OT: LiAngelo Ball, two other UCLA players arrested in China for shoplifting

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Smart people..

LaVar Ball said he has been advised by council not to speak “due to the legal nature of the matter.”

Smart people ... the 3 UCLA knuckleheads, Papa Ball, or the ESPN journalist Markasi incorrectly referencing a mysterious council?

For at least several days, ideally friendly authorities in Hangzhou provide the 3 UCLA dummies with helpful lessons learned in separate cushy local jails. Not from any direct personal experience, but local jail wardens, guards, and fellow jailed Chinese occasionally extend western expats with slightly less than warm welcomes for lesser offenses.

Thus far, Ball and his 2 fellow UCLA fools haven't made the rounds on mainland expat discussion forums nor even in mainland English newspapers. Ahead of President Trump's arrival in Beijing today, mainland government monitoring may tamp down related discussion and even expedite the 3 UCLA jerks' release to limit shared embarassment.

AFP South China Morning Post: 3 UCLA basketball players arrested

 

[A10 fan]

If you can't afford Louis Vuitton, you're not a Big Baller....

Post of the year!!

 

[champs99and04]

I'm not surprised that the self-made, do-things-the-right-way crew has made their opinions heard in this thread, but that thinking is distorted by their own experiences and not a basis for any type of reasonable policy. The idea that someone could take joy in the public shaming and humiliation of a 19-year-old kid is actually quite sad. The fact that they could serve real time for what amounts to a speeding ticket is unjust and downright scary to consider. Then again, some of you strike me as the type who are genuine in craving a return to corporal punishment and the like, so my stance that their punishment should include a fine and maybe some community service may come across as soft.

None of this should necessarily preclude people from making jokes or finding creative ways to rub their nose in it when they hit the road, but generally speaking I'm of the mindset that humility can be garnered from an act of entitlement and immaturity without inflicting a trauma that compromises their futures.

 

[dennismenace]

Smart people ... the 3 UCLA knuckleheads, Papa Ball, or the ESPN journalist Markasi incorrectly referencing a mysterious council?

I think the mysterious "council" was the 20 police officers that "descended" on their hotel. Perhaps they sent an air assault unit.

 

[A10 fan]

Smart people ... the 3 UCLA knuckleheads, Papa Ball, or the ESPN journalist Markasi incorrectly referencing a mysterious council?

For at least several days, ideally friendly authorities in Hangzhou provide the 3 UCLA dummies with helpful lessons learned in separate cushy local jails. Not from any direct personal experience, but local jail wardens, guards, and fellow jailed Chinese occasionally extend western expats with slightly less than warm welcomes for lesser offenses.

Thus far, Ball and his 2 fellow UCLA fools haven't made the rounds on mainland expat discussion forums nor even in mainland English newspapers. Ahead of President Trump's arrival in Beijing today, mainland government monitoring may tamp down related discussion and even expedite the 3 UCLA jerks' release to limit shared embarassment.

AFP South China Morning Post: 3 UCLA basketball players arrested

You would think a journalist would know the difference between council, and counsel.

 

[Adios]

He is the least talented of the 3. Easy to write off

The least talented still could have easily had a career in China.

 

[upstater]

That is an incredibly ignorant statement to make. Have you been to China? For those who, you know, obey the law, it is a fantastic place to visit. China is a country full of culture, amazing scenery, great food and nice people. Then again, I don't just sit there and judge a place, I have actually lived there for 22 months. But do not ask just me, check out the nearly 100 million people per year who visit the country. Are they making a stupid choice too?

Agreed. I've been there. Great place. Though I admit to having had a lot of trouble with the food. But I was in various places in the north. Try to find a good meal in Harbin. Pretty difficult.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Have you ever been around a major college basketball team? You have a bunch of 18-20 year old males who have never had to follow a GD rule in their lives.

So yeah - they should all be tarred and feathered because this isn't home where when the kids commit a crime the local cops cover it up.

These are people that make a lot of money - they should be able to make a simple determination of risk versus reward.

Seriously?

 

[upstater]

You have to believe these kids were advised ahead of time, and they MIGHT have done it anyway. I say might because you never really know.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Hopefully LiAngelo will get 10 years in prison or get his hands chopped off.

Seriously?

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

I am hopeful that I can develop greater compassion for people who do and say foolish things. This includes myself.

 

[jojipoji]

Since when does stealing thousands of dollars of goods equate into a speeding ticket? I hope these kids actually do real jail time because of their arrogance and ignorance and lack of respect towards others.

 

[HuskyHawk]

China is an amazing, beautiful country for civilized people who obey the law. It's not too much to ask visitors to obey the laws of the country they are invited to visit.

And do you know what those laws are? Do you know in the U.S.? I guarantee you there is not a person alive who knows all of the laws of either country. In this country we do know that there is a system that has a chance of treating us fairly (some would say otherwise). In China, there is not. Not saying there aren't good reasons to visit there, but it carries with it a degree of risk that I don't think is fully appreciated. The same is true of many other countries.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[mjmoney23]

Big Burglar Brand

 

[whaler11]

Seriously?

Yes quite seriously.

When you create a culture around your sport where student-athletes rarely pay any price for serious criminal transgressions, dropping the product of that culture into China is a horrific idea.

The entire sport is built on corruption and criminal activity. That most people are naive or don’t want to acknowledge this reality doesn’t excuse the highly paid administrators who profit from the grift.

 

[Kaizen]

Like father like son ....LOL
"He'll be fine," LaVar Ball told ESPN's Arash Markazi. "Everybody's making it a big deal. It ain't that big of a deal."

LiAngelo Ball among UCLA basketball players arrested in China

 

[huskymedic]

 

[minidarren]

Trump wants to push the Chinese into importing more US made goods and closing the US trade deficit. Perhaps the deal will include keeping the BBB in China and off the streets of the US.

 

[MilliniumPrince]

The least talented still could have easily had a career in China.

Certainly. And I was kidding, sort of. He is the least talented, but he will be a pro some where.

 

[Adios]

China is going to use LeAngelo Ball as a gesture of goodwill to Trump? This is a very low standard.

 

[SubZero]

Hopefully President Trump will and strong and dare China to lock up the little criminal for 10 years.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Yes quite seriously.

When you create a culture around your sport where student-athletes rarely pay any price for serious criminal transgressions, dropping the product of that culture into China is a horrific idea.

The entire sport is built on corruption and criminal activity. That most people are naive or don’t want to acknowledge this reality doesn’t excuse the highly paid administrators who profit from the grift.

Now that I know you are quite serious, who are the "they" who should be "tarred & feathered?"

And just above, who is the "you," because I'm pretty confident you aren't referring to me.

Accepting, with hope, that "tarred and feathered" is simply a metaphor, I'm still pretty unclear about your pronouns.

 

[dennismenace]

This is really bad. The last thing you want to happen when you are in another country is get in trouble with the law. Who knows how this shakes out, but It does not sound good at all.

Here is a story that talks about the Chinese legal system:

LiAngelo Ball and UCLA teammates could face 3-10 years in prison if convicted of shoplifting

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Hopefully President Trump will and strong and dare China to lock up the little criminal for 10 years.

Seriously?
And just how do you mean the word "hopefully?"

 

[whaler11]

Now that I know you are quite serious, who are the "they" who should be "tarred & feathered?"

And just above, who is the "you," because I'm pretty confident you aren't referring to me.

Accepting, with hope, that "tarred and feathered" is simply a metaphor, I'm still pretty unclear about your pronouns.

Tarred and feathered - the admins who thought this trip was a good idea. Yes, it’s a metaphor I’m not suggesting that as a literal punishment.

‘You’ - the coaches, administrators, NCAA and corporate interests who have corrupted the entire college basketball industry with grift, fraud and criminal behavior.

This only seems like a crazy opinion to those who are in abject denial about how the sport and system operates.

Are you proposing that college basketball and football student-athletes are treated like the general student population with respect to legal, academic or behavior issues?

Should the ‘adults’ in this equation not understand the risks since they are the ones most handsomely rewarded?

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

Here is a story that talks about the Chinese legal system: LiAngelo Ball and UCLA teammates could face 3-10 years in prison if convicted of shoplifting

From the article: "The case could also be dropped to the lower 'administration violation' rather than robbery, which would lessen any potential penalty including prison time, according to Jeremy Daum, an attorney and research fellow at Yale Law School’s Paul Tsai China Center based in Beijing."

With a 90+% criminal conviction rate, China's legal system does not screw around. The latter absolutely includes shoplifting, particularly of purported luxury goods (ironically flying in the face of looking the other way on sales of some fake luxury products, e.g., faux Louis Vuitton). Additionally, western expats, especially with South Asians and individuals of African origin, absolutely get special attention.

Had UCLA's 3 Stooges been in Guangzhou with a relatively large African presence for China or even in Shanghai or Beijing, the rather tall guys might have been blended in ever so slightly more than in less international Hangzhou (pop. ~9m). Besides being 3 basketball players known by Chinese authorities and media to be in a group visiting Alibaba's Hangzhou headquarters and staying in the quite nice Hyatt Regency, shoplifting at the nearby, high-end Westlake mall may not have been the sharpest decision.

As I suggested above, UCLA's 3 fools may benefit from President Trump's visit and shared desire by Chinese authorities to conveniently make the issue (them) go away. Not that I'm a gambler, but I'd put some of whaler's money on Beijing pressuring local Hangzhou law enforcement to continue holding the 3 Stooges for a few days in their lakeside hotel. Or, they may be quietly scooted over to UCLA's Shanghai hotel.

Then, UCLA's jerks will be found guilty of the lesser "administration violation" charges. When UCLA's team boards their return flight at Pudong airport after Saturday's game in Shanghai, the guilty idiots will be deported to LAX. Safe to say, none of the 3 Stooges will obtain future visas to visit China nor to play in the CBA (Chinese Basketball Association). Well played boys!

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

Tarred and feathered - the admins who thought this trip was a good idea. Yes, it’s a metaphor I’m not suggesting that as a literal punishment.

‘You’ - the coaches, administrators, NCAA and corporate interests who have corrupted the entire college basketball industry with grift, fraud and criminal behavior.

This only seems like a crazy opinion to those who are in abject denial about how the sport and system operates.

Are you proposing that college basketball and football student-athletes are treated like the general student population with respect to legal, academic or behavior issues?

Should the ‘adults’ in this equation not understand the risks since they are the ones most handsomely rewarded?

I "proposed" nothing, though I'd suggest your dialing back the hyperbolic language, dispensing with self-certainty, and using nouns prior to referential pronouns for clarity's sake. All of these suboptimal communication methods align more with what you'd like changed than how you'd like the changes to show up. In other words, you could begin by modeling adult behavior precisely because you seem to believe you see the situation clearly and have the capacity to anticipate risks. If so, you have an opportunity to make a positive contribution rather than register criticism however warranted it may be.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[whaler11]

I "proposed" nothing, though I'd suggest your dialing back the hyperbolic language, dispensing with self-certainty, and using nouns prior to referential pronouns for clarity's sake. All of these suboptimal communication methods align more with what you'd like changed than how you'd like the changes to show up. In other words, you could begin by modeling adult behavior precisely because you seem to believe you see the situation clearly and have the capacity to anticipate risks. If so, you have an opportunity to make a positive contribution rather than register criticism however warranted it may be.

Thanks for the grammatical insight. I look forward to your ongoing work in that capacity. I agree the message I typed on my phone while multi-tasking wasn’t perfectly clear. There looks to be a lot of room for improvement BY-wide on this topic.

I merely stated an opinion that the ‘adults’ in this situation are in many ways responsible for what happened. If me feeling strongly about that offends you then a thousand apologies. I’ll look forward to your lectures this winter for others when they feel strongly about their opinions.

I’m not exactly sure what I can do to help the administrations at UCLA and Georgia Tech make better decisions, nor do I see how I would root out corruption in college sports. Your suggestion seems to be I can impact these things through the style by which I post. However, you sure used a lot of big words and posted that real fancy like and I’m not sure it had a huge positive impact?