Source: NBA may replace Tyrus Thomas at Dunk Competition

[Big Shot Rob]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/sports_magic/2007/02/source_nba_look.html

[Kermit]

he's being replaced for saying what every player feels. the slam dunk contest is retarded and has lost all appeal. if the nba really wants to spotlight its stars, it will offer a substantial sum (in nba dollars, $22,000 isn't a lot of money to lebron) to the winner and none to the rest.

[texbumTHElife]

So let me get this straight...

In practice and even in games for many players all they want to do is have fun and throw down monster dunks. However, when the NBA invites them to an event made just for that very purpose, for them to showcase those highlight abilities, they want money?

Give me a fucking break. The solution isn't giving these spoiled kids more money, its getting rid of the competition all together IMO. Maybe once its gone then these whiners and cry babies who want to be paid for what they grow up dreaming of doing will remember why they started playing in the first place.

Not only should the NBA remove this jack ass from the competition, I would remove him from any and every piece of advertising he is associated with. He is the embodiment of all that is wrong with professional sports.

/rant

[ponky]

I think they were thinking of replacing him and then decided against it after he made some statements today basically changing his tune. There was some article in the Chicago Tribune about this and they said he would still be participating.

As for Kermit's comments, I agree with you that the dunk competition has become lame compared to the contest back in the day. However, this is not the point that Tyrus Thomas was trying to make with his asinine comments. I would've given him props had he decided to opt out AND stated his reason for opting out, which is that the competition has devolved into stupidity. He did no such thing so there's no reason to believe that this was first and foremost in his mind when he made his statements.

[Kermit]

So let me get this straight...

In practice and even in games for many players all they want to do is have fun and throw down monster dunks. However, when the NBA invites them to an event made just for that very purpose, for them to showcase those highlight abilities, they want money?

Give me a fucking break. The solution isn't giving these spoiled kids more money, its getting rid of the competition all together IMO. Maybe once its gone then these whiners and cry babies who want to be paid for what they grow up dreaming of doing will remember why they started playing in the first place.

Not only should the NBA remove this jack ass from the competition, I would remove him from any and every piece of advertising he is associated with. He is the embodiment of all that is wrong with professional sports.

/rant

the embodiment of all that is wrong with sports? nevermind the players that get arrested on a daily basis, the lying coaches, steriod users, alleged rapists, wife beaters, dog abusers and child molesters. the fact that tyrus thomas wanted a paycheck for the dunk competition is what's wrong w/ professional sports.

[ponky]

the embodiment of all that is wrong with sports? nevermind the players that get arrested on a daily basis, the lying coaches, steriod users, alleged rapists, wife beaters, dog abusers and child molesters. the fact that tyrus thomas wanted a paycheck for the dunk competition is what's wrong w/ professional sports.

he was talking about the state of sports itself, not about basketball players' personal lives. there are crooked, messed up people all over the place and yet, most times they hold 9-5 jobs like everyone else and lots of their co-workers have no idea about their personal lives. way to miss the distinction yet again.

[Kermit]

he was talking about the state of sports itself, not about basketball players' personal lives. there are crooked, messed up people all over the place and yet, most times they hold 9-5 jobs like everyone else and lots of their co-workers have no idea about their personal lives. way to miss the distinction yet again.

what the fuck are you babbling about? he made a stupid argument about the state of sports and i merely showed him that there are worse things that 19 year old kids speaking their mind. your response makes no sense. perhaps you should elaborate some more.

[ponky]

what the fuck are you babbling about? he made a stupid argument about the state of sports and i merely showed him that there are worse things that 19 year old kids speaking their mind. your response makes no sense. perhaps you should elaborate some more.

sure there are worse things in the freakin' world dumbass...child porn sucks, darfur situation sucks, nola sucks, tornadoes in florida suck. is this relevant to the discussion at hand? texbum dude was talking about the NBA, he wasn't talking about who lit up a joint after the game was over, about who had sex with three women without using a condom, about who forgot to feed their dog. all of these things are bad...do they have anything to do with the nba? not really. of course there are worse things than a 19 yr. old speaking his mind but what does any of that have to do with the NBA? Artest not feeding his dog? Bad, but irrelevant. Kidd and his wife acting like fools? Bad but irrelevant. Rasheed lighting up a joint in his car? Bad but irrelevant.

[Kermit]

actually, he was talking about sports in general, hence the term "all of professional sports." therefore most of those issues do apply since nearly all of them have been commited by athletes in every sport and most would agree (but not you obvously) that all are worse than spoiled 19 year olds who want money for a meaningless competition. i'm sorry you can't see the problem with his argument. perhaps it's beyond all that is your comprehension.

[ponky]

actually, he was talking about sports in general, hence the term "all of professional sports." therefore most of those issues do apply since nearly all of them have been commited by athletes in every sport and most would agree (but not you obvously) that all are worse than spoiled 19 year olds who want money for a meaningless competition. i'm sorry you can't see the problem with his argument. perhaps it's beyond all that is your comprehension.

i see that he mentioned NBA twice and dunks once and even if he is talking about all sports, he's talking about SPORTS and what is wrong with sports, not what is wrong with humanity and people per se, which could easily take all day, all month or all year to dissect...dang, you're not too bright, just forget it

btw, all of those bad things have been committed by males, all of those things have been committed by 20 year olds, all of those things have been committed by asians, all of those things have been committed by people with black hair, wanna throw those people into the pot as well or is this just an affliction of professional athletes?

[Kermit]

sure, i'll forget it. and in that time why don't you learn reading comprehension. it'll help you in your future endeavors. i promise.

[ponky]

sure, i'll forget it. and in that time why don't you learn reading comprehension. it'll help you in your future endeavors. i promise.

you're not serious are you? last time i checked, i aced the lsat but thanks for your advice. maybe you should follow it, and learn some logic and reasoning skills while you're at it

[Kermit]

i see that he mentioned NBA twice and dunks once and even if he is talking about all sports, he's talking about SPORTS and what is wrong with sports, not what is wrong with humanity and people per se, which could easily take all day, all month or all year to dissect...dang, you're not too bright, just forget it

btw, all of those bad things have been committed by males, all of those things have been committed by 20 year olds, all of those things have been committed by asians, all of those things have been committed by people with black hair, wanna throw those people into the pot as well or is this just an affliction of professional athletes?

you really seem to be missing the point here and it's really quite disturbing. i have no idea what you're arguing now as you seem to be going off in some sort of a tanget. for example:

me: there are things worse in sporting world besides spoiled teenagers.

you: i'm going to completely misconstrue everything you're saying. there are rapists in malaysia. are they somehow connected to this professional athlete thing? this has something to do with my argument but i'm not sure as i have my thumb up my ass.

[Kermit]

you're not serious are you? last time i checked, i aced the lsat but thanks for your advice. maybe you should follow it, and learn some logic and reasoning skills while you're at it

ha. good one. want a cookie? no better yet, let's play some logic games. you know, since you're an expert at the lsat, one of the easiest standarized tests known to man.

[ponky]

you really seem to be missing the point here and it's really quite disturbing. i have no idea what you're arguing now as you seem to be going off in some sort of a tanget. for example:

me: there are things worse in sporting world besides spoiled teenagers.

you: i'm going to completely misconstrue everything you're saying. there are rapists in malaysia. are they somehow connected to this professional athlete thing? this has something to do with my argument but i'm not sure as i have my thumb up my ass.

it's "tangent"

anyway, while we're on the subject of tangents, it's a bit tangential to talk about dog abusers and *alleged* (that is, after all, the operative word) rapists when these problems of animal cruelty and rape span the spectrum of humanity. sure, i agree, these things are worse but they are not a problem to be found solely within the domain of professional sports. tex was talking about a specific problem with professional sports, that is, that professional athletes are spoiled rich. is this a problem that can be removed from the context of professional sports and talked about as a problem with humanity? not really because it is a problem with professional sports. to dismiss this problem by noting bigger societal problems is tangential. the problems you noted are not problems of professional sports, they are problems that can be found in every segment of society.

[Kermit]

see? how hard was that.

now my argument would be, even though it is true that these are problems found in everyday life, the reverse could be true as well. being spoiled rich is a problem that can be removed from the context of professional sports. it's a huge problem with humanity and we see it everyday. the only concern i had with his statement was "He is the embodiment of all that is wrong with professional sports."

my sarcastic argument was that there were things in professional sports much worse than spoiled athletes not playing for the spirit of the game, namely as you have so eloquently pointed out, players who commit criminal acts. if spoiled athletes were all the nba, nfl, fifa, mlb and nhl had to worry about, this world would be a better place.

[ponky]

see? how hard was that.

now my argument would be, even though it is true that these are problems found in everyday life, the reverse could be true as well. being spoiled rich is a problem that can be removed from the context of professional sports. it's a huge problem with humanity and we see it everyday. the only concern i had with his statement was "He is the embodiment of all that is wrong with professional sports."

my sarcastic argument was that there were things in professional sports much worse than spoiled athletes not playing for the spirit of the game, namely as you have so eloquently pointed out, players who commit criminal acts. if spoiled athletes were all the nba, nfl, fifa, mlb and nhl had to worry about, this world would be a better place.

one (spoiled rich/entitlement) is a product of the culture of sports itself and infects that environment, the others are not, they are societal problems found in every niche of society...anyway, this is pointless and i'm already bored with reiterating a simple concept...as for the "world would be a better place," a useless cliche that could be applied to a million different situations...case in point, the "world would be a better place" if you stopped wasting time on spurstalk and went out and fed the hungry people in africa...but then, that would be irrelevant to the discussion at hand, no?