OT: Shaq not such a nice guy after all.....
So I have come across an article on UK's The Daily Mail, of all the news sources, showing some pretty egregious (recent) behavior by Shaq (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2615765/Shaquille-ONeal-accused…).
To say it is egregious is pretty much an understatement. This is a professional athlete, someone to whom (in all likelihood) millions of kids/people look up to (including the individual Shaq mocked), mocking an individual with a serious disability. It really is pretty low. Shaq erased the image and later called the individual and apologized (after all the strong criticism he got from his followers...not sure if his apology was actually genuine and if he truly understands how hurtful and ignorant this was) but I have not seen much media backlash about this. I certainly have not seen ESPN covering this.
It just got me thinking about how players and ex-players tend to get passes here and there and whether the hammer should fall just as hard on them. Not that I don't think Sterling's comments were egregious and that he should get all that he deserves, but I feel like players tend to get passes when the slap on the wrist should really sting. I personally feel like Shaq should issue a public apology and the networks that he works as an analyzt for should net out some sort of punishment.
Just some other examples of players, ex-players, getting a pass that come to mind are: Tim Hardaway and his vile anti-gay monologue (Tim was banned from attending an All-Star weekend, but then he apologized and all was hunky dory); John Rocker (the guy got a short suspension but continued to play in MLB in subsequent seasons, even after making comments on par with Sterling, if not worse); Stephen Jackson punching out a fan (he later admitted to enjoying hitting fans); Bonzi Wells taunted white players with racial epithets during numerous games. He was suspended for a day for spitting in the face of San Antonio's Danny Ferry during a game, calling Ferry a "[blanking] honkie" during another game. Golden State's Troy Murphy said Wells called him a "cracker" once; Riley Cooper got a $30,000 fine (a slap on the wrist) after he was video taped saying "I will fight every n***** here." at a country music concert (I sincerely doubt this guy is not racist).
Incidentally, back in 2003 Shaq said "Tell Yao Ming, 'Ching chong yang, wah, ah soh". He said he was just joking. None of my Asian friends were laughing, I'll tell you that much. Shaw apologized and all was well.
Disappointed in Trey and Shaq, but glad they owned up to it and hope they seek forgiveness from the victim.
I've never cared for Shaq, but I'm disappointed in Burke. He should know better.
Trey, Shaq and Waka knew that this gentleman had a disability when they 'tweeted' about this in the first place. This is a non-story as it was a complete accident on their part, although unkowingly ignorant at the time, this has since been resovled as both Trey and Shaq have personally contacted this gentleman and apologized to him once it was known he had a disability.
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/04/30/trey-burke-shaq-apologize-for-ma…
This should've been researched before being posted, like someone else said this happend a few days ago.
Recap:Yes this wasn't nice, no they didn't know he had a disability, and yes they've apologized to this man via phone call; I'd say that this should be fairly well resovled at this point.
the difference between a disability and malformation is pretty much whatever a court decides, and outside the realm of this discussion.
The man is not disabled per the courts but that shouldn't matter. This is a non story because it's like making fun of a guy for being bald (also a hereditary condition) . It's insensitive but it's NOT egregious and a lot of the indignation here comes off as your standard (insert cause here) outrage and Internet tough guy biz (nobody makes fun of [insert marginalized group here] on my watch! Didn't you see I used *buzzword* ?)
How does KCP relate to this though?
Because KCP was originally going to take the selfie, but at the last minute Joe Dumars stepped in and made Burke do it.
This isn't anything to get up in arms about. Shaq probably didn't know he had a disability. Vocalizing the hate you truly feel and making fun of a random pic are two different things. The public doesn't need an apology when an individual is wronged, so if Shaq apologized to the individual I say case closed. It is also documented that Shaq has given more to charity than I will most likely ever make in my lifetime. As I recall, Tim Hardaway lost his job at ESPN over his remarks and John Rocker is still pretty much a pariah for the stupid comments he made. We all make mistakes. This is going to get old if people keep investigating every celebrity's dirty laundry.
than we'll ever make in our lifetimes, but that is irrelevant.
Worse than the LA Clippers owner IMHO.
Was Shaq at least fined or suspended for what he said about Yao? And did he give an apology? I was a pretty big fan of his but now honestly I'm pretty disgusted after finding all this out...
If Shaq was a white dude you bet your ass ESPN would blow it up.
Fuck You
Everything is in the public forum.
Even if Shaq had no clue this man was disabled, don't you think it is time to be a bit more mature? Shaq ia a 42 year old man on Instagram making fun of the way someone looks. 42 years old and he is acting like an eight year old. Pretty pathetic.