Beilein says Cavs “no longer playing like a bunch of thugs”
During a film session Beilein said the team was “no longer playing like a bunch of thugs,” only to backtrack and say he meant slugs. Yikes. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/28450077/john-beilein-apologizes-cavs-says-meant-call-players-slugs-not-thugs
Im guessing Beilein wished he stayed at Michigan right about now.
January 8th, 2020 at 11:17 PM ^
Ohhhh.....he's going to want that one back in 3...2...1.....
January 8th, 2020 at 11:20 PM ^
Oh boy
January 8th, 2020 at 11:21 PM ^
He gone
January 8th, 2020 at 11:21 PM ^
So where does John Beilein coach next? Or will retirement be the option.
January 9th, 2020 at 12:47 AM ^
UC Santa Cruz might be a good fit.
January 9th, 2020 at 8:25 AM ^
For those who don’t get the joke — here’s a visual aid. My niece has two slug degrees and has been a research scientist there for at least 15 years. 
January 9th, 2020 at 9:03 AM ^
Was not aware of that - love it.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:59 AM ^
They were popular apparel in the late 90s with a string of popular hats that would have the team mascot is larger letters than the university. The most popular ones in my high school were:
COCKS
BEAVERS
SLUGS
Edit: found them (and an interesting story I had forgotten):
January 9th, 2020 at 9:25 AM ^
Now THIS is how you adopt a proper school nickname. Take note, Houston Baptist Huskies.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:47 AM ^
Didn’t Vincent Vega wear that shirt?
January 9th, 2020 at 2:20 PM ^
He wore the white version.
January 9th, 2020 at 4:17 PM ^
White version? Bullshit his best buddy was Jules.
January 9th, 2020 at 8:03 AM ^
Ohio State. That precedent was already set (see Mattison). Plus, he won't have to move very far.
January 8th, 2020 at 11:22 PM ^
Inexcusable. Can’t expect to hold your players accountable after that. Don’t see how JB lasts the season
January 8th, 2020 at 11:22 PM ^
I don’t care if he called them a lot worse... it would take a lot for me to change my opinion of Beilein. I’ve met him several times and he’s the most friendly person of his stature that I’ve ever met.
On the other hand, the NBA has a good number of people who are actual thugs. Draymond Green, for example.
January 8th, 2020 at 11:27 PM ^
Nice people can still make mistakes and say bad things. It doesn’t change my opinion of him overall. He slipped up. But it does make me question his ability to lead an NBA team even more than I already did
January 8th, 2020 at 11:29 PM ^
The NBA doesn’t deserve him.
January 8th, 2020 at 11:34 PM ^
I think it was a bad fit in just about every way, but you can’t say what he said and expect to keep the respect of your players.
And saying the league is full of thugs (it isn’t) is....well, I won’t get too deep into it but it’s not good
January 9th, 2020 at 1:19 AM ^
What % of the NBA is thugs ? I will say 5%. Let’s all make our estimates. Higher or lower than 5 ?
January 9th, 2020 at 1:24 AM ^
That’s not fair. We always hear more about the guys that misbehave. There is a seriously good number of NBA guys doing generous things in the community.
January 9th, 2020 at 8:11 AM ^
Before I answer this, I need to know if Metta World Peace and Stephen Jackson are still in the league...
January 9th, 2020 at 8:39 AM ^
I'd say significantly lower than the same age range of males NOT in the NBA.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:17 AM ^
Really? Folks think NBA players offend more than the general public of males in the same age range?
Every number I've ever seen shows professional athletes as a group offend significantly less than demographic peers.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:49 AM ^
I don’t know why this is downvoted. People call NBA and NFL players thugs all the time but the truth is that they are charged with crimes at a significantly lower rate than the general population.
While many point to the massive salaries of athletes to explain the data, the reason really doesn’t matter. The fact is that, as your post correctly claims, as a group pro athletes are charged with less crimes than the general population so calling them thugs is just inaccurate.
January 8th, 2020 at 11:54 PM ^
yikes man.
January 9th, 2020 at 1:53 AM ^
Draymond Green has his fair share of on court antics but what exactly makes him a thug? Dude hasn’t gotten in trouble off the court
January 9th, 2020 at 1:59 AM ^
Punching (edit-slapping) college kids at bars not enough?
January 9th, 2020 at 2:15 AM ^
Slapping a college kid constitutes thuggery? That story is actually hilarious considering it’s a fellow Spartan wtf.
What Csonte York (remember him?) did to that Michigan Hockey players jaw outside of Skeeps is thuggery
January 9th, 2020 at 8:34 AM ^
There is more to that story, it wasn’t some random kid. It was a football player that had been poking him all night. It wasn’t some random college kid. He was a fellow Michigan State athlete. Again, not sticking up for him, but Draymond is not a thug. Not even close.
January 9th, 2020 at 2:16 AM ^
Far from true. Multiple issues in East Lansing
January 9th, 2020 at 8:44 AM ^
"Multiple issues in East Lansing"
You my friend win Understatement of the Year!!!!
January 9th, 2020 at 6:35 AM ^
Actual "thugs" is a racist term and you are equating a player who plays dirty with the term. Now I don't believe Beilein is racist, but using a term to generalize a group of people based on the actions is not a good thing,
January 9th, 2020 at 7:11 AM ^
I call bullshit on racist. Lazy purpose driven declaration. Merrimack-Webster:
Definition of thug
: a brutal ruffian or assassin : GANGSTER, TOUGH
To equate to racism is ridiculous. The audience does not define racism. Thug is used historically for bullies, mobsters, etc. It’s a description of behavior that’s atypical. Don’t reach into that bag. The more it’s done the more white noise it becomes when it matters.
January 9th, 2020 at 7:55 AM ^
Thug has widely become a way for racists to denigrate black men as a replacement for the n-word while getting to claim ignorance/“I’m not being a racist.”
January 9th, 2020 at 8:58 AM ^
What does Webster say about the N word? Webster's doesn't account for slang dude. What does Webster's say about Bitch?
January 9th, 2020 at 9:24 AM ^
So...you clearly didn't look up what Webster says about the N-word or Bitch.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:24 AM ^
Agree. Not a racist term. Young brutal guys of just about every race have been called "thugs".
Beilein is a man of incredible character. This is a non-story.
January 9th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
English is a living language. The meaning of words evolve through common use. The definition of the term in the vernacular has come to include prominent racist undertones. The word now has a racist connotation. It doesn't matter what the dictionary currently says. Dictionaries are meant to attempt to reflect the meaning of a term at a specific time, and if the dictionary doesn't match the vernacular, it is incorrect.
I'm sure that is not what Beilein meant when he said it though. He's a dude in his 60s, and when he was younger the word had a non-racist intent. But if you want to not offend people 40 years younger than you, you have to work to understand the current meaning of words. If you're not willing or able to, your ability to lead those people will rightly be called into question.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:09 AM ^
So words actually don't mean the thing that they're stated to mean. Language and words are fluid and can mean whatever I define them to mean because....context? LOL...
I have decided today, that using the word 'wolverine' is racist against all races and anyone who uses it is a racist. This whole discussion is patently absurd.....
January 9th, 2020 at 11:13 AM ^
It's not what you decide. It's how the vernacular evolves. I'm sorry that you're new to this, but the meaning of words evolve all the time. Like I said, dictionaries don't define words, they attempt to reflect the current usage of the term. Dictionaries change every year to reflect these changes.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:24 AM ^
Whose vernacular? Your vernacular? Who is the arbiter of such changes and nuance? Words are not flexible in the way you describe, otherwise, they mean nothing.
The term thug is not racist. Period. If it is deemed racist then it is the lens by which the word is perceived that is giving it the upgraded vernacular. So basically, someone who contextualizes everything with race attached to it thinks the term is racist.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:39 AM ^
Vernacular is the way that a word is used by the people in a region or country. It isn't mine or yours, it's ours.
I'm leaving this conversation, but what I'm saying isn't controversial. The meaning of words are constantly changing and will always change. That threatens some people, like yourself. But it is a fact.
January 9th, 2020 at 3:50 PM ^
" Words are not flexible in the way you describe, otherwise, they mean nothing. "
Really?
"Cute" still means "sharp witted" and has nothing to do with appearance?
"Meat" still means all solid food, and doesn't just mean the flesh of an animal?
"Nice" is still a description for a stupid/ignorant/foolish person, and has nothing to do with positive description of someones temperament?
"Clue" still means a ball of yarn, not bits of evidence that help us solve things?
"Spinster" still means a woman who spins yarn, not an aged unmarried woman?
January 9th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
I don't understand your stance. You're claiming words and their meaning/impact don't evolve? You can't be claiming that, can you?
How about just about the "n-word" or "colored"? These were all acceptable uses for "African-American" and no longer are in most contexts. Often, with derogatory words, it is because the word became used non-proportionally to describe a minority group in a derogatory manner.
Stereotypes are a thing. That's what the "thug" debate is about. Young black men get stereotyped as thugs; referring to a group of young black men as thugs, therefore, brings about racial slants.
Can a white person be a "thug" be a dictionary's definition? Of course. However, young white people typically don't get falsely hit with that adjective, which young black men often do.
January 9th, 2020 at 3:44 PM ^
Language is descriptive, not prescriptive.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:55 AM ^
Oh good it only took to the bottom of the first page for someone to try this. I'm willing to bet there's never a point where you're going to take racism seriously anyway so you're not worth the time.
January 9th, 2020 at 9:59 AM ^
This comment shows a complete and total lack of understanding of language and how it is used. If someone calls you a retard is it not offensive? If a word gets used about a specific group consistently to convey a meaning, like thug has been used against the black community historically in the United states its 'official' meaning no longer matters. In the same way you shouldn't call someone a faggot.
Audience 100% determines racism because context does. I don't give a shit if your pompous ass can pull out the dictionary if literally everyone in the room knows no group of white people ever gets called a group of thugs.
Just think how much of an asshole you have to be for this to be your argument. Someone tells you that using a word has meaning beyond what they though and it causes harm, rather than saying hey I don't have to use that word I probably use 10 times a year, you tell them you'd rather continue to use that word because reasons. Its not that hard to be a decent person and not using a word to avoid causing someone else harm is a pretty low bar to clear.
January 9th, 2020 at 11:13 AM ^
I have decided that in this 'context' (since that's how we're apparently justifying this), your use of the word 'asshole' is a compliment. To wax poetic to the superior intellect of this group and to shower such lavish praise on the readership really isn't necessary.