Isaiah Rider may not be much of a “celebrity” anymore, for his NBA career (which included stand-out time with the Minnesota Timberwolves) has ended.
But he’s still giving people something to talk about, as proven yesterday, when
Berkeley police officers responded to a report at 9 a.m. of a disturbance between a taxi cab driver and [Rider].
Rider, 36, was taken into custody on a bench warrant issued by Alameda County for unlawful possession of a firearm as well a $5,000 warrant for grand theft issued by the Oakland Police Department.
Sadly, Rider could probably afford whatever he was originally arrested for stealing.
Ah, celebrities. Why do they insist on doing what they shouldn’t be doing in Berkeley?
Ex-NBA star Rider arrested in Berkeley on outstanding warrants [SF Gate]
Former NBA star Isaiah Rider arrested in Berkeley [San Jose Mercury News]
With all the speculation of whether DeVon Hardin is going to actually go pro or stay in school (he has 15 days before he can take himself out of the NBA Draft), it’s been pretty hard to gauge Hardin’s thinking. Until now.
This is what Hardin told Inside Bay Area News the other day:
bq. Unless I’m that No.1 pick, Cal is going to be a top option for me. It’s a good option for me. I want to take my team deep into the tournament, maybe to the Final Four, be a lottery pick … I expect great things from this team.
Right. We expect great things also. (Read: No, we don’t). More on that later.
So it looks like Hardin’s going to come back to Cal, because we all know that he’s not going to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
Hardin will visit nine cities and meet with 16 teams in the next two weeks, trying out for scouts and trying to woo them with his great defensive ability and hustle on the offensive side of the ball.
But he wants to take Ben Braun’s Bears deep in the tournament? We know most people here at UC Berkeley are ambitious. They have dreams. They want to be future leaders and all that bullshit. But taking Cal (a team coached by Ben Braun mind you) deep in the tournament is close to impossible as Marshawn Lynch coming back to play for the Bears football team next year.
Sure Ryan Anderson is a poor-man’s Dirk Nowitzki. Sure Ayinde Ubaka is long gone. But reaching the Final Four? Along with being the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft, it’s all locked up for Hardin. (Read: Never in a million years).
Earlier: Hardin Really a First Rounder? ESPN Thinks So
Hardin set to woo pros, but figures to stay at Cal [Inside Bay Area]
We told you about Jimmy Carter coming to Berkeley. That’s exciting news, but there is possibly an even more thrilling pontificator on our horizons.
John Amaechi, the first openly gay former pro basketball player, is coming to VLSB Wednesday night to promote his new book, Man in the Middle. For those of you still skeptical of this ex-NBA role player’s ability to top Carter, we ask you this: Is Jimmy Carter six-foot-ten, British, and flamboyantly homosexual? Didn’t think so. And that’s his mistake.
The sports media shitstorm that followed Amaechi’s self-outing was nothing short of ridiculous. Talking heads from all jocks of life appeared on ESPN to give their spiel on athletes and gayness, while ball players were repeatedly questioned on how comfortable they’d be playing with the dudes from the “other team.”
Then the athletes had their homophobic responses, essentially conveying the following message to America: We don’t like Amaechi because we’re part of a quasi-gay male bonding ritual that we can only enjoy if we firmly establish a straight pretense—and this guy threatens that pretense with his actual open gayness.
This long-winded subtext was delineated most biliously by former NBA star Tim Hardaway. For those of you don’t waste your lives watching ESPN in the middle of the afternoon, Hardaway went on an insane homophobic rant when asked about Amaechi.
But we should put all that history on the backburner and instead enjoy Amaechi’s waning 15 minutes. He’s actually a bright dude, and should prove it on Wednesday. His brightness adds to his amusement quotient. He’s a bit like a GEICO cavemen: a sensitive misfit, whose intellectual tendencies contradict his social category. Take this excerpt from an ESPN profile on the man:
He doesn’t much like jock talk, but he will jabber for hours about national drug policies, juvenile crime and social problems; he says he ‘teeters between being opinionated and arrogant,’ yet he attempts to be open-minded; he listens to opera before games, and he writes poetry.
Dude, that’s so blue state.
It warrants mentioning that we somehow made it through this entire piece without making a basketball metaphor related gay joke. A Pulitzer should be in the cards.
Before the start of last season, NBA scouts were salivating all over DeVon Hardin’s, we’ll just say, physique.
And why not? He was a dominating post defender when he played alongside Leon Powe last year. The man’s got a humongous wingspan. Add to that his great leaping ability, and he was a shot-blocking menace.
So, Hardin, giving into those pesky scouts, has declared for the NBA draft after missing most of his junior season due to injury.
Good move, we guess, since he didn’t hire an agent and is able to come back for his senior season if the big bucks aren’t waiting for him at the next level.
But Hardin shouldn’t make the same mistake Powe made last year. Or at least get lured into the same mistake. Everyone was talking about how Powe, who also didn’t hire an agent, was going to be a low first-round draft pick.
So instead of coming back, Powe decided to go pro. But instead of being a low first-round pick, guaranteed millions, Powe was a middle second-round pick, languishing on the bench in Boston.
What do we think it takes for Hardin to stay in the draft? He’s got to be a guaranteed top 20 pick. Anything lower than that, get the hell out. Or suffer the same fate Powe did.
Hardin Declares for NBA Draft, Does Not Hire Agent [Daily Cal]
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