Podcast: Was Ty Lawson Wrong?
Memorial Day, former Tar Heel Ty Lawson made critical statements regarding Roy Williams. He revealed on his Instagram Story his dislike for the head basketball coach in reference to his career following his departure from the Carolina program in 2009.
Lawson’s time at North Carolina was legendary to say the least. Just recently, UNC conducted a poll asking fans to vote for their favorite point guard in program history, which resulted in a championship battle between the PGs from the two most recent championship teams, Joel Berry II and Lawson. Lawson was victorious .
Lawson's campaign in 2009 exceeded his previous years by a long shot. As a junior, the Maryland native averaged 16.6 points, three rebounds and six assists on 51% shooting, including 47% from behind the arc. Lawson was voted All-ACC First Team, ACC Player of the Year (the first time a point guard won the honor since Phil Ford), Second Team All-American and the Bob Cousy Award recipient. 2009 was also the year that Lawson fought through a toe injury in the postseason to help lead the Heels to their fifth championship, before declaring for the NBA draft.
The Minnesota Timberwolves selected Lawson with the 18th overall pick in the 2009 NBA Draft, flipping him right away to the Denver Nuggets. The speedy point guard made an immediate impact early in his professional career. On April 9, 2011, Lawson became the first player in NBA history to make his first 10 three-point attempts to start a game. He went 10-11 from behind the arc and finished the game with a career high 37 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Lawson spent eight years in the NBA, averaging 12.7 points, six assists, and 2.7 rebounds while shooting 46%.
It would be remiss to not mention his run-ins with the law but those have been covered by multiple news outlets and Wikipedia, so there is no need to rehash them here. What hasn't been mentioned is that since his last arrest in 2015, Lawson has spent the past five years being fairly quiet and focused on rebuilding his basketball reputation. Other than a short stint with the Washington Wizards during the 2018 NBA playoffs, Lawson has been overseas playing in the Chinese Basketball Association.
Lawson spent two years with the Shandong Golden Stars where he averaged 25.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 2.2 steals per game. He had recently signed with the Fujian Sturgeons, before the eruption of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
No one knows exactly what prompted Lawson's post but you can tell it was an emotional and sporadic outburst that was immediately taken down after cooler heads prevailed.
On 'The Player and The Fan' podcast, David Noel III and I spoke on the sensitive subject; cautious to all parties involved. Noel pointed out that no one knows exactly what's going on but fans need to respect that everyone's experience is different while also respecting all entities involved. Fans have a right to be upset at things related to a college program that they invest time and passion into, but bashing players for their experience, or the program, does more harm than good.
Everyone needs the space to tell their story and while you may not agree with it, it's not your story to tell.
For the full podcast, please listen here,
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