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Heat Forward Michael Beasley Reportedly Checks Into Houston Rehab Facility

Aug 24, 2009, 4:45 PM UTC

More Twitter and misfortune. Over the weekend, a virtual firestorm started over an image of Michael Beasleyâ†µthat had two plastic bags in the background. Given Beasley’sâ†µpot-scented track record, speculation was rampant. To me, the questionâ†µwas a semantic one: It’s naive to think Beasley doesn’t smoke, but isâ†µhe dumb enough to promote his harmless habit like this?
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â†µPredictably, the Twitter account disappeared, but not before Beasleyâ†µput up some angst-y, if not disturbing messages: “Y do I feel like theâ†µwhole world is against me…I can’t win for losin” and “Feelin like it’sâ†µnot worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done.” What looked like straight-up newâ†µmedia damage control now had this weird grace note. And then today,â†µnews Beasley had checked into rehab. From Yahoo!:â†µâ†µâ‡¥ Miami Heat forward Michael Beasley(notes) checked into anâ†µâ‡¥unidentified Houston rehabilitation hospital over the weekend, multipleâ†µâ‡¥sources told Yahoo! Sports. Sources said the Heat encouraged Beasley toâ†µâ‡¥check into the facility to address possible substance and psychologicalâ†µâ‡¥issues. He is expected to spend time with former NBA player and coachâ†µâ‡¥John Lucas, who is renown for his success in working with troubledâ†µâ‡¥players.
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â†µâ‡¥When reached Monday morning, Miami Heat spokesman Tim Donovan declined comment. An NBA spokesman also declined comment.â†µâ†µ

â†µNone of us can truly know what's in another man's heart, and theâ†µpresence of John Lucas (Houston, stand up!) can either mean it's reallyâ†µfor real or the ultimate window dressing. The tricky thing with Beasleyâ†µis that he's never really been the most sane crayon in the box, and asâ†µfar we know now, it's for a drug that's not exactly known for wreckingâ†µlives. If it turns out the Miami forward indeed has other problems,â†µthen this is undoubtedly a good thing. Certainly, that second tweetâ†µpoints to something deeper than a love of puffin' blunts.â†µ
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â†µSo we wish young Beasley luck, and hope his career can continue onâ†µunscathed. But a lot about this—from the timing to the perceivedâ†µover-reaction it represents—seems to say a lot more about publicâ†µrelations than it does one young man's need to heal.
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â†µFor more NBA coverage, visit SportingNews.com's new NBA blog, The Baseline.â†µ

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