Michael Beasley got into an altercation with a fan at Dyckman Park in New York while playing an exhibition basketball game in August. The incident turned somewhat physical when Beasley pushed the fan in the face. His run-in with the fan made national headlines, and the incident seemed to fit in with the reputation Beasley has earned for being a head case.
Beasley recently spoke about the incident in an interview with I am a GM, and he seemed to indicate he felt his actions were appropriate.
“We don’t have no problems,” Beasley said of playing basketball in New York. “It’s the atmosphere, if we gonna be in the hood, let’s be in the hood.
“Let me talk, you talk and let’s go on about our business, which is what happened,” Beasley said. “You know I love New York; I love everything about New York, Manhattan, and Brooklyn to the Bronx, to everything. They can get mouthy but that’s what the game is for, you know, that’s what it’s about.”
So according to Beasley, his actions were completely justified, and possibly appropriate, given the environment. I’m not sure how I feel about that.
Does he mean that if you’re in a crack house, you should do crack? If you’re witnessing a beating, you should join in too? Beasley needs to understand that as a professional athlete, he’s held to a higher standard than the average fan at Dyckman Park. If he doesn’t care about his reputation, then it’s fine to continue behaving as he has. One would figure that an NBA player like him would be above being physically responding to a heckling fan. Unfortunately, he’s not.
