Michael Beasley severed ties with his agent and former AAU coach this week. Beasley had reportedly become frustrated with his management team’s failure to sign him to a big endorsement deal comparable to the one Kevin Durant inked with Nike. Beasley and Durant are former AAU teammates, and the two have developed a friendship and rivalry with one another.
Beasley is just as talented, maybe even more so than Durant. Like Durant, Beasley has great scoring ability. He can score facing up, with his back to the basket, off the dribble, and his range extends to the three-point line. But his marketability is questionable. Due to immaturity and misbehavior, Beasley attended six different high schools. Those close to him insist he’s misunderstood, and to his credit, Beasley was a model citizen at Kansas State. But he hasn’t displayed an endorsement friendly personality thus far.
Beasley’s desire to measure himself against Durant’s endorsement money is understandable. But the Heat had better hope that Beasley doesn’t feel the need to equal Durant’s numbers and individual accolades too. Durant has a green light and was free to shoot to his hearts content in Seattle. Beasley will never have that luxury playing in Dwyane Wade’s shadow. And make no mistake — Wade is the man — on and off the court for the Heat. But despite a Finals MVP on his resume and Pat Riley’s belief that he’s the “greatest player in the world,” Wade has never displayed the leadership skills to convince Stan Van Gundy or Riley to name him team captain. That could be a recipe for disaster in Miami.
It will be Wade’s responsibility to provide Beasley with the guidance he so desperately needs off the court, while keeping him happy with plenty of touches on the offensive end. Both Beasley and Wade possess go-to-scorer type skills and very rarely do players with those types of skills co-exist well with one another. The Denver Nuggets have two of the NBA’s top scorers. But Iverson and Anthony don’t play off of each other. They take turns ignoring their teammates.
Beasley’s desire to “be the best” and maximize his earnings could motivate him to reach his potential. But it remains to be seen whether his goals will help or hinder his transition as Dwyane Wade’s sidekick.
September 18th, 2008 at 12:15 am
I think they will be fine. In fact, I am penciling Miami in for the East playoffs – easy. I think you are right about Beasley, though, that there will be a time where he must be the best on the team, a la Kobe, but trust that it won’t be until AFTER he signs his big contract.
Beasley will be a model player…put up massive numbers…and co-exist just fine with D-Wade and Marion (or whoever they trade Marion for) for the next couple seasons.
Beasley and Durant are different players. Durant is essentially a super-tall shooting guard while Beasley is an undersized power forward. He can impose his will on a game more so than Durant ever could and his rebounding skills are insane. Anyone that watched Durant closely in college knew that his rebounding wouldn’t translate to the next level…and sure enough…
Beasley biggest problem will be his mouth – write that down. He will something stupid many many times this season – that I can all-but-guarantee.