Tyreke Evans arrested for reckless driving
California Highway Patrol released video that shows Tyreke Evans going 120-130 MPH.
He was arrested at gunpoint, pled guilty to reckless driving and was sentenced to 80 hours of community service.
Ailene Voisin of the Sacramento Bee writes that it’s time for the Kings to change their approach to the young star.
“It has to be a one-time thing,” an animated co-owner Joe Maloof said late Friday. “Believe me, Tyreke has been scolded by everyone. But we have to put this behind us; we have to move on.”
And how to do that? Change. Philosophically and pragmatically, the approach to the coaching, nurturing and packaging of Tyreke has to be revised.
No more sacred cows or separation. Evans isn’t Chris Webber, and he certainly isn’t Charles Barkley. He hasn’t earned superstar treatment yet. He isn’t even a winner yet. While he obliged with impressive individual stats during the 20-5-5 ticket campaign, the Kings slumped to 7-23 and dropped 11 of their final 12 games.
Yet almost from the moment Evans emerged as a major talent, the Kings altered the rules. They handed him the keys to the Mercedes. There was one set of guidelines for the prized rookie and another set for everyone else – a development that caused resentment in the locker room and is among the reasons Kevin Martin, Spencer Hawes and Andres Nocioni welcomed trades.
Evans’ personal trainer, for instance, enjoys unique access before and after games. A practice was canceled so Evans could fly to Las Vegas and meet President Barack Obama. Westphal routinely jumped Hawes, Donté Greene, Jason Thompson, Omri Casspi and other young Kings for mistakes yet blatantly looked the other way when Evans’ game became linear – times he dominated the ball or ignored wide-open teammates.
And now, here comes 19-year-old DeMarcus Cousins, oozing ability, personality, and immaturity.
Someone has to become the adult. Like, soon. With players entering the league at an increasingly young age, there is a finite amount of time to influence careers; at some point, the kids stop listening.
Voisin is right to be outraged. Evans could have killed someone with his antics that day.
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