could have 15 model citizens who get along perfectly well but would get no credit for a good "culture" if they win 12 games. Winning covers up a lot of warts.
I hear yeah, then let's just quit with all of the Tolliver and Temple are good locker room guys. We can't have it both ways. If there are good locker rooms guys there must be bad ones too. Not necessarily not pleasant to be around but guys that cause distractions. I think we all can agree this is a distraction
Was going to post this when I read yours......the story stinks. And no one wants to see Lawson repeat his problems as no one would wish that on anyone. But why the mixed messages from Vlade? If Lawson really does have problems with alcohol, and I believe it's documented that he does, then why would he put himself in a situation like he did, it's not like he needs the temptation.
The problem with that reasoning is that Lawson was well liked and considered a good teammate in both Denver and Houston. From what I can tell, the only reason this "incident" has been any kind of distraction is because the media made a story out of nothing. Players miss games and practices all the time for "personal issues", without it becoming a national story.
Just speculating, but towards the end of the interview with Joerger, one of the media members pressed him if he had permission to be excused from the flight. I think that's what was asked the audio was kind of muffled. And Joerger danced around that question and got irritated. So it sounded like Lawson was texting his coach about a "personal issue" that he was dealing with and coach was understanding, but possibly Lawson did not receive express permission to miss the flight. That perhaps would be a basis for a fine.