Former NBA player caught in Heroin Bust

Lancer44 · Post #1 » by **Lancer44** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 3:33 pm

Robert Whaley, former Jazz/Raptors player (the one who had the preseason fight) was busted as the driver in a heroin bust. He was with 3 other guys and the sold heroin to a cop. Heard this on local radio. Somehow I always knew this would happen.....

He was the best prep basketball player I have ever seen. His Junior year he was unbeliavable. He was the top HS player in his class, one that had Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry and some other people come straight out of HS. His senior year though he got caught up in a Rape trial and was never the same player again for some reason. He lost his scholarship to Missouri, went to Barton Community College in Kansas. Got picked up by Cinncinati. Failed there. Went to Walsh College in Ohio, an NAIA school and somehow got drafted because in predraft workouts he showed glimpses of why he was so highly sought after his junior year. He was the blueprint of everything not to be for Wilson Chandler, who is also from Benton Harbor.

HarlemHeat37 · Post #2 » by **HarlemHeat37** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 3:35 pm

meh..it happens..I don't feel sympathy for guys that waste millions and waste their lives with stupidity..**** him..

magicfan4life05 · Post #3 » by **magicfan4life05** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 3:35 pm

Sucks for him.

He should've taken scott pollard's advice

btw did anyone else think this topic would be about keon clark....the nba's lost son....

RapsGM · Post #4 » by **RapsGM** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 5:53 pm

magicfan4life05 wrote:Sucks for him.

He should've taken scott pollard's advice

btw did anyone else think this topic would be about keon clark....the nba's lost son....

lol, i was thinking it was Shawn Kemp.

Roni · Post #5 » by **Roni** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 10:07 pm

maybe spreewell cuz he gots to feed the children

Tom Baker · Post #6 » by **Tom Baker** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 10:22 pm

Robert Whaley was only technically a Raptor. He played the role of "cameo: filler" in the Araujo / Humphries trade and was cut immediately afterwards.

Oh, and by the title, I thought it was Keon Clark.

carrottop12 · Post #7 » by **carrottop12** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 10:57 pm

He was a good player, and should have made a career for himself in the NBA.

He had the body, the skills, and certainly the training.

Then he threw it away, so glad the Jazz traded his ass.

meatball sub · Post #8 » by **meatball sub** » Wed Jul 2, 2008 11:31 pm

Must be a weird experience buying heroin from a guy that's 6'10.

CITYOFANGELSX3 · Post #9 » by **CITYOFANGELSX3** » Thu Jul 3, 2008 12:14 am

I thought this post would be about jayson williams. BTW what ever happend with his trial?

edfmx86 · Post #10 » by **edfmx86** » Thu Jul 3, 2008 12:18 am

Rot in prison, Robert Whaley

sarah42 · Post #11 » by **sarah42** » Thu Jul 3, 2008 12:36 am

at least it wasn't crack.

Lancer44 · Post #12 » by **Lancer44** » Thu Jul 3, 2008 1:13 am

bove310 wrote:Must be a weird experience buying heroin from a guy that's 6'10.

He didn't physically sell it; he was driving the car that the people selling it were in. However, when they arrested them he had the money from the sale in his pocket.

Lancer44 · Post #13 » by **Lancer44** » Thu Jul 3, 2008 1:23 am

As a fifteen-year-old freshman at Benton Harbor (Michigan) High School, 6-9 Robert Whaley made an immediate impact on the local high school scene. With extraordinarily long arms, big broad shoulders, and tremendous agility, Whaley cut an imposing figure on the court despite his tender age. An accomplished shot blocker with polished post moves and an unstoppable hook shot, he became one of Michigan's most dynamic high school players as a mere freshman.

Midwest talent scout Vincent Baldwin—who owns the college scouting service Prep Spotlight—began hearing whispers about this western Michigan man-child in December 1997. When he decided to check up on the rumors later that winter, he was shocked at how good Whaley was.

"His talent level was incredible," Baldwin said. "He could do everything on the court. I couldn't believe he was fifteen years old. The next day I called both Sonny [Vaccaro] and Nike's George Raveling and left messages saying, 'There's a fifteen-year-old in Michigan named Robert Whaley that you guys need to check out.' I called them both to be fair."

Within a week Whaley had heard from Vaccaro and received a package full of complimentary adidas gear and shoes. He was also contacted by Christopher Grier, the coach of the Michigan Mustangs, an adidas-sponsored traveling basketball team from Southfield, Michigan, some two hundred miles away. Whaley began playing for the Mustangs after his high school season and was quickly signed up for the 1998 adidas ABCD Camp, which Vaccaro oversees. "Adidas has been good to me," said Whaley. "They started sending me stuff and everyone around me was wearing adidas. I just got used to it. I know Sonny will be good for me."

How good is the question. In the cutthroat competition to lock up young Robert Whaleys—in hopes they become a Jordan, or at least a Kobe Bryant—it is clear that shoe companies and the high school coaches, scouts, and summer ball organizers that they sponsor or employ will do just about anything to be good enough.

Raveling, by the way, didn't return the call, leaving Vaccaro with an open lane into Whaley's heart. Vaccaro jumped because he knows if he is ever going to sign another MJ, he'll lay the groundwork when the player is fourteen, not twenty-one. And if he's right, Vaccaro might be smiling again for the cameras on draft night.

Thats an excerpt from the book SOLE INFLUENCE by Dan Wentzel about Whaley.

Jezmund · Post #14 » by **Jezmund** » Thu Jul 3, 2008 2:10 am

sarah42 wrote:at least it wasn't crack.

or a marijuana cigarette...