Anytime someone headlines frequently, they are going to either get a shinefest from me or I am going to blow up their world. Lately, we’ve seen a lot of Tyreke Evans. He’s having quite the rookie season. He’s probably the leading candidate for ROY. Congratulations to your success……. here we go….

First, when you google this young man’s name, various searches come up; “Tyreke Evans Basketball”, “Tyreke Evans Memphis”, “Tyreke Evans High School”, and my personal favorite, “Tyreke Evans Murder”. Well there’s a red flag.  Here is an account of the incident for those of you who are curious.  Evans is from Chester, PA, which is a very rough area, and by no means upper class. Probably not the easiest place to grow up.  The problem is Evans has had people on his nuts since he was 14 years old. He was annointed the next big thing to come out of this area, and the publicity followed. I saw him play in high school (his nickname was “Too Easy” by the way) at Villanova University. It was a zoo, the guy had body guards. If you need body guards at Villanova, there’s a problem.

This isn’t really a shinefest or an annihilation. It’s hard for me to really jump all over Evans. It’s Christmas and technically he wasn’t at fault in the incident. It’s even harder because I have a strong sense it’s more of a product of his environment and the people that surround him. How many times do we see a young athlete, given everything in the world, except proper upbringing and role models? The key is where do we go from here? Does Evans mature, realize his IMMENSE fortune in life and use it for good, or is this another case of “Mo money, Mo problems”?……… I really hope not.

Finding dirt on professional athletes is toooooooo easy…………………