Larry Brown Sports

OJ Mayo has been one of the most inconsistent players on a disappointing Dallas Mavericks team this season. He played fairly well at the start of the season with Dirk Nowitzki nursing an injury, but Mayo has had a tendency to disappear for nights at a time over the past month or so.

The Mavs are officially out of playoff contention, but head coach Rick Carlisle was hoping Mayo would turn in a solid performance against the Memphis Grizzlies — his former team — on Monday night. That did not happen, as Mayo scored only two points on 1-of-6 shooting and recorded only one assist.

“He wasn’t into it in the first half,” Carlisle said after the 103-97 loss, via NBA.com’s Jeff Kaplan. “We showed him some film at halftime where he was virtually just standing around defensively and said, ‘Hey, we need you’; just tried to get him going a little bit. He just had a bad night. I guess I’ll write it off to that. But I tell you what, if I was playing against my former team, I’d come out ready to go. I’d come out ready to go at them. But that’s me, you know, that’s me.”

Carlisle, who typically goes to great lengths to defend his players, was clearly angry with his point guard’s lack of effort. When asked about the poor performances Mayo has been prone to as of late, the Mavs coach pulled no punches.

“Well, the good news is there’s only an opportunity for one more [poor outing],” Carlisle said. “I just want to see him show up. I just want to see him show up and compete. He didn’t compete tonight. And I tell you, with all the time we’ve put into helping him develop and bringing him along, in the biggest game of the year – an opportunity to be a winning team – for him to show up like he did tonight, I was shocked. Look, sometimes guys have bad nights, so make sure to put that in there, too.”

It was probably a little too late for that last comment from Carlisle, as the message was already sent that he has not been pleased with Mayo’s lack of consistency. Just two years removed from an NBA championship, Mayo’s poor play toward the end of the season has been a microcosm for the disappointment Mark Cuban’s club has endured.

DeMarcus Cousins and O.J. Mayo are in a little bit of a beef right now. Matters began when Cousins punched Mayo in the groin during Monday’s Kings-Mavericks game. Mayo said after the game that the Sacramento center “has mental issues.” He also said Cousins’ immaturity was keeping him from becoming a franchise player.

Cousins heard Mayo’s remarks, and he fired back at the Dallas guard.

“This coming from a guy that doesn’t have a great image himself,” Cousins responded, via The Sacramento Bee. “So what does his really mean? I’m fine with it.”

Mayo’s image includes allegedly accepting cash payments while at USC, a marijuana issue before college, fighting with a teammate on a team flight, and being suspended for a positive steroid test.

Cousins may not like the source of the comments, but it’s hard to dispute what Mayo said.

“Is he a franchise player?” Cousins said. “So how is he going to tell me what I am.”

Again, another comment from Cousins that supports what Mayo is saying. The guy is so immature that not only is he not admitting he did something wrong, but he’s also disputing what the entire sports world saw on video.

“In slow motion it looks like I did on purpose,” Cousins said. “But you look in real speed you see what happened. Of course it’s gonna get thrown out there that I did it on purpose.”

Well, yeah, you punched the dude in the groin. I’m not sure how else we should interpret it.

Cousins was suspended for Wednesday’s game without pay for the groin punch. Let’s just hope he learned more during his time off than Rajon Rondo did.

DeMarcus Cousins delivered a blatant cheap shot to O.J. Mayo during the Dallas Mavericks’ win over the Sacramento Kings on Monday night. As you can see from the video above, Cousins and Mayo were fighting for position in the second quarter when DeMarcus clearly punched him in the groin intentionally. The two began jawing at one another during the next stoppage in play and were both issued a technical foul.

Cousins called the play “an accident” after the game, but Mayo wasn’t buying it at all.

“I told him, ‘Man, play basketball,’” Mayo said according to the Dallas Morning News. “’You’ve got a chance to be a good player, but when you do stuff like that, you’re like a garbage player. It’s not a sign of being great.’

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Some of you who follow the entertaining career of JaVale McGee might remember earlier this season when he unknowingly ran back on defense while the Wizards were still on offense. It was hilarious and another fantastic example of McGee being the knucklehead he is. But at least he still knew what side of the court was his. Can’t say the same O.J. Mayo here.

After a jump ball in the Grizzlies’s 94-89 win over the Mavericks on Saturday, Mayo broke out sprinting to the wrong hoop expecting, an easy two off a pass from Quincy Pondexter. Once he realized his error, Mayo tried to play it off cool, like nothing happened, but we all still saw it, especially Jason Terry, who pointed at Mayo in ridicule. Don’t worry, O.J., it happens to the best of us … when we played rec league basketball in grade school.

H/T That NBA Lottery Pick

Recently, OJ Mayo joined the long list of professional athletes who were caught using an illicit performance-enhancing substance and subsequently caught using a bad excuse to explain usage of said substance. Based on the now predictable response of those who have been found guilty, the doping playbook uses a three-step process to react to a positive test. Number one: look surprised. Step two: deny all accountability. Three: if all else fails blame it on an over-the-counter supplement/energy drink or some other poor faceless schlub.

Heart, chemistry, teamwork. These were once the hallmarks of sportsmanship. Now, the only time you hear about heart is when there is an enlarged one from supplementation. The chemistry is supplied by ne’er-do-wells Vince Galea and Victor Conte. And, teamwork only exists when one player is helping another with steroid, er, Vitamin B-12 injections. Baseball has been racked with so many allegations, one would half expect the 2013 Hall of Fame induction class to include cream, clear, and Report, Mitchell to be enshrined. Heck, if you total up the number of home runs hit as a result of the trio, it makes Ruth and Aaron’s power look like that of Rowan and Martin.

What happened to the days where athletes got by on grit, toughness, and, perhaps, a horse tranquilizer or four? Eh, you probably misremembered those days, too. I presume there’s no blood test for gumption, or a urine test for elbow grease. Nowadays, it’s out with the old in with the “-ol.” Heck, even the producers of the chicken at the market go out of their way to say “steroid-free.” (Presumably, these chickens were killed because they could not keep up with the birds that were drugged.)

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Chalk up another NBA team fight to gambling debts. Last year it was finger guns getting into a life-changing fight with teammate Javaris Crittenton that grabbed headlines. This year, it’s two Memphis Grizzlies responsible for a fight rather than the Washington Bullets Wizards.

O.J. Mayo, who hasn’t exactly had the best month, apparently owed teammate Tony Allen $1,500 stemming from losses over the game “Boo-Ray.” Mayo wouldn’t pay up and reportedly antagonized Allen, leading to things getting testy between the two. Allen eventually hit Mayo at least five times according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and Mayo missed Tuesday’s Grizzlies game because of “bronchitis.”

Coach Lionel Hollins has banned gambling on team flights in order to cut down on the problems, or at least in order to look good for the media. It’s not a bad strategy for Hollins given his most recent incident. What I don’t understand is why $1,500 was a problem for Mayo — that’s like pocket change for him. It must be a matter of principle and not the money. Too bad Tim Floyd wasn’t around either otherwise he would have had that debt paid for O.J. in a second.

In case you missed it Thursday, Kenneth Maurice Ziegler, the father of Grizzlies forward O.J. Mayo, was charged with attempted murder for going all Boris the Blade on a police officer. Ziegler could have avoided trouble if he just acted naturally, but police were drawn to him after seeing him trying to hide inside his car (they were searching for someone else). What ensued was a drug bust that would make Nate Newton jealous, and a police chase envied by O.J. Simpson.

When police tried to confront Ziegler, he slammed on the gas, drove into one of the officers, and dragged him for several feet. After the car was disabled by spike strips, he was captured following a foot chase and charged with attempted murder, possession of weed and crack, fleeing in a car and fleeing on foot. If only he were liquored up he could have achieved the elusive Lindsay Lohan hat trick.

As if the quintuplet of charges weren’t enough, Ziegler already had outstanding warrants for fleeing, driving on a suspended license, and burglary. The person hurt by this the most is unfortunately O.J. Mayo. Mayo did not live with his father growing up and now has to be embarrassed and have his reputation sullied by an irresponsible, drug dealing father. The third-year player declined comment through the team and it’s a shame he has to be bothered by this. Like he didn’t already have enough problems of his own.