Former UNC Guard Banned from Basketball
A lot of former NBA players go over seas to play basketball and one of the most famous leagues to play in across the water is in the Chinese Basketball Association. Ty Lawson a former first round pick of the Denver Nuggets is the latest player to not be in the NBA anymore but found his way to China to play. He was recently banned from the league for posts and comments he made on speaking about Chinese women. HIs former team the Fujian Sturgeons told the Chinese news service Xinhua it wouldn’t re-sign Lawson after “inappropriate words” that were “inconsistent with the social responsibilities and values abided by our club.”
Lawson, 32, posted two Instagram stories, commenting on Chinese women’s bodies and photographing himself dancing with a woman. NBA sources told Sports Illustrated’s Sam Amico alcohol may have been a factor in the posts. Lawson’s post made references to his believing Chinese women had nice “cakes,” which is slang term for rear end.
Below are the posts that were posted to Lawson’s Instagram story.
Former NBA guard Ty Lawson has been banned for life from Chinese CBA after posting a couple of stories on Instagram pic.twitter.com/XcSNIAC06Y
— Emiliano Carchia (@Carchia) September 19, 2020
Lawson took to his Instagram account to issue a statement about what actually happened.
“I was told not to address this,” he said while walking around and shopping, “but I don’t know, I’ve got to speak up for myself. I’m probably the least racist guy you’ve ever met in life. ‘Cakes’ means she she has a nice body. That’s it. Everybody talking about, ‘Oh, Ty you’re racist! Oh my God, get him out of China.’ You’re taking it too far.
“I meant no disrespect and all the racism and disrespect coming towards me is wild. Everybody that knows me in China knows I’m not that person at all. I was literally saying that she had a nice body, and I danced at a club. It wasn’t a strip club. I wasn’t having sex in the club and disrespecting her. I didn’t do that.”
Lawson said he broke down the lyrics of a rap song by Lil Uzi Vert that uses the term for two Chinese friends.
“They didn’t know what he was saying, and what he meant,” Lawson said. “I was like, ‘Black people talk different.’ ”
A former first-round NBA draft pick and ACC Player of the Year at UNC, Lawson played three seasons in the CBA after stints with the Denver Nuggets and three other NBA teams. The point guard has struggled with alcoholism in the past and been arrested multiple times for driving under the influence.
