Michael Beasley in Drug Treatment (find out which league has a drug treatment problem)
August 25, 2009 by dwil
What’s up with Michael Beasley? Despite the sports news reports that Beasley is suffering from a social anxiety disorder which he relieves with marijuana (see Ricky Williams), Dr. Drew Pinsky, of radio and television fame who has been seen in capacities as varied as co-hosting a comedy question and answer show revolving around teens and sex to hosting his own, very serious, celebrity drug rehabilitation show, had some very interesting thoughts this morning on ESPN’s First Take concerning the nature of the Miami Heat forward’s present travails:
“If he’s genuinely threatening suicide that’s a severe depression that’s a medical emergency. One out of five people with depression will kill themselves. But you know what you’re not going to admit somebody with suicidal depression to a pure chemical dependancy treatment center. It’s shocking to me how frequently sports, professional sports organizations throw up smokescreens about what’s really going on with athletes. What you see in the press you really cannot believe. You have to interpret it. I’ve worked for the NBA, I’ve worked for Major League Baseball, I’ve worked for the NFL. Each of these organizations has vastly different approaches to mental health problems and their players. Some are good, some are egregious.”
When Michael Kim mentioned that Beasley is being treated for “depression-related issues,” Pinsky interrupted the ESPN news host:
“No, no he isn’t because he is in a chemical dependancy program. And there is one thing you treat in a chemical dependancy program and that’s addiction…. The point being is you cannot trust or take the press very seriously. It’s difficult to derive any real conclusion with what’s going on with him except the knowledge that he was accepted into a free-standing chemical dependancy program. So what you do know about him is he’s a drug addict.”
Kim again returned to the topic of social anxiety disorder mentioning that baseball players like Dontrelle Willis and Khalil Green have missed time from the game allegedly for “what their teams have called social anxiety disorders.” And asked the doctor why we are seeing a rise in “these types of cases.” Pinsky made another remarkable statement:
“I don’t think you are. The bottom line is, again, as I told you in my opening comment, that particularly Major League Baseball throws up tremendous smokescreens about what’s actually going on with people’s mental health issues. They – Indeed they have a right to their privacy but you cannot trust what’s being reported, Social anxiety disorder is not something that’s treated in a hospital, it’s not treated in a chemical dependancy program, it’s something that’s usually something that’s simply treated with a little individual therapy and some medication. So it’s not something that would be disabling something that would likely come to the press, so I’m highly suspicious even about the reports of social anxiety disorders coming to the fore.”
Kim then asked:
“What do you think the problems are then?”
To which Pinsky responded:
“I think something more serious, something much more serious. And most often it’s chemical dependancy.”
Kim then asked what Pinsky would recommend if the Miami Heat organization came to him to “handle Michael Beasley’s situation”:
“Well, they’re doing the right thing. They put him a long-term residential chemical dependancy program. The NBA , by the way, does a fantastic job with the mental health services for their layers. It really is almost a model for how any organizations should go about taking care of the mental health of their community. So I guarantee you he’s getting top-notch care. They do an exceptional job.”
Pinsky’s statement’s are illuminating. Rememeber, Beasley was fined $50,000 after an incident at the rookie symposium where it was widely rumored that Beasley, Mario Chalmers, and Darrell Arthur were smoking marijuana at the symposium. While Chalmers and Arthurs were fined $25,000, Beasley was fined twice that amount.
In the end, Chalmers and Arthur denied smoking pot, but Chalmers and Beasley were photographed in their hotel room and it appeared Chalmers had a blunt in his hand. Also, last season Beasley was known to have been on the trading block. No one understood why Beasley, a first round draft choice, was being put in this position by the Heat.
Then came this report:
Michael Beasley of the Miami Heat is being treated for depression-related issues at a Houston rehabilitation facility, a person briefed on the situation told The Associated Press on Monday.
Beasley checked into the facility last week, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of privacy concerns. It’s unknown how long Beasley will remain at the facility, or whether he will be available when the Heat open training camp on Sept. 28.
A photo of the No. 2 pick in the 2008 NBA draft was posted Friday to his Twitter account, in which Beasley displays a new tattoo across his shoulders. The image also captures what appeared to be a small plastic bag on an adjacent table, the contents of which were unclear.
It’s unknown if Beasley was already in rehab when the photograph — and several comments, including “Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done” and “I feel like the whole world is against me I can’t win for losin” — were posted on the feed.
Beasley’s account has since been closed, as was another he used earlier this year.
Interestingly, there was a report from “ESPN News Services” that the Twitter feeds, “Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done” and “I feel like the whole world is against me I can’t win for losin,” were typed out by Beasley from the treatment facility (an ESPN News Services article is and Associated Press article with additional information, presumably including the Twitter feed info since it was in no version of the AP article, provided by ESPN writers, in this case ESPN NBA writer, Chris Sheridan):
Beasley was already getting treatment when the photograph — and several comments, including “Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done” and “I feel like the whole world is against me I can’t win for losin” — were posted on the feed.
Pinsky’s remarks about obfuscation by the leagues and by writer covering the leagues goes a long way to explaining how the feeds came after Beasley was admitted to the Houston treatment center.
Someone associated with the NBA typed out those feeds to give the illusion that Beasley was suffering from depression rather than a drug problem. And Pinsky’s statement, “It’s shocking to me how frequently sports, professional sports organizations throw up smokescreens about what’s really going on with athletes. What you see in the press you really cannot believe,” was made as a direct response to Michael Kim’s asserting that Beasley is receiving treatment for a social anxiety disorder.
There is no doubt that Pinsky knows what he is saying and was in the midst of ruining what Kim thought would be a pat interview. And when Pinsky added that there was no way Beasley was in a long-term drug treatment center for anything related to social disorders, there was no doubt as to Beasley’s condition.
What it does do is throw into question all the reports of Beasley admitting himself into the Houston drug rehab clinic run by former NBA player and head coach, John Lucas (who has worked with several professional athletes with drug problems).
Pinsky, though, hinted to another, much more ominous issue and that is the quality of treatment afforded players by the three major U.S. sports leagues. Pinsky stated that the NBA’s treatment plan for its players is close to a model program. When Pinsky noted his disbelief that Khalil Green and Dontrelle Willis were being treated for social anxiety disorders, implying they are being treated for drug problems, he inadvertently revealed the depth of MLB’s program as both players have been missing from action for quite some time now. It can be inferred that the two players are receiving comprehensive in-patient treatment for drug problems.
Pinsky, though stated that, “I’ve worked for the NBA, I’ve worked for Major League Baseball, I’ve worked for the NFL. Each of these organizations has vastly different approaches to mental health problems and their players. Some are good, some are egregious.”
Since the NBA and MLB have comprehensive treatment plans for their players, that leaves only the NFL.
And when was the last time you heard of an NFL player being checked into a drug treatment facility for any meaningful length of time during a season?
In a game where extreme violence is the norm, it is sure that, for the player, medicative drug use is part and parcel of the NFL experience. How often does the intermittent use of painkillers turn into abuse of pain medication? With men who must be obsessed with their bodies, their performance, and maintaining the ability to play every week, it cannot be a stretch to think that drug abuse is close to rampant in professional football.
And the treatment for that abuse is sorely lacking. It also stands to follow that the fact of drug abuse is actively being covered up by the teams, by commissioner Roger Goodell. and that team beat reporters and national NFL writers are, to some degree, complicit in keeping drug abuse by players from the public.
With that said, the next time you see the performance of a player or players on your favorite team become erratic during a season, it would be fair to include drug abuse as a reason for that erratic play.
Unlike with Michael Beasley, the problem with the NFL is, you will more than likely never know the truth.
Great article D. I have always felt that drug use was rampant in the NFL. Just from the pure physicallity of the sport.
You know these guys abuse drugs because they are in constant pain. Its amazing how the league and players try to have us believing that sitting in a bath tub full of ice is the only thing they do to treat the injuries.
Even look at MJ’s death. They mentioned that he was in constant pain and took pain killers.
Now if this man is in constant pain from burn scars and plastic surgery. Think how much pain a OL is in after 15 years in the league and after 8 knee surgeries.
How much pain is a 10 year RB who has 10,000 yards rushing in his career is in.
Or how about a all pro QB who is gunning for the all-time starting streak.
And we wonder why these dudes don’t live long……….shoot if the hits don’t shorten your life the dope sure will.
On thing for sure is………. I don’t know if Andy Reid’s house is a drug emporium……….but I certainly believe his league is.
O-
Thanks… and wholly agreed on all points.
That can’t possibly be the same Michael Kim from that boxing website, can it? Dude is unreliable with his reporting
Chemical dependency? I felt bad for Ricky Williams because the NFL wouldn’t let him smoke weed, but they absolutely recommend pain-killers. Morphine contains opium. Just as banks launder drug money, Big Pharm does the same with Opium, laundering from pure dirty to pure clean and into hospitals, clinics, and NFL training rooms.
The guy you’re thinking about, Jimmy, is Steve Kim.
Jimmy,
Michael Kim used to work here in the DC market for our ABC affiliate (WJLA-7). He seemed like a nice enough guy doing local sports. Sort of vanilla, I guess.
@ Dwil: Dynamite piece on Beasley. Living here in PG County, “Beastley” is WELL-KNOWN from his time around the Beltway as being a free spirit, though. Most of it was pranks like running around his prep school campus butt-naked back in HS. No. I shit you not. A fool lookin’ like a Proctor running around with his dick swingin’ in the wind. CRAZY. He got kicked out of one HS for vandalism: he wouldn’t stop spray-painting cars on campus. He was suspended from the team as punishment and re-instated and told he had one more chance. That same afternoon, he spray-painted another car.
I think that some guys that have some impulse issues aren’t necessarily on drugs. I think that Beasley’s got a mental problem that’s manifesting itself due to the pressure of being an NBA player and the ease of obtaining drugs to self-medicate with. You add that with the free time even the most dedicated weight room and gym warrior has in an off-season and it’s a recipe for destruction.
Go back to Leon Smith. Kid drafted by Dallas out of HS. Just too young. The adolescent brain is a chemical melange of all kinds of competing impulses. You factor in that Leon Smith, in body, was a man, but chemically was still maturing? Put him in a man’s situation (the NBA with a million dollar contract and the financial and public responsibility that comes with it) and it’s only a matter of time before he cracks.
But for every 20 Leon Smiths, there’s a Kobe Bryant or LeBron James or Kevin Garnett that absolutely can and will handle the professional ranks like a stripper at Stroker’s will handle the Stanky Leg.
Dwil, nice deduction of Pinksy’s comments to lead to the NFL. The NFL’s motto to all drug or mental issues is “suck it up!
Okori is right, the dude from MaxBoxing is Steve Kim who once wrote Jimmy’s favorite article on Tito…
Phil, as for Leon Smith, he also grew up in foster care homes. Now it is difficult enough to grow up in foster care and adjust to the freedom of regular life after 18. To move straight to NBA life without a serious support system is almost impossible. At least he walked away with a guaranteed contract which I blieve was spread out over 10 years
Good luck to Michael Beasley for whatever it is he went into rehab for because the NBA can wait just as long as the young man gets his life right.
@Phil, now why you had to bring up Strokers? All these years since I left ATL and I haven’t even thought about those places now you got me thinking about sliding up in Strokers, Magic City, and the Flame when I’m down there next month. Durn ya…LOL!!
@ MODI,
Leon Smith was in a VERY tough family situation growing up and coming out of HS. The trouble he had as a professional likely stemmed from his challenges coming out of that background, his youth, AND the pressure of the NBA. But drugs, IMHO, weren’t a causal factor but a secondary by-product of those challenges, his immaturity, and the pressure of his job as a professional basketball player. Need I go down a list of basketball players with depression that weren’t necessarily drug-users as a primary problem to their issues? Chamique Holdsclaw. Lost her grandmother who she was close to and, as a Washington Mystic, went AWOL for a few games. Found herself in Los Angeles. Her issue wasn’t drugs. Luther Wright. Vin Baker. Bison Dele (Brian Williams).
@ HarveyDent,
How about The Sphinx? Nice strip joint. And an underrated titty bar in the ATL is, of course, The Pink Pony. Mmmmmm…..titties. The Pink Pony is nice, though. The waitress brings you shots in a test tube. When you turn it up, she sucks on the other end of it while hiking her leg up your table and puts the poonanny right in your face. If that don’t give you a strangler in your Wranglers, somethin’s wrong with you. LOL.
Once again, it all comes back to Brett Favre. Talk about stories that just up and disappear.
@ Phil:
ROTFLMBAO!!
T3,
I referenced that in another thread. Brett Farve had already been addicted to painkillers, you mean to tell me he all of a sudden stopped and was still able to not miss a start? I never believed that crap. They don’t ever bring it up either or at the very least describe him as “troubled”.
Wait, are you implying that someone who is not Michael Beasley made those Tweets? That’s a very serious charge with exactly zero evidence. You’re too good of a writer and journalist to say something like that.
Phil
You gotta be local my brother!! Pink Pony?? They’re ok and a pretty good buffet. I’m an ass man so you gotta go to Strokers, Pleaser’s or Babes ($5 table dances at the last two) if you want to see some fine ass. Magic City used to be cool but they cater too much to the out-of-towner’s but back in the day!!! Damn!!!!
ATL has got to be the stripping capital of the world!!
@Mac
ATL is the strip club capital in the USA anyway because living here in NJ/NY believe me I haven’t seen anything that compares to what goes on in even one of the lesser clubs down there.
@Phil
Never heard of the Sphinx but I know Pink Pony which was always cool but get me the Flame or Pleasers in East Point and I’m a happy man.
Brian-
It’s not dangerous at all. And I do have evidence.
People in drug treatment are not allowed to have cell phones while in any serious drug treatment program. I’ve had a few friends check into programs. And it turns out Beasley is in a serious drug treatment program – John Lucas’ – and this was planned weeks ago (see True Hoop and the Miami Herald). There are procedures for checking into drug programs and when you check in you turn off and hand over your celly. Any phone contact you have with the outside world from then until you leave is made with the programs’ phones. I know people who have checked into treatment.
Finally, just in case, I called one of the best programs in Texas, the Texas Star Recovery Program; Drug and Alcohol Treatment, and asked straight away whether or not ANYONE in treatment is EVER allowed to possess a cell phone and was told, “No. Cell phones tend to have cameras on them and no treatment center can allow photos to be taken in a drug treatment program.” Google them and call them yourself.
I would NEVER make an idle claim about something so important as this.
@Brian
Not to jump full-steam into the accusation of the article, but here’s an unrelated example of “bogus” messages…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/05/us/politics/05charity.html
Basically, someone from the coal industry “indirectly” hired a lobbying firm to send out letters to lawmakers to persuade climate-change legislation, using names of prominent organizations as “authors”…it’s not far fetched!
@ mactown,
Not local, but I used to report to a manager in the ATL, so it took me down there on business about five or six times a year in addition to the clients I had there, so I was there about once a month for two years when I covered those accounts.
@Harvey,
Next time I’m in town, I’ll be sure to get my HS buddy DJ Roots to take me down to Pleasers or Babes, then.
@dwil,
Okay, glad to hear you did your due diligence. The only reason I even asked rather than just accept it like with the NYT article CDF linked to is because of how much I respect you as a writer and what you do here as a journalist.
Keep on it, man.
Brian-
Thanks for understanding where I’m coming from.
Thanks for the article. Great read.