With fame comes responsibility. Many NBA players want to go back to their lives on the streets before they made it big in an attempt to stay rooted. After accumulating wealth and fame in the league, they want to relive the life that they worked hard to escape. However, it can often invite trouble.
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NBA insider for TNT and Bleacher Report, Chris Haynes touched upon this vital issue during an appearance on the YouTube show Jefe Island.
As per Haynes, it’s not just the players who grow up in the streets who want to return there, but even athletes who hail from stable households show similar tendencies. They want to live the street life to appear more relevant and cool.
Haynes said,
“It’s still people that hoop, make money and get successful, they still wanna try to go back [to the streets]… A lot of them ain’t even going back because it was never a part of life…I’ve seen guys come from great situations, households, get that money, get the jewelry, get all the nice ladies coming at them. Everything is given to them.”
“They still try to act like that they were a part of a set, like ‘Bro you made it.’ There’s people that living that lifestyle that would give everything to be in your situation,” he added.
Haynes couldn’t fathom why athletes pretend that they belong to the streets when the whole point of working hard is to avoid such a fate. Then the NBA insider highlighted the irony of people on the streets wanting to attain the fame NBA players have.
Therefore, Haynes warned young players to stay away from such situations. He wants them to think about life ahead of the NBA instead of whiling away their time on the streets.
Flaunting wealth and fame in the streets can have a negative impact on even the most successful athletes. It can lead to career-threatening actions. The examples of Gilbert Arenas and Ja Morant ring loud.
Gilbert Arenas and Ja Morant were in trouble because of their associations
The street lifestyle often involves indulging with folks who deal with firearms. Being a part of such a group can lead to undesirable actions. It happened in the case of Gilbert Arenas who was close with the streets during his NBA career.
In December 2009, Arenas brought a gun to his locker room and engaged in a heated tussle with teammate Javaris Crittenton, who was also deeply involved with violent groups. Arenas’ NBA career derailed after the incident and he retired in 2012, leaving many years behind.
Apart from that, more recently, Ja Morant suffered heavy consequences after openly brandishing his gun on two different occasions. He suffered a 33-game ban spanning across two seasons which derailed a once resurging Memphis Grizzlies team.
