Article:Beasley's Personality Worse Than Mayo's!?

The following is a response to an ESPN.com article :

"While Beasley is a talent, Riley seems to be uncomfortable with his personality...Mayo was told by Heat brass...that he is in contention to be selected outright at No. 2."

Hold it! The Heat are worried about player personality, yet ready to take O.J. Mayo!? This has to be what made Miami the worst team in basketball last year and proves yet again that Pat Riley has lost his touch for the game.

As a member of the Trojan family, I got to see O.J. Mayo on a regular basis last year. He is truly a self-centered, arrogant player, and anyone looking for a good personality should steer clear of him.

Look at what he's done to USC!

When news came out that Mayo was suspected of taking money while with the Trojans, a lot of emotions went through my head (dissapointment, anger, etc.); surprise was not one of them.

If you're looking for a great young talent that can play alongside Dwayne Wade, Mayo is not your man, because he will insist on being the man and will refuse play second fiddle to anyone, even if he is a former NBA Finals MVP.

Don't get me wrong, Mayo is a great talent, but his arrogance can often do more harm than good. Look at Mayo's performance's in big games, and you'll see that his inability to respect his teammates to help hiim get the job done ultimately lost the Trojans a lot of games:


 * December 4, 2007: Mayo goes 6 for 20 from the field in an overtime loss to then No. 2 Memphis.
 * January 5, 2008: Mayo goes 5 for 19 from the field in a 52-46 loss at then No. 24 Stanford.
 * February 17, 2008: After beating UCLA a month earlier, the Trojans are unable to complete the sweep at home against the sixth-ranked Bruins thanks in large part to O.J Mayo who scored only four points, but committed ten turnovers.
 * March 14, 2008: Facing a three-point deficit, Mayo runs the clock down from twenty-three seconds for a final shot. Despite solid UCLA defense, Mayo refuses to pass the ball and misses the last-second 3-pointer he believed only he could shoot. USC is knocked out of the Pac-10 Tournament.
 * March 20, 2008: Beasley outplays Mayo as an inferior Kansas State team knocks the Trojans out in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament via a 13-point rout.

For me, that last bullet was the sticking point in my mind.

Beasley and his Wildcats put on a 40-minute basketball clinic for us Trojans, and he directly proved he was the better player.

For months, experts, general managers, scouts, and everyone that follows the NBA Draft have reaffirmed my observation that Beasley is better than Mayo.

That was until this morning, when I read that the Heat were considering passing on Beasley for personality reasons. If Miami wants to trade their pick, then that's fine, but if they're concerned about personality, it's hysterical that they'd consider taking O.J. Mayo.

The Trojans ignored Mayo's personality, and by doing so, ignored the problems that he might bring to the program (that might still come to the program). The Heat should learn from USC's ignorance and know to not make the same mistake.