Phoenix Suns: Shawn Marion avoided rookie hazing by standing up to Cliff Robinson
Phoenix Suns legend, Shawn Marion, talked to Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson on their Knuckleheads podcast and recalled the time he stood up to Cliff Robinson to avoid rookie hazing.
We might not know what the majority of current and former NBA players are doing during quarantine, but we do know what former Phoenix Suns great, Shawn Marion, is doing. The answer is podcasts.
A couple of weeks ago, he sat down with Rejecting the Screen podcast and discussed his entire NBA career. Just recently, he joined former NBA stand-outs Darius Miles and Quentin Richardson (Q!) on their Knuckleheads podcast to once again reminisce about his NBA career.
During both podcasts, he talked about how he was hosting a Super Bown party (the one the Cardinals played the Steelers) when he found out he was traded. A few other stories overlapped too.
The big difference between this one and the one before? Hennesey.
Quintin Richardson talked about the 2004 Phoenix Suns team and what made them so good, so I suggest you listen to the full hour. But the new story that stood out to me was Marion recalling his rookie year on a team full of veterans. He was the only rookie amongst what called, “OGs” (look it up, grandpa).
One of those OGs was Cliff Robinson, who he dubbed, “Uncle Cliff.” To set the scene, it is training camp of his rookie season up in Flagstaff. I’ll let the Matrix take it from here:
"“Uncle Cliff…was like, ‘Rook, where my f—– doughnuts at?’ or some s— like that. And I was like, ‘Look. Uncle Cliff, I respect you and everything, but you’re going to talk to me like I’m a grown-ass man. I’m a grown-ass man. You ain’t gonna talk to me like that. Guess what, though? He didn’t say s— to me the rest of the time. No rookie hazing here. Nowhere. No one said nothing to me.”"
Marion went on to say, “I don’t mind getting him some doughnuts, but don’t talk to me like that!” And with that, Shawn Marion stood up for himself and went on to an incredible career, surely becoming an OG in his own right and Uncle Matrix to some rookie later on.
Stand up to bullies, kids.
The major question I have is, do current NBA players still eat doughnuts? Glazed Krispy Kremes, while delicious, seem like they would be the absolute worst thing to eat before or after a training camp session. Plus, it has to go against whatever diet these guys have lined out with their personal chefs and trainers.
Next. Player grades for every Suns player this season. dark
But considering it is Saturday morning and I am definitely not in training camp, doughnuts sound really good right now. Where is a rookie when you need one?