DeJuan Blair has had a disappointing season this year with the San Antonio Spurs. He hasn't played his way much into the rotation and hasn't impressed when he has gotten minutes. Now with a recent revelation of controversy surrounding unpaid jewelry, it seems that Blair's time in silver and black may be coming to a really bitter end.
Don't tell DeJuan Blair that though, he's not thinking much about this incident.
“I knew it was coming out before it came out. My attorneys got everything, so it’s not really a big issue for me.”
The suit alleges Blair was allowed to buy, on credit, jewelry worth $53,032.26 from March 10, 2010 to April 10, 2010, and has not paid for the items.
I understand Blair needing not to stress over this issue, put on an optimistic look on this legal matter, acknowledge this happened when he was young, and focus on his job but for his sake, I hope he does understand the gravity of the situation.
Of course his agent, Happy Walters, did some nice spin-control on his client's behalf.
“It’s the underbelly of pro sports, where business people take advantage of guys just coming into the league,” Walters said. “They tell them, ‘Take this jewelry and pay me later.’
A store or company giving credit to someone is no where near a "scam" or taking advantage of a person since both sides agree that payment will be delivered in some form throughout some span of time. This is just another incident some of San Antonio Spurs fans call, "immature behavior."
Here is what Blair had to say once the news came out about this matter on Twitter.
I can see where he is coming from. This is his life, his issues, his business and his way of showing this jewelry case and anything else that comes his way is his to shoulder on his own. But Spurs fans sometimes lose touch and realize Blair and other pro-athletes are human too.
This jewelry incident may be the final straw with Spurs fans, especially with his poor game against the Denver Nuggets. He scored 12 points and had 5 rebounds but was one of the main reasons the team couldn't get a stop on the defensive end and played bad transition defense with him trying to grab offensive boards instead of getting back to protect the rim.
It's not likely Blair will get any minutes in the postseason unless there's an injury to the main rotation of Tim Duncan, Tiago Splitter, and Boris Diaw when the first round starts. The bitter and dramatic relationship will likely end between Blair and the Spurs once the season is over.
And if and when Blair does look for another team to play for once his free agency begins this summer, it might be more of a sigh of relief for Spurs fans who get frustrated with his frustration of not getting playing time without improving his game in anyway.
However, keep this in mind, he is a competitor, playing at the highest level of basketball and it is normal for him to want to prove himself, be in the trenches with his teammates, but it is when he vents in a cranky, bad-tempered way, is when it rubs Spurs fans the wrong way.
All they see is a physically-gifted, athlete making millions of dollars playing a game and griping about playing time, and getting into legal issues and, in the end, perhaps automatically label him unfairly.
What do you think Spurs fans? Who will benefit more with the ending of the relationship between the Spurs and Blair?
