Jay Vincent - Why?

[R. P. McMurphy]

To me this is a mind bender. Jay Vincent was one of the two best basketball players to ever come out of Lansing, MI. The best, of course, was Magic Johnson. They were the same age and both came out of high school in 1977. Magic played for Lansing Everett. Jay played for Lansing Eastern. They were rivals but both signed with Michigan State. Rivals became teammates. In their second year they won the NCAA basketball championship, defeating Larry Bird of Indiana State.

Magic is a legend. Jay had a very solid NBA career. Nine seasons and over 8700 points. He never had the reputation, AFAIK, of being a problem or a "bad apple". Apparently, Magic was instrumental in bringing him to Los Angeles to finish out his career. So it seems that there was no animosity between the two former teammates and Magic was looking out for him. While Vincent didn't get a lot of PT with LA, a nine year career is an excellent achievement.

Now this:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...SPA81KUIJA.DTL

5 1/2 years in prison and his legal problems aren't over.

Magic may be a billionaire or close to it. His contemporary is going to jail. Jay was not some gun toting ghetto gang-banger. It boggles my mind.

[Xema]

This article says he may have further legal problems:

at a July hearing to revoke Vincent's bond, the U.S. Attorney's Office presented evidence Vincent had advertised tryouts this year for nonexistent exhibition basketball teams and paid for newspaper advertisements using bad checks.

Those allegations, Vincent's attorney, Tom Clement, says in recently filed court documents, will likely lead to his indictment in federal court in Indiana "in the near future."

In an interview, Clement said Vincent maintains his innocence in regard to that investigation.

[R. P. McMurphy]

Originally Posted by Xema

This article says he may have further legal problems:

Yes, that's what I was referring to when I said his legal problems aren't over.

Lansing, MI isn't that big of a city and it is struggling. Just schmoozing as Jay Vincent would have been enough to see him through the rest of his life in that area. Everybody knows Magic Johnson but everybody that was watching MSU basketball in 1979 knows and remembers Jay Vincent. He wasn't a minor part of the team. Greg Kelser, who's pro career was much less impressive than Vincent's, found a niche in the media. Kelser, like Vincent, is not forgotten. Kelser, a very intelligent individual, built on the legacy.

I find it very sad that a guy like Vincent has ended up like he has. He wasn't perceived as the accident waiting to happen like a bunch of the idiot NBA players that have gone down.