Carlos Boozer: Apparently under investigation

According to Mitch Lawrence of the NYDailyNews:

“The Bulls are looking into whether Boozer really suffered the injury to his shooting hand — as he said he did — after tripping over a bag at his home as he went to answer the door on Oct 2. … Immediately after Boozer provided an explanation, red flags went up around the NBA. After investing $80 million guaranteed in Boozer last summer, the Bulls want to make sure that he’s telling the truth, remembering that he once famously reneged on an agreement to remain with the Cavs in 2004. From what we hear, that may have factored into the Bulls’ decision to check out his story.”

This isn’t terribly surprising. And, quite honestly, I think people would have had their doubts regardless of whether Boozer reneged on that under-the-table handshake deal with the Cavaliers all those years ago. After all, Boozer is going through a divorce — and has been since March of 2009 — which is always stressful. And the way his injury happened just sounds fishy. After hearing the basic details of the injury and having absolutely no background or context whatsoever, a friend and occupational therapist told me: “I deal with that sort of thing all the time. It’s a punching injury. He punched something and broke his hand.”

So sure, there’s reasonable doubt and an $75 million contract involved. Of course the Bulls are going to investigate the situation. That’s just due diligence. I mean, imagine you had just bought a $1,000 plasma television. Then imagine you came home and found it was broken, and your children told you it had fallen over all on its own. You’d look into it, right? You’d ask questions. Nobody wants to throw away money. Everybody wants the truth.

Which is why I’m not ready to label this investigation a big deal just yet. I’m also not ready to label Boozer a big, fat, dirty liar. With all the freak accidents I’ve suffered, I’m willing to dole out a little benefit of the doubt. For example, back when I was in college, my girlfriend accidentally knocked over a 50-pound stereo speaker. I happened to be laying on the floor beneath it at the time. It obliterated my nose. Just obliterated it.

Now, it just so happened that it was a big party weekend at my school. I had a heck of a time convincing the nurses and doctors at the emergency room that I hadn’t been drinking. Ditto for my friends, family and professors (because I had to have surgery, and therefore missed some classes). Nobody could believe it wasn’t a party mishap…that it was just an accident.

I’d like to believe that Boozer’s incident was just that: a freak accident. Do I have my doubts? Am I concerned? Well, I’m a human being, so there you go. The Bulls are concerned too — as they should be — and they’re investigating. If it comes out that Boozer was fibbing — just like when Monta Ellis was discovered to have injured himself in a low-speed moped accident after telling his team he’d hurt himself working out — then we can judge him.

Until then, it should be “innocent until proven guilty.” I’d rather spend time thinking about basketball. Speaking of which, did you hear that Ronnie Brewer returned to practice and hopes to play in Tuesday night’s home game against the Toronto Raptors…?

26 Responses to Carlos Boozer: Apparently under investigation

  1. balaji88@gmail.com'
    aussiebullsfan October 11, 2010 at 12:17 pm #

    True the majority of these injuries are from punching, but one of my mates broke pretty much the same bone last year tripping and falling down a couple of stairs: he happened to land by ‘punching’ the ground and bam, there goes his metacarpal. That was actually the exact image I thought of when I heard this (especially since no one believed my mate fell down stairs either, being med students and him being huge we all just assumed he’d beat someone up)

    …that being said, can see where the Bulls are coming from on this as it really is most often a punching injury, and from a financial point of view you don’t want to be paying a guy to sit on the bench if he just punched a wall in a drunken rage

  2. jake_vick@hotmail.com'
    Jake in Minnie October 11, 2010 at 1:21 pm #

    When I first saw the headline, I thought of Brian Randle (http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=1920907) breaking his hand.

    Then I read it, and I thought, what a clutz, but still thought it was fishy.

    Then I thought of Sammy Sosa’s sneezing back strain injury…./lol…wait a sec….

  3. tiffac008@yahoo.com'
    tiffac October 11, 2010 at 1:32 pm #

    I think Boozer did punched something to break his hand. I saw this before with my father but lets put it this way, if he did punched something and it was out of anger and frustration because of his current situation (divorce and all). Then I say let it go, the guys is human. This is not like Ellis who injured himself while having fun. Now if its found to be something else other than that… then what?

  4. bodybagsteven@gmail.com'
    bullsfandom October 11, 2010 at 5:25 pm #

    In the end, I don’t think it matters much how he hurt is hand, only how long he will be out with it.

  5. steveington@gmail.com'
    Steve October 11, 2010 at 6:40 pm #

    If he did injure his hand by punching something, like a wall, would that affect his contract at all?

  6. anon@anon.com'
    Anon October 11, 2010 at 6:59 pm #

    I hope we dont have to pay this guy while he is out. His injury didnt happen at work, so his salary should be seriously docked.

  7. thetallented1@yahoo.com'
    Brooklyn Bulls October 11, 2010 at 7:28 pm #

    50 lbs to the nose?? Damn man….ouch!!

  8. Chadbmichels@yahoo.com'
    Toka October 11, 2010 at 7:41 pm #

    When I saw his divorce article and broken hand article all in a matter of days the first thing I thought of was that he punched something. My friend broke the same bone in college when he punched a wall…because of a girl. Now that the injury has already happend to Boozer, what do we do…we move on. We still need him and 8 weeks isn’t that long and maybe it will motivate him to work harder since it is his fault he got injured and he is the one letting the team down. That’s a lot of pressure on him for something stupid that he “may” have done. I just hope that he realizes it.

  9. roosad@seattleu.edu'
    AK Dave October 11, 2010 at 9:13 pm #

    “I tripped over a bag, man.” is now my all-purpose excuse for everyday mishaps.

    Forgot to take out the trash? “I tripped over a bag, man.”

    Forgot to call “X” on his/her birthday? “I tripped over A BAG, MAN!”

    Let’s see how this works out…

  10. Mike G October 12, 2010 at 5:45 am #

    I was wondering why we don’t have any sick t-shirts? I mean I look at the Daily Thunder blog and they have all kinds of shirts supporting the Thunder. Where is the love for the Bulls?

  11. eeenok@gmail.com'
    eeenok October 12, 2010 at 9:52 am #

    basically, when you trip over you break your collar bone. glad other people think this was a stupid story

  12. bscholtens@hotmail.com'
    Brad S. October 12, 2010 at 3:47 pm #

    Hey AK Dave, when using that excuse, don’t forget to add that you have “5 percent body fat”!

  13. leprecon529@yahoo.com'
    Wes October 12, 2010 at 4:45 pm #

    I sustained similar hand break about twenty years ago on the job. Was stack some 70 pounder boxes and didn’t quite get one on the top level. It fell and I reflexively tried to catch it. Bent pinkie back and snapped bone below. If Boozer fell and snapped his pinkie trying to catch his fall…I believe him.

  14. davebadasslarson@yahoo.com'
    BadDave October 12, 2010 at 5:19 pm #

    For the record, Matt was truly messed up. Had to have surgery, and before then had TWO black eyes. He lived in abject terror of those speakers for a whole year.

    Of course he skips the part where he mentions the fact that he wasn’t wearing anything when this mysterious accident happened…

  15. bscholtens@hotmail.com'
    Brad S. October 12, 2010 at 6:13 pm #

    …Great background, BadDave, but what was his bodyfat count when this happened. WE NEED TO KNOW!!!

  16. roosad@seattleu.edu'
    AK Dave October 12, 2010 at 6:59 pm #

    Brad S:

    That’s right! Because we all know (as does Boozer) that 275 lbs of muscle is WAY heavier than 275 lbs of fat.

    Wait. What?

  17. Inception October 12, 2010 at 8:11 pm #

    let’s not be blind here….he DID NOT trip and fall.

  18. njcamporese@yahoo.com'
    Nicky C October 12, 2010 at 9:06 pm #

    Listen…I’ve never been a big Boozer supporter, and something DEFINITELY smells rotten in the state of Denmark…but I don’t know what this investigation can positively do for anyone involved.

    If Boozer is found guilty of lying, what does that do to relationship Boozer has with the organization? The fans? His teammates? His image is not only tarnished but irreparable. The city of Chicago and the Chicago Bulls organization would never forgive him (and rightfully so).

    If Boozer’s story holds true, there will be the ever-present resentment on his behalf because everyone doubted him and questioned his integrity. How is this good for the organization? The fans? His teammates? At this point, the Chicago Bulls organization and the fans of the Bulls become nothing more than a reprehensible “business” decision to Carlos, and we need to be more to him than that if this is going to work out. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted out by the end of the year…

    If Boozer is found neither guilty or innocent, and there just isn’t enough evidence one way or the other to truly make an informed decision, then the ubiquitous doubt on everyone’s brain will eventually expand into every facet of Boozer’s tenure in Chicago. How is this good for the organization? The fans? His teammates? The doubt will always be there…we will always end up watching each other with a cautious eye…and this can only result in finger pointing when it’s all said and done.

    I’m all for the truth to come out, whatever that may be, but let’s not kid ourselves: nothing good can come out of this situation. Nothing at all.

  19. njcamporese@yahoo.com'
    Nicky C October 12, 2010 at 9:10 pm #

    Listen…I’ve never been a big Boozer supporter, and something DEFINITELY smells rotten in the state of Denmark…but I don’t know what this investigation can positively do for anyone involved.

    If Boozer is found guilty of lying, what does that do to the relationship Boozer has with the organization? The fans? His teammates? His image becomes not only tarnished, but irreparable. The city of Chicago and the Chicago Bulls organization would never forgive him (and rightfully so).

    If Boozer’s story holds true, there will be the ever-present resentment on his behalf because everyone doubted him and questioned his integrity. How is this good for the organization? The fans? His teammates? At this point, the Chicago Bulls organization and the fans of the Bulls become nothing more than a reprehensible “business” decision to Carlos, and we need to be more to him than that if this is going to work out. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be surprised if he wanted out by the end of the year…

    If Boozer is found neither guilty or innocent, and there just isn’t enough evidence one way or the other to truly make an informed decision, then the ubiquitous doubt on everyone’s brain will eventually expand into every facet of Boozer’s tenure in Chicago. How is this good for the organization? The fans? His teammates? The doubt will always be there…we will always end up watching each other with a cautious eye…and this can only result in finger pointing when it’s all said and done.

    I’m all for the truth to come out, whatever that may be, but let’s not kid ourselves: nothing good can come out of this situation. Nothing at all.

  20. Joe.sez@gmail.com'
    JoeSez October 13, 2010 at 3:56 am #

    The report is BullSht.

    Chicago isn’t going to void Boozer ‘s contract over a 2 month injury.

    There is any other reason to ‘investigate’ the injury. It serves no purpose.

    Monta Ellis road a moped and might have ruined his leg but the GSW didn’t invalidate the contract. Arenas and the gun incident.

    It makes no sense for Chicago to generate ill will given demonstratively more egregious contract violations resulted in no action.

  21. aspilky@aol.com'
    Aspilk October 13, 2010 at 4:37 am #

    We dealt with Boozer here in Utah for several years. He is a self serving, injury plagued, heartless athlete. Amazing talent. Just so caught up in himself that he will never be able to be a true fan favorite. He is loyal only to himself, which seems to be a common theme in the NBA these days. More and more I become less and less inclined to drop a couple hundred a game when the players continue to be so selfish.

  22. bob.edwards47@yahoo.com'
    BoppinBob October 13, 2010 at 5:08 pm #

    I doubt that the Bulls are doing any kind of investigation. This is a case of the “press making news”. An investigation by the Bulls would only hurt the team chemistry, it can not change the current situation. It could disrupt Boozer’s focus, and the confidence that his teammates have in him. The Bulls will need his points and rebounding for the next few seasons. He will never be a leader on this or and other team. He is a piece to the puzzle, a role player who can fill a very important role as a scoring option and a rebounding force. Noah and Rose are the leaders of the Bulls.

    I am getting the feeling that Deng may be a very important piece to this Bulls team. He may flourish under Thibs. I hope he will get his due if he does. He has taken enough guff from the fans and pundits over the last three years, with class, and that should say something to all his critizers.

  23. peter-penrod@gmail.com'
    Abstract Art August 7, 2013 at 2:29 am #

    What’s up, after reading this awesome paragraph i am as well cheerful to share my familiarity here with colleagues.

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