Let me start off by saying I love basketball,if I didn't I wouldn't be here. But I'll be honest and say,since Jordan left,my overall feel for the L has dwindled,and most of my interest now lies in college ball/streetball..... onto my rant.... My little cousin(he's 16 so not too little,but smaller and younger than myself) recently went on a trip to the east coast(new york/new jersey area),he's from Seattle and this was his first trip to my side of the country. They spent time in New York and they spent time in Atlantic City. Well,my cousin is a huge Marbury fan..I mean huge. When I visited last year his bedroom looked like a Marbury museum. This kid is Marbury crazy. When I last talked to him on the phone he was excited as hell,tellin' me what all he planned to do in New York..go to the Garden..the big NBA store and spend hella moneys on Marbury gear and ish. Well as him and my uncle were scopin' out around Atlantic City they went into some mall there and who should they see millin' around. Steph and Zach Marbury. My uncle encouraged my cousin to approach Steph and get his auto on the jersey he was sportin'. So my unc and cuz roll up on Steph and ask him to sign and the punk tells them to "get the f--- out of here". Needless to say my cuz was crushed and very dejected that his hero would act like this. Stories like this really really really irk me. This is the 4th such occurence like this that I know of. My brother approached Cedric Ceballos at an airport one time to get him to sign somethin' and was hit a similar diatribe. The other events I know of for sure involved Shaquille in Tampa Bay and Dennis Scott in Jacksonville. Anyways,it really pisses me off to no end that these cats act like this. We,the fans,pay these guys salaries and yet they always act like they are above us. We spend the money for the overpriced jerseys,memoribillia,video games and the overinflated prices to see their games at the arenas. We have to pay all this because these guys think they are worth all the $$$ they gettin'..and yet where alot of these guys are concerned the fans are an afterthought. It's events like this that really sour me on the NBA as a whole. The players,owners and League officials respect for the fans is nil. Now I know some of the players probably are probably cool,but a vast majority are too caught up in their own press and hype to even worry with the fans and that makes me sick. I know demands on their time are monumental,but thats a small price to pay to get paid like a king and live a life of leisure playing aGAME. If they don't wanna sign somethin' or are in a hurry,they don't need to act like a total ass. They can be respectful about it. The NBA of today is a total joke compared to what I grew up with. The games themselves suck 90% of the time. The play on the court is horrendous and the 'superstars' put themselves above everyone else. All of it makes me wonder why I even bother to care about the NBA anymore.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">If they don't wanna sign somethin' or are in a hurry,they don't need to act like a total ass. They can be respectful about it.</div> Agreed. Notariety is the price of fame and money, when it pertains to NBA players. I can understand wanting to have some time without having people bugging you for autographs, etc. -Down time so to speak. It's understandable and human, IMO. However, telling some kid to "F off" because you don't feel like taking the time to either sign the damn thing or because you don't feel compelled to think out an appropriate response, is simply inexcusable. However, Marbury's a well known punk anyways, so I guess his actions shouldn't surprise me.
What really irks me is how they act like they are all about goodwill <font size="1">(ex. going to charity events, acting like they care etc..) </font><font size="2">and then you hear stories about how they are just total asses to the regular fan. To me this just tells me that they have totally forgotten where they have came from. Don't they realize that they were fans themselves at one point? To respectfully decline an autograph is okay, but to cuss out a kid is totally out of line. </font>
That's a terrible story...I remember that whole Kenny Anderson thing a few years ago when they got it on camera. Shame this stuff goes on a lot
Man if my favorite player did that to me I dont know what I would do,it seems some of the stars in the leauge are just selfish,its sad that a player could show so much disrespect to a fan,fans make the players who they are.
That is pretty horrible. What does it take to sign an autograph? 10 seconds? Really hard, aint it. I think we all knew Marbury was a bit of a punk, and I am a big Marbury fan myself. I met Richard Jefferson in the mall once, and he was the complete opposite. He was more than happy to sign an autograph for me. Not signing an autograph....ahh, alright. You can let that slide. But then coming out of nowhere, and saying "F off kid" is just ignorant. I will guarantee that kid will no longer be a big Stephon Marbury fan. But in the end it won't affect Stephon one bit. People will still pay the money to see him play. There are still a ton of NBA players who would sign the autograph, and be nice.
Thats horrible, these NBA Stars act like they love everyone and are greatful, but inside they dont give a Sh.t about the average fan, all they care about is $$. If you dont have $$ forget it. I have heard Steph is a brick, does he realize that he grew up in a rough place, that he is a role model for kids everywhere, and that people love him and his game? Although you can't say this about the NBA Superstars that love the fans such as Kobe, J Kidd, Lebron, and others.
I think the good NBA players outnumber the jerks though. You don't ever hear about the good ones, like Tim Duncan, Ray Allen, Jason Kidd, Richard Jefferson, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett etc. etc. Haven't we all known that Stephon Marbury was a jerk for a long time though?
well i didnt know steph was a jerk. but as Kobe 8 Ball said he grew up in a rough neighborhood. you gotta be tough i guess. I mean i would have signed the graph is I was in the predicament but I havent been through all that Steph has gone through in his life. In a world full of racism Steph might not like white people. Maybe he feels thoses are who put him through all he went through. And hes just like ftw. all those tats tells me he holds his own and that he is probally a very keep to himself type of person. still all that would be no excuse to curse out a fan.
I heard D Mase was one of the nicest, Supersonic(Sir Dez) told me. I have heard from other people too that he will sign autographs for anyone.
I know a Raptor fan, specifically a Vince fan, who had to pay a decent penny to have a dinner at some place (forgot), which featured Vince Carter, Jalen Rose, and Morris Peterson. When they finished dinner, he mingled with Jalen and Morris and they were really nice to him. But when he wanted an autograph from Vince, he kept ignoring him. He tried to convince Vince to sign him an autograph, and finally Vince said how this kid was really bugging him, as Vince just basically scribbled his signature. I was really shocked when I found out about this considering how Vince is a civilized good person off court. He does charitys and helps the sick. It seems like these superstars are really pissed off because of the media that irritates them everyday, and essentially he had to meet this fan everyday also.
It's a sad story and It's a shame some players are like that Tim Duncan for example refuses to sign autographs but he isn't nasty of about it. He's willing to take pictures but not auto's. David Robinson is a class act about autographs The only time he doesn't sign them is when he's with his kids I remember him saying to one guy "Sorry not with my kids around" Rasheed Wallace also said no to a kid at an airport, clearly didn't swear like Marbury did but was still not very nice about it. You will find ALOT of players just aren't nice people in the NBA these days. They pick up their $ and thats all they think that matters. Yes the NBA is quite bad compared to the early 90's, the level of play was at such a high level, now days It just isn't up to standard.
Its terrible that Marbury did that. Also i wanna know what happened with Shaq in Tamba Bay. I didnt know these kind of things. I hope the kid is OK now. Tell me DRE:"Is he still a Marbury fan?" Marbury should be ashamed of himself. Its just 10seconds of him time. If he didnt have time he still didnt have to say the F word to the kid. He forgot how he got where he is now. Its terrible to hear this DRE. We all know that money is the root of all evil so all Marbury thinks of is money and not his fans.
<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">well i didnt know steph was a jerk. but as Kobe 8 Ball said he grew up in a rough neighborhood. you gotta be tough i guess.</div> What does this mean? He is making millions to have fun, his life isn't so rough anymore. Oh, and a big 6'2" basketball player has to act tough to a 16 year old kid? Ok. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Maybe he feels thoses are who put him through all he went through. And hes just like ftw. </div> What?! I don't even know what this stuff means. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">all those tats tells me he holds his own and that he is probally a very keep to himself type of person. </div> Yeah....he wears that expensive jewelry, and goes to clubs all the time because he is a keep to himself person.
I mean you can still go to clubs and be a keep to yourself person. If all your friends are there then you have fun with them. <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">What does this mean? He is making millions to have fun, his life isn't so rough anymore. Oh, and a big 6'2" basketball player has to act tough to a 16 year old kid? Ok. </div>What i was saying is that when hes with his people he probally is irritated that he cant even walk without people trying to get graphs all the time. He plays ball because he loves the game not because he loves the fans. Its places that you can ask for stuff and its places where people want privacy.
i know a guy from WCremix, joel who live un Puerto Rico, and when the Team USA played there he asked a guy, i don't remember who and autograph and it was a little bit like marbury answered.. when i was young i used to go to Partizan and Red Star games in Serbia, and during the lock-out divac was playin in serbia,, and both vlade divac and peja drobnjak were there and i talked to them, they were very very nice, divac is like my icon he is a really good person, and peja drobnjak is so damn funny, just look at the sonics site, Manjaks or somthing like that!
The League has changed alot,I mean would've Bill Russell,Larry Bird,Magic Jonson or Micheal Jordan said "get the hell out of here" to any of his fan? I think not.It's a surprise to see Shaq not giving a autograph to someone,especially he didn't get one from David Robinson before he(Shaq) didn't play in the NBA and Shaq said few years ago he always plays at his best to beat the Spurs and David Robinson becuase he didn't get a autograph from David Robinson at a game,Robinson just walked past him. Watch out Stephon Marbury,your gonna suffer.
Carmelo Anthony is a punk. Carmelo Anthony was a jerk at the Rocky Mountain Tournament. My cousins and I were there everyday, and all the other players were glad to sign, some of them( Josh Howard, Lampe, Nene, and Zarko) even gave us some tips when playing. I got an Karl Malone autograph there too. But anyways, We waited for them outside,and Nene came out he was all cool and gave me his jersey cuz I methim a couple times. Carmelo came out and my lil cousin asked him for an autograph, my cuz was even wearing an orangeman jersey. Carmelo stared at my cousin and told the security to "get these bitch ass kids away from me." So then he got everybody pissed, and everyone was cussing at him, and he had atleast 2 security gods by him whenever he walked any where during the tournament from then on. I also asked Zach Randolph for a autograph before one game and he was like okay, wait. But after the game he was pissed as hell. I understand though, they just lost by like 15 and he had 31 points.
You have to consider Stephon's side also. I am in no way a big fan of his, hardly ever watch him play actually, but most celebrities do get annoyed when their fans come up for autographs. The celebrities want to be normal people just walking around the mall, and at times it might make them upset that a person comes up to bug them. However for Stephon to react the way he did is inexcusable. This kid is someone who pays to see you play, buys your jersey, your shoes, hangs posters around his bedroom walls, idolizes you, and then for him to say what he said is just about the lowest thing you can say to your fan(s). When you sign that contract for whatever, the league, endorsment deals, this is what you get. You want more money, more money equals more exposure, and more exposure equals a wider audience of fans. People start liking you because of the way you play, and the way you portray yourself in these environments. You have to take the good, as well as the bad. Not saying that your cousin's approach to Stephon was bad.
