Washington Times | 202SportsBlog

I’ve been reading Ivan Carter’s and Tim Lemke’s versions of the shooting in front of DeShawn’s house. First, let me point out that it is good that no one got injured – with the exception of the person who, reportedly, started all of the drama. Depending on which version you believe there is some doubt between whether DeShawn was sleep when the shots began at his house. The reality is who cares whether he was sleep or not. The fact so far is that he is not being accused of doing anything illegal. The reality is no one involved is talking – at least not on record. If he was up at 4 AM and returning from a nightclub, with a bunch of women, instead of being at home sleep… again who cares? The last I checked he is a 26 year old man who is capable of coming home in the off-season whenever he feels like coming home. Unless he is being accused of or being charged with something criminal – which he his not – I could care less.

What I do have a problem with is the fact that Tim Lemke felt it was necessary to point out a misdemeanor statutory rape charge from DeShawn’s past. One in which he served the punishment that the courts handed down, and to the best of our knowledge has never repeated. More importantly what does that situation from 5 years ago have to do with this incident? In a word…nothing. I would understand if DeShawn had gun charges in his past, then that might be relevant to point out. It would have been relevant if the ladies that were reportedly at his house were underage, then that fact would have been relevant. But as the facts currently stand, that information did not contribute at all to his story. I would love to hear what Tim expected the reader to gain from that fact?

What this story clearly points out is that as a celebrity, you need to be extremely careful. Even when it appears that you did nothing wrong, a story like this can take on a life of its own. From the facts that we know a man (Curtis Ruff) with a criminal past (and present) gained illegal access into DeShawn’s gated community. He then began arguing with a woman who was in the company of DeShawn and/or his friends. That man, who again was on the property illegally, then reportedly fired his weapon damaging private property. Finally, the man who reportedly conducted all of these crimes was the only person to sustain an injury. While I am not a newspaper reporter like Tim Lemke, it appears to be fairly easy to point out the facts without linking someone’s past to the present – especially when there does not appear to be a good reason to do so.

Can we go back to focusing on basketball now?