I actually saw Dennis Schroder at a grocery store in LA earlier this year.. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, like you’re doing now?” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept cutting me off and going “huh? huh? huh?” and closing his hand shut in front of my face. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him chuckle as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands without paying. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, you need to pay for those first.” At first he kept pretending to be tired and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and brought them to the counter. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “to prevent any electrical infetterence,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think that’s a word. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept interrupting her by yawning really loudly.
Holy cow, as the Scooter would say.
Think perhaps Dennis might've displayed some comparable variation on this selfless, team first attitude and innate respect for his fellow man with Earvin Johnson? I mean, Magic's post-season response to Dennis seemed oddly out of proportion with his contributions on the court, no?
Compare and contrast DS's churlish, self-absorbed behavior with that of The Greek Freak.
This 11-year old white girl had spent a considerable amount of time working on a very personal piece of artwork for Giannis, who, being what members of my tribe refer to as a
mensch, when presented with this gift from the heart at an autograph/meet & greet session, was genuinely moved and responded in kind, coming out from behind the table to give her an enthusiastic hug, eliciting tears from the little girl and cementing a lifetime of positive memories and a genuine bond between them that will never wane.
C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-RI mean, really, how much more effort does it take to be kind and caring, as opposed to being a self-absorbed, douche-nozzle? Stealing candy bars when he is making 15 million a year?
The Celtics have a number of high character guys in Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
If I'm GM Brad Stevens, I bite the bullet, hand the keys to the car back to a resigned Marcus Smart [and Peyton Pritchard and Kris Dunn], as middling and insufficient as that might be, rather than take on someone who is not likely to engender team spirit and chemistry.
PS: 4 X 84 was insulting to Dennis The Menace, but Julius probably left that much on the table, when he agreed to 4 x 117, saving the Knicks like 80 million over what he could've gotten in the summer of 2022, leaving the team with the financial resources to pursue talent. Mind you, not like $29 million a year is chopped liver, as the old saying goes, and Julius was amply rewarded for his breakout year, but in extending on his Team First Leadership, he helps to double clutch the emerging Knicks Kultur in a tangible, meaningful way.
THANKS FOR SHARING, Kam.
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