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Elijah Millsap: Lindsey in exit interview: “if u say one more word, I’ll cut your Black *** and send you back to Louisiana”.

Whatever actually happened, Elijah is right about the response. DL should have reached out to him instead of going full denial. This "notes" thing is obviously going to result in nothing because you're not going to document a racist comment. Unless you're Danny Ferry of course.

For me personally, it's not the best look for DL to outwardly call Elijah a liar. It would have been better to reach out to Elijah and hear his side of the story. I said this before, but being a nice well mannered guy really doesn't make me believe that DL could be incapable of this. If you've been on the receiving end of racist comments, you wouldn't be surprised that it came from someone who is powerful and "well respected".

My speculation is that both men believed they are telling the truth, perhaps there was a miscommunication.The best thing to do here was to solve with Elijah and put in the policies to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again. Elijah's obviously not being malicious here. Why not hear him out?

I guess what I'm trying to say here is that for players in the league, it's probably not the best to meet these concerns with immediate denial and without reaching out. There are a lot of people here that seem to "believe" DL over Elijah for one reason or another. I bet there are a lot of players who find it much easier to believe Elijah, especially if they know him personally. There's a good chance that they've been told something sideways from a "well respected" person before.

Danny Ferry was very well respected. Didn't stop him from saying an outwardly racist comment on a conference call. Was about 6 years ago too, which says something about the league culture at the time. I said this earlier, most important thing is to make sure that the current culture doesn't allow this. Hopefully this doesn't turn into an endless he said she said thing and we get some positive change out of it.
Problem is if DL doesn't deny it and give it a "no comment" or says " I reached out to Elijah" then everyone assumes he said it. There is the possibility that he didn't say it and Millsap has some bad feelings about being cut here.

I remember young in my career I had been a key part of a group that was just killing it. In some face time with two of the managing partners of this big firm they were discussing things in a more blunt manner than they should have been they said that I was a "key cog in the practice, but that I was just one of the cogs". He probably thought it was a complement. What I heard was... "you are replaceable and if you think you should be paid more than anyone else at your level because of the wild success of your practice... well just remember that you are disposable and we will just get another you tomorrow."

I was ****ing lit... I had busted my *** and covered for a bunch of Senior Managers that were worthless and making 2-3x what I was. I decided to go talk to a couple other firms and the first one I talked with offer me double my current salary plus a generous bonus. I left obviously and my previous employer then tried to sue me.

Anyway... I got sidetracked. DL could have told Elijah to stop talking in a heated moment or he will cut him. And maybe DL said exactly what Millsap says he did... but these type of things can change over time. If someone asked me about my former employer and I was like "yeah those guys told me I was replaceable and completely invaluable". They might say they gave me a pep talk and told me I was a key part of a valuable machine. We both might be kinda right... and no one will know the whole truth.
 
There’s been debate in this thread regarding Elijah taking this public and not calling DL privately. I’m of the persuasion that I’m not going to take a hard stance on what’s the best approach to that situation for any particular individual, so I’ll acknowledge what’s well within someone’s rights if they’ve been wronged. But it would be a little odd to grant one individual being within their rights to take something public, but then scrutinize the way someone being accused responds in that same public venue on short notice.
I'd agree with you completely, except Elijah made the public statement that he was disappointed DL didn't reach out to him directly. It goes both ways, so if Elijah expected a direct interaction, rather than a public statement, he should have started the process the same way.
 
Or, that he doesn't remember saying it, because it was not a deliberate act.
But if he doesn't remember saying something like that could it be a sign that he says stuff like that frequently enough that this doesn't stick out.
 
I'd agree with you completely, except Elijah made the public statement that he was disappointed DL didn't reach out to him directly. It goes both ways, so if Elijah expected a direct interaction, rather than a public statement, he should have started the process the same way.
There is some truth here... he picked the battleground. I understand why he would put it out to the media though if he's trying to say this stuff happens and we need to stop it. If he just has hurt feelings and thats what he cares about then you talk with the person directly.

Its kind of like if I had an issue with someone and got an attorney involved then got pissed when the other party sent me a letter from their attorney rather than just reaching out.
 
Boomer, you dumb millennial ****. I'm Gen-X, your daddy son, not your granddaddy.

It refused to answer, because it knows it was caught in a trap. If it answers, then Americans know the commie rat bastards true feelings. You people are sick.
You need to just talk to me before you flap your mouth
 
The main problem in what DL said (if it is true) is he included the word black in it. If he just told him "If you say one more word I’m going to cut your *** and send you back to Louisiana" this is a non-story right?

Is it possible that is what happened and Elijah thinks DL included black in it? It was 6 years ago and a serious conversation. Things can get fuzzy over time.
 
Its kind of like if I had an issue with someone and got an attorney involved then got pissed when the other party sent me a letter from their attorney rather than just reaching out.
This is what I'm trying to say but in a better, more succinct fashion.
 
The main problem in what DL said (if it is true) is he included the word black in it. If he just told him "If you say one more word I’m going to cut your *** and send you back to Louisiana" this is a non-story right?

Is it possible that is what happened and Elijah thinks DL included black in it? It was 6 years ago and a serious conversation. Things can get fuzzy over time.
It gets way worse with the word black... its still not good imo because of the implied ownership he has and the power he has and that Millsap better bow to him or he will be back in Louisiana... which also kind of implies I will send your *** back to poverty. Its not great but the word black being in there probably makes it 10x worse.
 
Problem is if DL doesn't deny it and give it a "no comment" or says " I reached out to Elijah" then everyone assumes he said it. There is the possibility that he didn't say it and Millsap has some bad feelings about being cut here.

I remember young in my career I had been a key part of a group that was just killing it. In some face time with two of the managing partners of this big firm they were discussing things in a more blunt manner than they should have been they said that I was a "key cog in the practice, but that I was just one of the cogs". He probably thought it was a complement. What I heard was... "you are replaceable and if you think you should be paid more than anyone else at your level because of the wild success of your practice... well just remember that you are disposable and we will just get another you tomorrow."

I was ****ing lit... I had busted my *** and covered for a bunch of Senior Managers that were worthless and making 2-3x what I was. I decided to go talk to a couple other firms and the first one I talked with offer me double my current salary plus a generous bonus. I left obviously and my previous employer then tried to sue me.

Anyway... I got sidetracked. DL could have told Elijah to stop talking in a heated moment or he will cut him. And maybe DL said exactly what Millsap says he did... but these type of things can change over time. If someone asked me about my former employer and I was like "yeah those guys told me I was replaceable and completely invaluable". They might say they gave me a pep talk and told me I was a key part of a valuable machine. We both might be kinda right... and no one will know the whole truth.

I don't think the problem is denying it. He could have had the same statement while also showing more concern for the issues at hand. "I categorically deny making that statement. We will reach out to Elijah to address this potential misunderstanding".

Like I was saying before, I think both men believe in their truths. To me it's not really about outing one or the other as a liar. I'm just thinking about how the response comes off to the other players. Rudy, for example, said he was close with Elijah. He's probably going to believe Elijah. How do you think Rudy feels when his friend is called a liar?

We're never going to know the whole truth for sure, but what's most important is that the Jazz make it clear to the players that these concerns are taken seriously and not dismissed so quickly.
 
It's so lame that people on this board that use derogatory language regularly, repeatedly, and without penitence are up in arms for a person used derogatory language.

In this case DL's peers agree that this is not in character and even the very accuser says this was a unique, out of character moment.
 
It gets way worse with the word black... its still not good imo because of the implied ownership he has and the power he has and that Millsap better bow to him or he will be back in Louisiana... which also kind of implies I will send your *** back to poverty. Its not great but the word black being in there probably makes it 10x worse.

Yeah, I agree 100%.
 
When I read DL's background, where he came from, who he has become, and then compared it with the comments by his peers and even by Elijah himself, it almost feels like Elijah heard something that wasn't said. It was pretty far out of character for DL based on his life experience.

I am not saying that this happened but... for example. My ears are just fine but sometimes I am a bit DEEF. My wife calls me "NOT THE LYRIC'S KING" because I am convinced that songs say something that they don't. For a decade I sang "Let me go home, like a GLISTER in the Sun". I think I even put Glister in a paper at school when trying to describe a shining object. Later when my wife mocked me for it I decided to show her so I looked it up. When I saw I was dead wrong and that there is no such thing as a GLISTER, I copied and pasted the lyrics to microsoft word, changed the lyrics, printed it out, and showed her. Yeah, I felt dumb but we laugh about it to this day. I think I heard that song hundreds of times and yet I was convinced of what I heard.

Point is, this doesn't match DLs anti-racist history. If it happened, I think he has done more to create a culture of anti-racism around the Jazz and to condemn these things when they happened in the past than most of us have done from our keyboards.

 
I don't think the problem is denying it. He could have had the same statement while also showing more concern for the issues at hand. "I categorically deny making that statement. We will reach out to Elijah to address this potential misunderstanding".

Like I was saying before, I think both men believe in their truths. To me it's not really about outing one or the other as a liar. I'm just thinking about how the response comes off to the other players. Rudy, for example, said he was close with Elijah. He's probably going to believe Elijah. How do you think Rudy feels when his friend is called a liar?

We're never going to know the whole truth for sure, but what's most important is that the Jazz make it clear to the players that these concerns are taken seriously and not dismissed so quickly.
I agree, especially with the last sentance.
There is no doubt all exit interviews will now be recorded.
My hope is both sides learn from this and there can be open and honest dialog when someone feels offended by management or ownership.
 
DL and Elijah both seem like decent good men
This can be patched up by a private face to face meeting
The longer this goes on the worse things may become
DL needs to get on a plane and fly to Elijah ASAP
 
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