Baron Davis Tells OJ Mayo to 'Respect the Call,' Pickup Players Everywhere Need to Do the Same

by Brett Edwards

It's always great to get a glimpse of what players are really like on the court, when no one but their peers and a few members of the media are watching. Mark Spears of the Denver Post tells us about a little argument that broke out between Baron Davis and OJ Mayo during a pickup game at UCLA this week:

Word is pickup basketball at UCLA got heated Monday when Golden State star point guard Baron Davis engaged in some trash-talking with heralded Southern Cal freshman point guard O.J. Mayo. Davis got upset with Mayo after he didn’t respect one of Davis’ calls. Word is Davis, a native of Los Angeles, told Mayo that he doesn’t know who he is other than the fact that he wasn’t from Los Angeles and he also needed to respect a veteran’s call. Word is Mayo more than held his own in the games. NBA star LeBron James was in attendance but didn’t play.

First of all, as my FanHouse colleague Bethlehem Shoals noted, it's awesome that LeBron was there "looming," but didn't play. The reason I love this story though is that it's very timely for me personally. I've been playing a lot of pickup basketball this summer, and recently I've had incidents where the games have grinded to a complete halt because of people arguing calls. Here's an idea of what's gone on in games I've been involved in, which I hope will illustrate the importance of simply respecting your opponent's call.

This story comes from a game at my local gym. To give you an idea of the level of competition, I was playing with some starters from the local high school team, a couple of college level players, and some large gentlemen that could definitely play but were a bit older. Pretty good games, that were physical in a good way, meaning for two games there was a lot of contact but only a couple of fouls called when someone was decked on a shot attempt. Then one ridiculous call sent the entire afternoon into an irreversible downward spiral.

On a drive to the lane where someone on the other team *might* have taken an additional step, an idiot from my team (who was standing near half court) called a travel. Was it the right call? Maybe. But was it an unconscionable call to make given the circumstances? Absolutely. It didn't help that the call was against the best and most vocal player from the other team, made by the worst player on my team. A (literally) five minute argument ensued, resulting in members from both teams getting pissed off. The game totally deteriorated from there, with players on both teams now calling ticky-tack fouls on every possession, like "well if you're calling that, then I'm calling this."

The game culminated with the best player on my team getting fouled on the ground (raked across the arms), not calling it, then going up for a shot, getting hit on the arm, calling that foul before the shot went in (resulting in GAME POINT), and the other team saying "NO, NO, that was on the floor, take it out!" Total garbage, and another 10-minute argument before the player that was fouled literally took his ball and went home.

Now it's true all of this started just because of a bullshit traveling call made by someone on my team. But had the player on the other team simply said "whatever" and moved on, there would have been no arguments, and we could have continued the afternoon of competitive basketball. The bottom line here is this. We're not out there playing for money, stats, or to be on SportsCenter. We're playing because we love the game and the competition. And although we all want to win, if we don't respect the calls made on the court (even the really bad ones), the games will just deteriorate to the point where there is a foul or two-minute argument on every possession. I don't know about you, but that's not how I want to spend my Sunday afternoons.

Comments

[Jakes]

I had a situation where a ticky tack foul was called at the end of the game... It was 10-8, them. We have the ball, and I go up and make a shot. The player guarding me calls a "carry."

To me, whether or not it was a carry aside (though really, that's probably the toughest call in the game to make - and besides it WASN'T a carry); you should not be making little cheapy BS calls at the ends of games.

They want on to win - but with what honor? We could have made a run, but we'll never know because of a cheap call.

I hear what you're saying - "fine" let them have what they call, whatever. But I think it's important to state that you should almost NEVER call a foul.

If you get hurt, or your shot was prevented (grabbing your arms or whatever) then fine. And only the person fouled should call it. Travelling, carrying... I try to play an honest game. If you're calling that garbage, you're not respecting me, and I'm done playing with you.

Calling travelling, carrying, palming, it all equates to presuming to understand the game better than someone else; you can't know that you do - and so you should keep those pompous opinions to yourself.

As a side note - if YOU travel, carry, or palm, you should call it on yourself and give the ball over. That's what honor is.

Great blog, btw.

[basketbawful]

Amen, brother. I was playing pickup ball the recently in the same kind of situation. A lot of local high school players, some Division II kids home from school. I grabbed on offensive board and went back up with it, and this kid whacked me on the arm. I called it and he was like, "What?! What f***in' foul? Where? Where'd I get you?"

See, that's the bad part about reallhy competitive pickup ball. Guys will hack you, and then try to shame you out of the call. If you cave, they know they've got you. If you don't cave, they try to embarrass you by stomping around and mumbling about the "bull***" and make you out to be a cheap foul caller. Then, if you make a call against someone else on the other team, he'll look at your guy and say something like, "Yep, I see what you're talking about." And suddenly you aren't allowed to make calls anymore.

Bottom line: Respect the damn calls. Some will go your way, some will not. Don't make a scene unless it's something really egregious. Just move on. Have fun. Play the game. Just like you said.

[No Blood No Foul]

Why is it so serious anyways? It's not like people are playing for money or a contract or something -- it's just hangin' out and running.

Who cares about the calls. Give the man that called foul the benefit of the doubt and move on.