Cuban: Kobe Charges Helping NBA Business

[Fletch]

This has been gettin' a lot of ink, and David Stern isn't too pleased with the comments. Sad to say, but since notoriety sells, he may be correct. What do y'all think? Peace.

[JMJ]

Irresponsible comment on his part, but right on the money (pardon the pun). Infamy evokes notoriety, a word Cuban stumbled and stammered over miserably in the interview.......JMJ

[Fletch]

Do y'all really think Cuban meant, "Yeah, come on. We need some more criminals for this thing of ours to make money"? Just throwing it out there.

[ August 06, 2003, 12:40 PM: Message edited by: einnod23 ]

[fred da warrior]

Perhaps ill timed, but I don't have a problem with what he said. According to Cuban, he was asked in the context of a larger interview with the Associated Press about would there be a financial boost initially to the NBA given the media attention regarding the Kobe situation and some in the media just took those few comments and ran with it.

[JMJ]

Originally posted by einnod23:
Do y'all really think Cuban meant, "Yeah, come on. We need some more criminals for this thing of ours to make money"? Just throwing it out there. Absolutely not......JMJ

[Cheddar]

Take Hip Hop.
People with priors and arrests sell.
Even those pretending sell.

[AD]

If the attendance goes up at Staples Center it won't be because of Kobe. It will be to check out the all-star team we now have. What am I talking about?! Staples Center, as well as every other court in the league sells out when the Lakers come to town. I'm sure there will be the looky loos, but the majority of the people IMO will go to see the 2004 champions hand the asses to the team they play on that night. Can yooooo dig it??!! graemlins/cool_shades.gif

[ August 06, 2003, 01:15 PM: Message edited by: Albert Diaz ]

[Fletch]

Originally posted by Albert Diaz:
If the attendance goes up at Staples Center, it won't be because of Kobe. It will be to check out the all-star team we now have. What am I talking about? Staples Center as well as every other court in the league sells out when the Lakers come to town. I'm sure there will be the looky loos, but the majority of the people IMO will go to see the 2004 champions hand the asses to the team they play on that night. Can yooooo dig it??!! graemlins/cool_shades.gif What if Kobe does go to jail and the 4 other big heads get bumped in the first round? Let's see how good for business it will be. These continuous Lake Show promotions.....

[AD]

Originally posted by einnod23:
These continuous Lake Show promotions..... biggrinangel.gif

[Ronnie Ron]

This shit is a Circus. Send in the Clowns..


R-R

[corwin]

For once, I agree with Cuban. And I agree that it wasn't the smartest thing to say publicly.

Aren't we consumers drawn to male entertainers (and politicians) that behave badly? How many kids are out searching for Tim Duncan jerseys?

[richierich]

HE WAS RIGHT ON POINT.

[Ken1015]

Yes, infamy does evoke notoriety but I take a contrarian view and think this could hurt the NBA. There are many reports of NBA and other sports stars' improprieties in the news which have left a sour taste in the mouths of some fans. Many of these indiscretions have been forgiven because after several years of this behavior we've become somewhat desensitized to these acts. However, when you have a star with an impeccable image like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan or even "nice guys" like Jason Williams messing up that could really backfire on the league. This type of behavior may be seen as becoming too prevalent and people may come to view all of these guys as overgrown, overpaid thugs and start to tune them out.

[richierich]

Once the ball is thrown in the air for tip-off only the commentators will keep these indescretions fresh on our minds. I really don't care WHAT these cats do in their personal lives..just play basketball and leave.

[fred da warrior]

Originally posted by Ken1015:
Yes, infamy does evoke notoriety but I take a contrarian view and think this could hurt the NBA. There are many reports of NBA and other sports stars' improprieties in the news which have left a sour taste in the mouths of some fans. Many of these indiscretions have been forgiven because after several years of this behavior we've become somewhat desensitized to these acts. However, when you have a star with an impeccable image like Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan or even "nice guys" like Jason Williams messing up that could really backfire on the league. This type of behavior may be seen as becoming too prevalent and people may come to view all of these guys as overgrown, overpaid thugs and start to tune them out. Well, then those same fans would be hypocritcal because in the finals, two of the NBA's good guys and fundamental players(Tim Duncan and David Robinson) played (three if you count Jason Kidd his domestic charges notwithstanding) and the ratings were still down supposedly. Part of the problem with the league (and since Michael Jordan left) is they have hitched their cart to marketing personalities instead of marketing the game itself.

[Ken1015]

Originally posted by richierich:
Once the ball is thrown in the air for tip-off only the commentators will keep these indescretions fresh on our minds. I really don't care WHAT these cats do in their personal lives..just play basketball and leave. No, there comes a time when people have to be held accountable for their actions and I think rape and murder is a good place to start. They are already given a free pass for so many things that would immediately land you or I in jail. Like it or not you are involved. By continuing to support them on the court you are inadvertently endorsing and financing what they do when they leave the court.

[richierich]

Originally posted by Ken1015:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by richierich:
Once the ball is thrown in the air for tip-off only the commentators will keep these indescretions fresh on our minds. I really don't care WHAT these cats do in their personal lives..just play basketball and leave. No, there comes a time when people have to be held accountable for their actions and I think rape and murder is a good place to start. They are already given a free pass for so many things that would immediately land you or I in jail. Like it or not you are involved. By continuing to support them on the court you are inadvertently endorsing and financing what they do when they leave the court. </font>[/QUOTE]What murderer is playing in the league?...what rapist is playing in the league?

[Ken1015]

Originally posted by richierich:
What murderer is playing in the league?...what rapist is playing in the league? None that I know of. So what? Let's focus on the larger issue. While there may be no convicted rapists or murderers on the courts and fields, there are some who have been charged with said crimes. With some their cases are pending like Kobe and Jason Williams. Others have been tried and found not guilty like Ray Lewis, or received a handslap like Bryan Robinson or reached out of court settlements. And more still have had charges against them dropped.

The issue is that bad behavior is given a pass or even expected from our sports stars and it shouldn't be. Remember Detroit's Bad Boys? We, yes me too, support this behavior by buying into the fantasy through watching them and buying their products. We should start to question our behavior. If ratings are down then maybe some people are.

[corwin]

Ken1015, I think you're are discussing morals instead of the bottom line. I agree that people should be held accountable for their actions but this is entertainment and what's considered "good" is highly subjective. For me, Michael Jordan has never appeared to be a good guy. But he was smart enough to create an appealing persona that has served him professionally for decades.

That Kobe received a standing ovation at the Teen People Awards....and people who aren't interested in basketball are still talking about Allen Iverson speaks volumes about our obsession with the "bad boy".

[richierich]

Please just play the game , watch the game or don't. All this moral high ground stuff is bullshit. What are they supposed to NOT be human beings or something. That shit is lame. These are nothing but Men... that happen to be good at sports..that's it. No more morality than the mother****er on the streets.

[Ken1015]

My point is that if people start to believe that their entertainers are morally bankrupt then that may very well affect the bottom line. Mark Cuban is just paraphrasing the maxim that there's no such thing as bad publicity. He didn't say anything original or earth shattering. I offer that there is such a thing as bad publicity when that's the only publicity you get.

[The Real Dragonfly Jones]

Did the Ray Lewis or Ray Carruth Murder trials help NFL business???....

The only business this helps is media.

[fred da warrior]

Originally posted by XL:
Did the Ray Lewis or Ray Carruth Murder trials help NFL business???....

The only business this helps is media. Exactly.

[richierich]

How many years did Ray Carruth get anyways??

[Ken1015]

Originally posted by richierich:
Please just play the game , watch the game or don't. All this moral high ground stuff is bullshit. What are they supposed to NOT be human beings or something. That shit is lame. These are nothing but Men... that happen to be good at sports..that's it. No more morality than the mother****er on the streets. Rich, don't think that I'm trying to cop a "holier than thou" attitude because I'm not but WTF? Since when did it become too much to ask a mother****er to try to act right or at the very least not be charged with rape. I don't want those mofos to be better than me morally, that's impossible biggrinangel.gif , but I at least want them to be as good and I don't think that's too much to ask. What's lame is that "they're only human" bullshit. Most humans are actually pretty decent.

[fred da warrior]

Originally posted by richierich:
How many years did Ray Carruth get anyways?? 18

[richierich]

That's just it people don't know sometimes how they are gonna act until the situation arises. Who's to say that one of us is not capable of murder if the situation arises. As a married man how do you know how you would act if J-LO was in your space and wanted to give you some and you think that you wouldn't get caught..noone around. Doesn't have to be J-LO but just using her as an example of something that you might not have planned on. A guy slits your mothers's or sons or wifes throat and you see him trying to get away and you catch him.. how do you know that you wouldn't kill him or someone raped your daughter and you could get at him.. what would you do... you don't know until the situation arises. Maybe some of these cats were faced with a situation that they didn't know how to deal with. I aint making excuses for non of hem but my point is that they are know better than you and I. You don't know what you are capable of given certain circumstances.

[ August 06, 2003, 03:53 PM: Message edited by: richierich ]

[corwin]

Originally posted by Ken1015:
My point is that if people start to believe that their entertainers are morally bankrupt then that may very well affect the bottom line. Mark Cuban is just paraphrasing the maxim that there's no such thing as bad publicity. He didn't say anything original or earth shattering. I offer that there is such a thing as bad publicity when that's the only publicity you get. Gotcha. ;)

And I certainly don't want to give the impression that I'm defending Kobe or any bad behavior.

You're right, in some cases bad publicity can be detrimental to one's career---especially when one has a vagina. Surely, Whitney, Christina, J-Lo, and Martha will toast to that.

But it's a different game for guys. Don't you think in some ways we are rewarded for bad behavior? Murder Inc., Bill Clinton, Jay-Z, GDubya, and Eminem can put it out there in a way that leaves no room for neutrality and proceed with fatter pockets. Cuz' we all know where nice guys finish.

How much you wanna bet the ratings for first Laker game for 2003-2004 will be through the roof? It'll be an advertisers wet dream.