Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Beasley takes ailing mother to see Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers’ 128110 defeat at the hands of the Washington Wizards earlier this week wasn’t a total loss, as Michael Beasley rejoined the team on the bench early in the second half after being away for the past week to spend time with his ailing mother, Fatima Smith.
Beasley, a native of Prince George’s County, Md., was in the area as the Lakers’ four-game road trip rolled through the nation’s capital. He attended the game at his mother’s request, according to a team spokesman, because his mom wanted to see the Lakers play in person.
He and his mother watched the first half from a suite before Beasley emerged from the tunnel early in the third quarter to greet his teammates, whom he has not been with since Dec. 8 while tending to his family.
“It was very good to see Michael,” said Lakers Coach Luke Walton, who has kept in regular communication with the 29-yearold forward during his multiple leaves of absence this season. “Besides watching the game we played, turning around and seeing him on the bench was a nice moment.”
LeBron James did not want to speak specifically about Beasley’s situation out of respect for what he doesn’t know and cannot relate to without having gone through it himself, but he shared Walton’s sentiments about what it meant to have him around again.
“It’s happy to have our brother back, see a smile on his face,” James said of Beasley to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “The game of basketball’s done so much for him and for him to be able to get away from whatever situation he’s in, I know it’s a bright spot for him. I just try to give him respect. I’m ready for him when he came back that’s for sure, but it’s all family time. He knows he got my support. I’ve been knowing Beas for a long time now.”
Beasley is the only member of the Lakers with whom James played as a teammate previously. They were on the Miami Heat in 2013-2014.
Walton was asked if Beasley’s situation did anything for his team in terms of putting basketball in its proper place in the grand scheme of things.
“There’s always perspective to be had,” Walton said. “I mean, we take our jobs very serious, but we know that there’s always real life happening and that’s always the most important thing. We also know we’re lucky to have our jobs and we have a group that really enjoys each other and coming to work. But Michael obviously going through real-life stuff is more important than any basketball.”
Define random
A familiar sight greeted Carolina Panthers safety Eric Reid as he walked into the locker room following Monday’s 12-9 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
It was a small piece of paper taped to his locker saying he’d been randomly selected to give a urine sample according the the NFL’s drug testing policy.
According to Reid’s count, that makes seven drug tests in the 11 weeks since he’s become a member of the Panthers organization. Reid posted a picture of the notice taped to his locker on Twitter and said, “Number 7… Random.”
Of course, Reid doesn’t seem to think they’re random.
“That has to be statistically impossible,” Reid said, according to The Riot Report, a Panthersrelated blog. “I’m not a mathematician, but there’s no way that’s random.”