LEFTOVERS: Warriors were ready to walk off
April 30, 2014 - 10:55 pm
The Golden State Warriors held a players-only meeting after shootaround Tuesday and decided on a plan.
If NBA commissioner Adam Silver did not announce a punishment of Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling that the Warriors deemed harsh enough, they were going to boycott that night’s playoff game at Staples Center.
But simply announcing a plan to not play wasn’t going to be enough. Nobody would show up, and TNT would air alternate programming. The Warriors’ symbolic protest would be widely discussed, but it wouldn’t have the full impact they desired.
So, according to Marcus Thompson of the San Jose Mercury News, the players planned to go through warmups and pregame introductions as usual. Everything would seem normal until the referee tossed the ball for the opening tipoff.
At that moment, all five Warriors players on the court and 10 from the bench would simply walk off the court.
It would have been glorious.
“We would deal with the consequences later, but we were not going to play,” Golden State guard Steph Curry said.
Curry noted the plan was to approach the Clippers about joining the walkout, but it never got that far. Silver announced a lifetime ban for Sterling, including a $2.5 million fine and a plan to ask the other 29 NBA team owners to vote Sterling out for racist comments to his girlfriend that were made public.
A walkoff wouldn’t have been completely unprecedented, however. The Bucks and 76ers showed about the same level of interest in playing this season as the Warriors would have by walking off the court.
■ FEELING CRABBY — When news broke Wednesday of Heisman Trophy-winning Florida State quarterback Jameis Winston stealing crab legs from a supermarket, much of the attention was on Winston running afoul of the law yet again and what impact it might have on his future.
That’s fair, but it might not be the most important aspect of the story.
Sports blog Deadspin pointed readers to the Twitter feed of two-sport Florida State athlete Marquez White, who had some interesting thoughts. While he said he was not condoning theft, White pointed out the need for change.
He was posting all morning, but his thoughts are edited together and condensed in the quote below. White began by saying athletes were only getting one meal per day this week because it’s exam week.
“Florida State should feed us more than one meal a day this week and people wouldn’t have to steal food. The NCAA should change it to where we can have jobs in the offseason,” he said. “They need to just pay us. Our schedules are compatible to a 40-hour work week. You really learn how to hustle when you get to school. This really has me heated. Add in the mandatory tutoring, study hall and class. Then the athletes with kids.
“Now accepting sugar mama applications.”
White took a firestorm of criticism on the social media site from people calling him a complainer and not appreciating his scholarship, but he made some valid points.
He even interjected a bit of humor later in the day, perhaps taking a shot at Winston’s expensive tastes.
“Definitely would’ve went for the smoked ham and wheat bread though,” White posted.
COMPILED BY ADAM HILL LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL