HoopsHype.com NBA Blogs - Eddie Johnson » “If players were as sensitive in my era as they are now, it would have been a fight every quarter” (http://hoopshype.com/blogs/johnson/index.php/2007/09/13/if-players-were-as-sensitive-in-my-era-as-they-are-now-it-would-have-been-a-fight-every-quarter/)


People ask me all the time about the way the game has changed. I honestly felt it was needed, because players were becoming too sensitive. That might be the one major problem I have with players today… Why so sensitive? During my era everything was fair game including momma jokes. I tell you what, if players were as sensitive in my era as they are now, it would have been a fight every quarter. We had running dialogue all the time during the course of a game. I would have two or three trash talking conversations going on with different players all the time. The difference for us was that we did not take it personally and we used it as motivation to play even harder. Here is an example of players that I would have confrontations with every time I played them…


There are some that are really funny.

What Edddie Johnson doesn`t realize is, this is the "new school". The hip hop generation. The I will kick your arse day and age.

It was a totally different mindset back in the day. Sort of like, a good fist fight would settle things back then, now it`s, you wait here I am going to get my piece, if they don`t already have it!

Eddie John at Hoopshype is always fun to read and just fun. It's not fair to compare the past from now and vice versa. Btw dude always sound so politic correct in the mainstream.

"I often wondered why Muggsy Bogues had his suits tailored when he was only 5-5 and could have bought his wardrobe at Target."

:pound:

What Edddie Johnson doesn`t realize is, this is the "new school". The hip hop generation. The I will kick your arse day and age.

It was a totally different mindset back in the day. Sort of like, a good fist fight would settle things back then, now it`s, you wait here I am going to get my piece, if they don`t already have it!

um....sorry to say, but that mentality has nothing whatsoever to do with hip hop.

These guys are much more sensitive because Stern has taken the physicality out of the game so these guys no longer expect to get touched when they take the floor. They are waiting for everyone to get out of their way or for the whistle to blow when it looks like they might be touched.

It's generational, but not because hip-hop had anything to do with it. There were world wars, mass killings, and even genocide looooong before hip-hop was invented. It's simply easier for teens and young adults to procure guns these days. Now, unless the most prevalent rappers are arms dealers as well, it's hardly anything to do with them.

um....sorry to say, but that mentality has nothing whatsoever to do with hip hop.

These guys are much more sensitive because Stern has taken the physicality out of the game so these guys no longer expect to get touched when they take the floor. They are waiting for everyone to get out of their way or for the whistle to blow when it looks like they might be touched.

It's generational, but not because hip-hop had anything to do with it. There were world wars, mass killings, and even genocide looooong before hip-hop was invented. It's simply easier for teens and young adults to procure guns these days. Now, unless the most prevalent rappers are arms dealers as well, it's hardly anything to do with them.

I agree that Stern has taken the physicality out of the game, however, when I say hip hop generation I am referring to the entire culture of hip hop, not just rappers.

Gun have always been easy to get, there is just more of a demand for them now. Some rappers are some of gun runners biggest customers....

Stern softened the NBA (to his level) and it all started with his marketing of Jordan.

Gun have always been easy to get, there is just more of a demand for them now. Some rappers are some of gun runners biggest customers....

That's just plain false.

First off, any rappers you hear talking about guns in their songs are lying about 98% of the time. Do you view Schwarzenegger as a murderer? It's entertainment. Do you honestly think these guys would be running the streets and rapping on TV if they were out there killing people with no cops waiting backstage?

Second, most of the petty criminals you see/hear on your local news described as being rappers when they get caught robbing someone is just an easy way for people to blame rap music AND Hip hop culture. Most of these guys are criminals who have no ties to the music industry, but end up being labeled as rappers because they were A) thinking is was the cool things to do to impress their local crew and B) Looking for a good excuse explain away their "extra cash" to the local authorities.

Guns have not always been easy to get. They have become much easier to get in the last 2-3 decades. Besides, it's criminal culture that promotes gun use, not hip hop culture. I've been a part of hip-hop culture my whole life and there is nothing in hip-hop that promotes gun use. Criminals promote gun use and if criminals decide they want to try to be rappers, that's a whole different discussion. You can add lack of parenting into that equation, but there is no hip hop culture of gun use.

I am in hip hop culture, have been my whole life, and I can tell you wholeheartedly that gun use is criminal culture NOT hip hop culture and the two are NOT synonomous. Sure, there are criminals that try to be involved in hip hop, but that criminal element existed long before hip hop had anything to do with it.

That's like saying terrorists that claim to be Muslim represent Islamic culture. Completely false and misleading.

Terrorists are terrorists....criminals are criminals.

That's just plain false.

First off, any rappers you hear talking about guns in their songs are lying about 98% of the time. Do you view Schwarzenegger as a murderer? It's entertainment. Do you honestly think these guys would be running the streets and rapping on TV if they were out there killing people with no cops waiting backstage?

Second, most of the petty criminals you see/hear on your local news described as being rappers when they get caught robbing someone is just an easy way for people to blame rap music AND Hip hop culture. Most of these guys are criminals who have no ties to the music industry, but end up being labeled as rappers because they were A) thinking is was the cool things to do to impress their local crew and B) Looking for a good excuse explain away their "extra cash" to the local authorities.

Guns have not always been easy to get. They have become much easier to get in the last 2-3 decades. Besides, it's criminal culture that promotes gun use, not hip hop culture. I've been a part of hip-hop culture my whole life and there is nothing in hip-hop that promotes gun use. Criminals promote gun use and if criminals decide they want to try to be rappers, that's a whole different discussion. You can add lack of parenting into that equation, but there is no hip hop culture of gun use.

I am in hip hop culture, have been my whole life, and I can tell you wholeheartedly that gun use is criminal culture NOT hip hop culture and the two are NOT synonomous. Sure, there are criminals that try to be involved in hip hop, but that criminal element existed long before hip hop had anything to do with it.

That's like saying terrorists that claim to be Muslim represent Islamic culture. Completely false and misleading.

Terrorists are terrorists....criminals are criminals.

Low some are lying some are not. Some of raps biggest stars have had legal problems involving guns. If you want me two find some links, I will.

What type of hip hop are you referring too? I have heard rap that does promote and encourage gun use. Now, I know there is decent rap music that does not promote or encourage the use of guns.

The originators of hip hop created this type of entertainment to express themselves in an upright and decent manner. They also admit, hip hop today is not what they intended it to be.

Again, there was not a need or a demand for guns 2-3 decades ago like there is now. A lack of guidance and/or parenting could maybe make a youngster want to own a gun if he/she flicks on the radio and here some slick beats and someone rapping about thier "nine" or "gat".


I guess what you are saying is, the hip hop world has criminals in it, just like every other walk of life.

Here are some links, describing the height of "gangster rap" and it's effects from the start:

In rising panic, culture warriors left to right indict explicit video games, television, gangsta rap music, R-rated movies, Internet images, and "toxic culture" for causing teenage violent crime, drug abuse, sex, and unhealthy behavior. From 1990 to 2000, rap sales soared 70 percent, four million teen and pre-teen boys took up violent video games (as 1992's Nintendo Mortal Kombat evolved to 1994's bloody Sega version and sequels), and youth patronage of movie videos and Net sites exploded.

As "toxic culture" dysfluences spread, did Lord of the Flies ensue? To the contrary. Perhaps no period in history has witnessed such rapid improvements in adolescent conduct. From 1990 through 1999, teenage violence and other malaise plunged: homicide rates (down 62 percent), rape (down 27 percent), violent crime (down 22 percent), school violence (down 20 percent), property offenses (down 33 percent), births (down 17 percent), abortions (down 15 percent), sexually transmitted diseases (down 50 percent), violent deaths (down 20 percent), suicide (down 16 percent), and drunken driving fatalities (down 35 percent).
Source (http://www.wiretapmag.org/stories/10904)


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“By most accounts, the cycle of violence started in Los Angeles around ’82 or ’83, but got much worse in the latter half of the ’80s. A big part of that was the switchover from revolvers (http://www.falconarmas.com.br/shop/popup_image.php?pID=18) to semiautomatics (http://teilesatz.de/dts_detail.php?id=146&Chap=1), which meant that a lot more bullets were being fired. That really brought up the death count,” says Rodrigo Bascuñan, co-author of the forthcoming book, Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent (http://www.enterthebabylonsystem.com/), and the publisher of Pound (http://www.poundmag.com/), Canada’s largest hip-hop magazine. “It was that [switchover], in conjunction with an increase in the drug trade, in the amount of money that could be had — and therefore in the potential rewards for violence — as well as the demographic factor of there being a lot of young men with nothing to do. Everything came together at the wrong time.”and

Ice Cube, NWA’s most talented MC, wrote most of the lyrics to F--- tha Police. The L.A. native was raised in relative comfort by two parents (both worked at UCLA), and took a hiatus from the group to earn a degree in architectural drafting before Straight Outta Compton came out. and

Skip ahead to the present, and Ice-T still hasn’t murdered a police officer — or anyone else for that matter. He quit making records in 1999, but has compiled more than 50 acting credits. For the last five years, he has played Det. Odafin Tutuola on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. That’s right, a cop. And he’s pretty good too.

Source (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/hangthemcday2.html)



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The latter of the two being a much more important factor in the increase in gun violence. Rap music does not turn young people into "instant criminals (just add rap)"

A lot of the violence in Los Angeles is gang warfare between Hispanic and Afro-American gangs.

Unfortunately a lot of innocent bystanders have been killed as a result of this.

:hoops:

A lot of the violence in Los Angeles is gang warfare between Hispanic and Afro-American gangs.

Unfortunately a lot of innocent bystanders have been killed as a result of this.

:hoops:Which has nothing to do with rap/hip-hop, salsa, jazz/blues, pop, heavy metal, punk, country, etc.

Guns don't kill people...and neither does artistic expression.

Which has nothing to do with rap/hip-hop, salsa, jazz/blues, pop, heavy metal, punk, country, etc.

Guns don't kill people...and neither does artistic expression.

It was my elaboration on a quote brought by Low on the prior page. I was just pointing out that in my opinion based on material in the Los Angeles media over the years, the growth in violence in Los Angeles has less to do with Rap, but more to do with turf warfare, a lot of which has resulted from the high growth rate of the Hispanic population and territorial expansion by Hispanic gangs into traditional African-American turf.
Have a nice evening.


“By most accounts, the cycle of violence started in Los Angeles around ’82 or ’83, but got much worse in the latter half of the ’80s.
CBC.ca - Arts - Music - Hang the MC (http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/hangthemcday2.html)

:hoops:

Getting back to the original aricle. I do agree that players are more wussier than 20 years ago. But its like that in all sports. So much less contact is tolerated now like Low was saying.

I am not going to comment on Hip Hop violence because I don't know all the facts. My immediate complaint is how Tatoos have trancended over the gender line and HipHop seems partly to blame. I hate women with tatoos. Its so unsightly and way too dang masculine for me. Sorry to sound unafair. Its like if Guys started wearing lipstick. Lipstick would not be permanant though. Once you get a Tat, thats it.

I think some of this change in the NBA has to do with.

The NBA is now a big media business, with a ton of TV/Cable/Dish revenues as opposed to say when the Bad Boys ruled. The product today with less physical contact is more acceptable for mass media and hence Stern's push to make the game less physical and more gentlemanly.

Also I think that the feminist movement has also had an impact on male athletes attitudes. It would be interesting to see a study done on this.

:hoops:

That's just plain false.

. . . Do you view Schwarzenegger as a murderer? It's entertainment. . .

. . . that's like saying terrorists that claim to be Muslim represent Islamic culture. Completely false and misleading.

Terrorists are terrorists....criminals are criminals.

:good: :good: :good: :good: :good:

It's easy to blame anything for anything, while going back to the orginal topic, I told myself that NBA games looked like kung-fu movies and Europe games were street fights in real life as I watched the Fiba-Europe game.