I would respect the Washington Post writer Jason Reid if he would stop with the coded language and just say what he really means.
He is saying that John Wall is too black, is presenting a thug image and because of that he shouldn’t be given a max contract. Don’t beat around the bush and insult our intelligence, we know what this means.
Wall is expected to receive a huge payday from the Wizards next month, and the timing of his tattoo revelation raises questions about his decision-making. For a franchise with a history of backing the wrong players, that’s food for thought.
Judging by his new look, Wall, who declined an interview request Monday through the team, might not be as concerned as he once was about appealing to a wide audience. In interviews before the 2010 draft, Wall made a point of presenting the type of clean-cut image teams want from college players to whom they’re considering giving millions of dollars.
So if you still have something to prove on the court, why give your employer reason to be unsure of who you are off it?
The whole premise is off from the beginning. Tattoos have nothing to do with your decision-making on or off the court. There are a lot of outstanding individuals in this world with tattoos (especially in the NBA) and there are horrible people in this world who don’t have a drop of ink on them.
Secondly, the Wizards should be concerned about winning and not if John Wall is clean-cut. LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant and others have tattoos, but they also are winners, people cheer for winners, not tattoos.
John Wall’s contract should be on the strength of his play and that is all. If you don’t feel like John Wall is a franchise guy because of his decision-making on the court that is fine, but if you are basing your decision on his tattoo, you are an idiot.
These writers don’t fool me, they see the fame and attention that people like Skip Bayless is getting and they try to mimic that with these type of race baiting controversial coded articles.
It works, because I didn’t know who Jason Reid was before today, but I do now, sad how that works.