Upshaw had a pretty dynamic game, but his shot deserted him in the second half. Finished with 15 minutes, 2-7 FGs, 4 points, 9 boards (2 offensive), 2 blocks, 1 assist, 1 TO, and 1 PF. He's picked up only 5 fouls in his last 57 minutes of playing time. Positional efficiency at 80.2 now.
Speedy Smith, who auditioned for the Lakers this season (he had a workout) is playing for the D-Fenders. Looks pretty athletic.
Thats rather unfortunate. We did give him a chance to turn things around, hope he figures things out.
That really is a shame. I guess that answers the question of why the Lakers were so cautious with him and cut him initially. He got a chance to prove himself in the D-League and couldn't, so he didn't earn the trust he was asked to. Sucks, I hope he can recover from this.
Still rooting for the guy, but out of the league I'm not sure what his resources are going to be. You'd think there would be good resources available to people if they're viewed as potential investments by a team.
Honestly he's had enough chances. This is his third strike in a span of 2 years. He needs to recover but his basketball career has come to an end.
I don't care if it's pixie sticks. They're offering millions of dollars if all he does is clean up and he can't do that? Dead to me.
Very sad stuff. Obviously this shows he's an addict that needs help and was likely to relapse regardless of the scenario ... but part of me wonders if maybe we're partially to blame. Like what if we overreacted to something minor that happened in Vegas during the summer league? And what if maybe had we ignored that and given him a full roster position, THAT would've been the motivation he needed to clean himself up? Probably not, but I'm curious if more information has emerged about what actually did happen in Vegas? If I recall correctly, the reason he didn't make the team was primarily because of some concerns we had over his behavior in the summer league as opposed to anything to do with his on-court performance.
I don't know if that's how addiction works. It certainly isn't in the case of someone like Johnny Manziel. A support system can only help so much, even someone as high profile and seemingly ok as Josh Hamilton relapsed a while back. Upshaw having more money from us, more pressure to stay in the league, I think it can be argued either way puts him in tough spots. That's addiction, a life long struggle. If he is addicted to something serious like cocaine then I wish him luck with that fight, in life first, basketball second. Sometimes the motivation to get clean is rock bottom, hopefully that isn't the case with him.
It's always very eye-opening to See how addictive drugs can be Seems incomprehensible to throw away a life That most would consider a fantasy
