Hornets decline Bouknight's fourth-year option

[Scrutineer]

He's not cut, he's getting paid this season. He's got to get his s*** together.

Looking at it positively, the team is paying him this year while he rehabs and saved itself a $7.1M salary for the option year while sending a big message.

So he does have a chance. Do the work in rehab, then do the right things once you're cleared to play and they or someone else might offer him a lesser contract with a short leash.

For that to happen though, he'll have to prove himself worthy and won't be able to cruise with a bad attitude.

 

[Chief00]

Bouk needs to go to a place that fixes players. San Antonio might work. I don’t think he’s cut out for grown up stuff yet. That’s why Chief00 was right on Bouk. He just wasn’t ready. Unfortunately, saying Bouk wasn’t ready was unpopular because his draft position made going a no brainer financially. As feared, he should have stayed in college and grown TF up. What a waste.

Thanks, Chief00 took a lot of incoming fire on that position but I think it was the most likely path for James to have success. The reality is the NBA teams treat you like an adult (with both good and bad results) and James doesn’t have the support structure that Hurley provides.

The idea James is financially set for life, I wish to be true, but given the current trajectory of choices and surrounding posse, I would be skeptical about.

James is still a young dude and I have always said it is about the second contract. Hopefully, as others have said, he gets to a place where more structure will be provided, however the reality is it is on him now.

A team will invest more and have more patience in a high draft pick for a couple of years. Now he needs to do the grind and produce results wherever he goes or in Charlotte. He needs to get stronger and put himself in the position that he comes with energy every time his name is called.

 

[husky429]

Not likely to happen, but Miami would be perfect. A no-nonsense team on the floor to get his on-court focus right. And Caron Butler as a mentor for him on the coaching staff.

Doubt Miami would be interested, but that would be perfect for Bouk.

Although on second thought, maybe the Miami nightlife temptations wouldn't be ideal.

I was thinking rural Serbia to avoid the nightlife.

 

[Stew Crew]

I still loved that!

He embarrassed himself, the program, and the university. He had plenty of warnings throughout the game and his behavior just got worse and worse. The Athletic Dept is also partly to blame. When the referee kicked him out, which he had the right to do, The AD handler instead moved into the corner then lost track of him and he ended up in the student section. They should have quietly escorted him out of Gampel. I hope is permanently banned from Gampel.

 

[husky429]

He embarrassed himself, the program, and the university. He had plenty of warnings throughout the game and his behavior just got worse and worse. The Athletic Dept is also partly to blame. When the referee kicked him out, which he had the right to do, The AD handler instead moved into the corner then lost track of him and he ended up in the student section. They should have quietly escorted him out of Gampel. I hope is permanently banned from Gampel.

I can't imagine how some of you guys walk through life with sticks so far up your ass end. Good grief. The university was not embarassed because an alumni decided to harangue the refs at a game.

 

[HuskyinWRNY]

His problems go deeper than that. He blew a great opportunity because, pure and simple, he's a knucklehead and very immature. He's someone who really needed a mentor to help guide him in the NBA. I do believe he has the physical gifts to succeed in the NBA but he needs to learn how to be a pro.

he should have stayed one more year at uconn

 

[HooperScooper]

I can't imagine how some of you guys walk through life with sticks so far up your ass end. Good grief. The university was not embarassed because an alumni decided to harangue the refs at a game.

FWIW he didn't get thrown out of Gampel for heckling the refs. He was standing on the court and the refs told him multiple times not to do that. Finally the ref just threw him out.

Former UConn star James Bouknight gets the boot from Huskies’ win over Xavier, sneaks back in with students

Former UConn star James Bouknight was ejected from his courtside seat in the second half of the Huskies’ 72-61 win over Xavier at Gampel Pavilion on Saturday. According to multiple internet r…

www.courant.com

 

[aceboon]

Remember what he wore the night he was back at Gampel? Black hoody, gold bling, tinted glasses. No UConn blue, no Husky logo, no indication he cared about his former school one bit. He had to know the TV cameras would be drawn to him and apparently he wanted that moment, or those moments, to be all about him and him alone. I had little affection for him prior to that night and zero afterward.

Bouk has his issues but based on this post apparently so do you, this is true weirdo stuff

 

[GlastonTim]

It seems like all the new guys in the last few years are high character guys with their priorities set. Expect that going forward. Maybe Bouk was a learning experience for Dan on what type of guy not go after.

 

[Stew Crew]

I can't imagine how some of you guys walk through life with sticks so far up your ass end. Good grief. The university was not embarassed because an alumni decided to harangue the refs at a game.

It wasn't just haranguing the refs. I was sitting about 40 feet behind that clown. He was walking onto the court during live action and repeatedly ignoring direction from the officials. He was being an entitled, juvenile, a-----hole that was actively disrupting the game. He was endangering the safety of everyone on the court. The refs nearly ran into him multiple times while running down the court because he was 10 -12 feet out onto the court. If it was anybody else, he would have gotten the boot within 5 minutes. Instead, an AD handler had to sit next to him and that didn't even work. Believe what you want but there was nothing to love about his actions. Do you really think the AD Dept didn't have any opinion on one of their former players, a lottery pick nonetheless, getting kicked out of a game by a referee?

 

[alphasigko]

Those who follow me closely will know I have long been a Bouknight skeptic. His body language and maturity stuck out to me early as not only immature, but outright disinterested. His lack of attention to detail on the court and decision making often left me shaking my head. However, this isn't the victory lap I ever wanted to run.

https://www.si.com/nba/hornets/news/the-idea-of-james-bouknight-that-never-was

Really good summary of what we all witnessed and shook our heads at while watching this absurd decline into the abyss.

 

[husky429]

It wasn't just haranguing the refs. I was sitting about 40 feet behind that clown. He was walking onto the court during live action and repeatedly ignoring direction from the officials. He was being an entitled, juvenile, a-----hole that was actively disrupting the game. He was endangering the safety of everyone on the court. The refs nearly ran into him multiple times while running down the court because he was 10 -12 feet out onto the court. If it was anybody else, he would have gotten the boot within 5 minutes. Instead, an AD handler had to sit next to him and that didn't even work. Believe what you want but there was nothing to love about his actions. Do you really think the AD Dept didn't have any opinion on one of their former players, a lottery pick nonetheless, getting kicked out of a game by a referee?

Okay, he walked onto the court. Excuse me. My memory of a minor incident 2 years ago faded. My point still stands: you have yet to explain how Bouk embarrassed the team or the university itself. Because I never said what he did wasn't bad. You're just strawmanning like my ex now.

I can make your argument for you if you want. There's a decent point to be made, you just haven't managed to do it for whatever reason. Watch:

Bouk isn't just a normal fan getting kicked out of the game, a la @BigErnMcCracken . He was at that point probably a more recognizable face than anyone associated with the university other than Hurley. So when a person in that position is removed from floor seats by referees, it does have an embarrassing affect on the team and the university that a normal fan wouldn't have.

Would I agree? No. I think people can do stupid things all on their own. But that's just me.

 

[DCT]

Weird he’s still featured on their socials.

He us still on the team still getting paid. Depends how he comes back from knee surgery

 

[husky429]

It seems like all the new guys in the last few years are high character guys with their priorities set. Expect that going forward. Maybe Bouk was a learning experience for Dan on what type of guy not go after.

I don't think it's predictable sometimes. He was sheltered at Macduffie for HS, and I never heard anything but good about him in AAU circles. Wasn't until the stolen car incident that we saw he was a head case. Then things obviously went way downhill in the league.

 

[superjohn]

I don't think it's predictable sometimes. He was sheltered at Macduffie for HS, and I never heard anything but good about him in AAU circles. Wasn't until the stolen car incident that we saw he was a head case. Then things obviously went way downhill in the league.

That should've been his wakeup call. He stole the girls car, was drunk, crashed it, and then tried to drive away on the cop before running on the cop. No DUI, no stolen car charge because the girl hooked him up by changing her story. Sometimes a slap on the wrist isn't the best thing but as far as we know he didn't have other problems with the law until the NBA.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Really good summary of what we all witnessed and shook our heads at while watching this absurd decline into the abyss.

Yikes, that is an unflinching fact based exposure. Long odds for Bouk to play in the league ever again.

 

[husky429]

That should've been his wakeup call. He stole the girls car, was drunk, crashed it, and then tried to drive away on the cop before running on the cop. No DUI, no stolen car charge because the girl hooked him up by changing her story. Sometimes a slap on the wrist isn't the best thing but as far as we know he didn't have other problems with the law until the NBA.

In retrospect, Hurley (and the law) probably should have been harder on him. It's hard to predict though.

This happens to me at work all the time. You're trying to make a judgment call about what lesson will stick with teenagers who are by definition entirely unpredictable. Some of them get it together, others get drunk with a gun in the car, then drive 130 down the highway and pass out in a parking garage.

 

[Kathy]

In retrospect, Hurley (and the law) probably should have been harder on him. It's hard to predict though.

This happens to me at work all the time. You're trying to make a judgment call about what lesson will stick with teenagers who are by definition entirely unpredictable. Some of them get it together, others get drunk with a gun in the car, then drive 130 down the highway and pass out in a parking garage.

Some never get it

 

[Kenny11]

It wasn't just haranguing the refs. I was sitting about 40 feet behind that clown. He was walking onto the court during live action and repeatedly ignoring direction from the officials. He was being an entitled, juvenile, a-----hole that was actively disrupting the game. He was endangering the safety of everyone on the court. The refs nearly ran into him multiple times while running down the court because he was 10 -12 feet out onto the court. If it was anybody else, he would have gotten the boot within 5 minutes. Instead, an AD handler had to sit next to him and that didn't even work. Believe what you want but there was nothing to love about his actions. Do you really think the AD Dept didn't have any opinion on one of their former players, a lottery pick nonetheless, getting kicked out of a game by a referee?

He was hammered

 

[husky429]

He was hammered

Definitely has drug/alcohol problems. Doesn't excuse the antics, but it explains some of the weird off-the-court injuries.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

The only thing that reflected poorly on the university was the light touch on the wrist for the car incident. The school and program were able to at least have plausible deniability because he ran and (to my knowledge) didn't face a field sobriety test and the girl (who probably faced an enormous amount of pressure to do so) changed her story. Any other student would have been likely kicked out of school.

With that said, Bouknight being a jerk and getting booted from Gampel and subsequently tanking his NBA career is on him.

 

[Fishy]

He embarrassed himself, the program, and the university. He had plenty of warnings throughout the game and his behavior just got worse and worse. The Athletic Dept is also partly to blame. When the referee kicked him out, which he had the right to do, The AD handler instead moved into the corner then lost track of him and he ended up in the student section. They should have quietly escorted him out of Gampel. I hope is permanently banned from Gampel.

Lol.

This is dumb.

 

[dannyHAM]

I was thinking rural Serbia to avoid the night

Haha. Where the big teams are, the nightlife is LIT.

 

[Deleted at users request]

Not likely to happen, but Miami would be perfect. A no-nonsense team on the floor to get his on-court focus right. And Caron Butler as a mentor for him on the coaching staff.

Doubt Miami would be interested, but that would be perfect for Bouk.

Although on second thought, maybe the Miami nightlife temptations wouldn't be ideal.

I agree with all angles of this post. Mentorship, yeah it’s great. But Bouk in Miami?

 

[twiceahusky]

I can't imagine how some of you guys walk through life with sticks so far up your ass end. Good grief. The university was not embarassed because an alumni decided to harangue the refs at a game.

Geez. Someone suggests that Bouknight’s behavior was embarrassing, and you bring out the sticks up ass? Settle down, the fella voiced an opinion.

I’m fairly sure that you are in education. So pretend one of your most popular/decorated recent alums returned to your school (big game, graduation, you name it), was apparently very drunk and behaved so badly that officials kicked them out. You then direct your own staff member to keep an eye them, but your staff lost track of them and they reappeared elsewhere. In such a situation, would your school be embarrassed? Sure as heck mine would be!

 

[Travelman6]

I was thinking rural Serbia to avoid the nightlife.

They party pretty hard here!

 

[YearoftheHusky]

He’s made mistakes. Raise your hand if you didn’t at his age. I’ll wait.

But despite all the victory laps here, he’ll always have a banner on the wall in Storrs.

Maybe he just doesn’t love basketball. That’s OK. Or maybe he does and will make millions more in the future in the NBA or overseas.

Either way, the speed at which UConn fans pile dirt on this guy’s grave when we don’t even know if he’s dead is wild and sad.

Maybe he needed to win it all so we’d still root for better days ahead like Ben Gordon?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

He’s made mistakes. Raise your hand if you didn’t at his age. I’ll wait.

But despite all the victory laps here, he’ll always have a banner on the wall in Storrs.

Maybe he just doesn’t love basketball. That’s OK. Or maybe he does and will make millions more in the future in the NBA or overseas.

Either way, the speed at which UConn fans pile dirt on this guy’s grave when we don’t even know if he’s dead is wild and sad.

Maybe he needed to win it all so we’d still root for better days ahead like Ben Gordon?

His behavioral record has given a lot of people here a lot to work with as the story unfolds, the back story back fills, speculation runs rampant, and most people mirror their own trauma & imperfections. It's like playing with house money, but it's also a naked display that given an opening and the opportunity, men like to dish and gossip too.

 

[superjohn]

His behavioral record has given a lot of people here a lot to work with as the story unfolds, the back story back fills, speculation runs rampant, and most people mirror their own trauma & imperfections. It's like playing with house money, but it's also a naked display that given an opening and the opportunity, men like to dish and gossip too.

What's the Bouknight gossip?

 

[YearoftheHusky]

His behavioral record has given a lot of people here a lot to work with as the story unfolds, the back story back fills, speculation runs rampant, and most people mirror their own trauma & imperfections. It's like playing with house money, but it's also a naked display that given an opening and the opportunity, men like to dish and gossip too.

Legit good response. Doesn’t make it sit any easier with me. He’s one of our guys. We should protect him, not prosecute.