(Boulder-CO) I had a feeling that this wasn’t going to be as simple and innocent as it sounded at first earshot and it is playing out to be much more than a quick stop at 7-11. I first covered this story here, but now there is more being reported by Marc J. Spears of The Denver Post in today’s edition.
The new report from Carmelo himself concerning what happened that night is staggeringly different than how innocently Brandon Herrera first came off. Spears reports this interesting side of the story in the article, “After he and Craig turned down the autograph request, the men began speaking obscenities to them. Once in the store, Anthony added that one of the men, Brandon James Herrera, got on his cellphone and told someone to come to the store to ‘Kill Melo.’ Upon hearing the threat, Anthony said he returned to his car to get inside and check on his fiancée, La La Vazquez. After some time passed without a return by Craig to Anthony's car, Anthony re-entered the 7-Eleven, where he learned that Craig punched Herrera.”
Carmelo goes on to say, “When we walked in there (Herrera) said, 'Come around here, man, we need you to kill somebody. We need you to kill Melo. We need you to take care of this business for us.' And this and that. I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' Look, anything could have happened. We were still in 7-Eleven and anyone could have come there.”
Now it is time for my opinion on the whole fracas. Why didn’t Carmelo just stay at home or in the car and let his friend run into 7-11 and grab whatever item he/they needed? My only guess at this critical juncture in the evening is that Carmelo’s friend wasn’t going to be able carry out all the items himself because of some unbeknownst reason. Point being is that Carmelo shouldn’t be at 7-11, nor should La La, seeing how this kind of bullshit happens at seedy places at these kinds of hours.
Carmelo goes on to say, “Something could have easily happened, and then what? People are going to say I'm in the wrong place at the wrong time. You never win in situations like this.” And you know what, Carmelo? That’s because you ARE at the WRONG place at the WRONG time! Make a mental note: 7-11 at 3:00 am is not the place for a NBA superstar to be. Send a friend, send an enemy, hell, I don’t care if you send Yakhouba Diawara for your per diem, but make the note!
My final thought is thank God that it wasn’t Carmelo doing the punishing for whatever was or wasn’t said. Let his buddy take the wrap, Carmelo needs to concentrate on basketball.
3 comments:
Nugg Doctor, thanks for following up on your previous story with this one. I think it helps clarify what happened there. And although I agree it all equals negative press for Melo, I really think that after hearing both sides, you really get a better sense of things.
Bottom line in my opinion is this: I disagree with you in saying that he should have never been there at that hour. He has EVERY right to be at a 7-11 or any other public place for that matter at 3am. It should not matter that is a superstar, it should not matter that he is famous and rich. The day we start telling people not to go places is the day we realize that this country is truly not a free country.
The REAL issue here is a punk guy that decides that Melo disrespected him, and for that needs to die. That is downright scary that our society has come to that. First Julius Hodge, then the tragedy with Darrent Williams, and now this.
I will say this, your right. It almost seems that the rich and famous should stay away from these types of places at such a late hour, but where I disagree is coming down on him for being there. Who would ever think that some stranger requesting an autograph would out of the blue start threatening your life once you refuse?? So Melo will probably now be even more careful as he admitted, but really...should we blame him for it? No way.
We live in a sad, sad society. Thanks again for your coverage.
I accept your disagreement, but still stand firm on my position. Being famous includes a lot of territory that you and I may not realize, and part of it is knowing that 7-11 at 3:00am in a seedy side of town is not the place to be. I agree that it is unfortunate that such is the case for celebrities, but that's reality. I do agree, however, that he does have the RIGHT to be anywhere he pleases, but because of who he is, he has to be ultra careful of such appearances.
Your insight and point of view are valued. Anyone else care to share a position?
Thanks for reading,
The Nugg Doctor
Thanks for the comment. I just put you on my blogroll. I would appreciate it if you could do the same. Keep doin' what u do!
Allen Iverson
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