New York Knicks guard Cleanthony Early was shot above the knee late Tuesday night in “a coordinated early-morning attack involving masked gunmen after leaving a Queens strip club,” an altercation that ended with Early getting robbed of his jewelry.
It was the second time this month a New York Knicks player had been targeted, after Derrick Williams reported nearly $750,000 worth of jewelry stolen from his apartment.
Nets guard Jarrett Jack — one of the league’s most well-liked and well-traveled players — doesn’t play for the Knicks. But he does play in New York City, and told Brendan Galella of Shatter The Glass that “nobody deserves” what happened to Early, and that it’s a different world for athletes in the league’s biggest market.
I think you are a lot more visible than your typical pro team. You know what I mean?
When the Knicks draft somebody, it’s headline news. Or when they trade for somebody, it’s headline news for that matter. I just think 1 through 15, people knowing you, I think that’s where New York separates itself from a lot of cities.
New York is the seventh city Jack’s called home as a professional athlete, so he has a bit of experience in this department. He also says he’s wary about going out — though it won’t stop him.
It’s very unfortunate because in a perfect world you should be able to go wherever you want to as far as enjoying yourself and having a good time without certain consequences having to be dealt with. Then you have to understand, you are a public figure. It’s different for us.
I had a friend of mine — he’s a well known rapper — he doesn’t like to do parties or go to clubs for that matter.
The logic he put to me was, every time you go somewhere, most of the time you don’t know anyone there but everybody knows you. That’s a crazy way to look at things.
(Side note: this rapper friend of Jack’s is most definitely not French Montana.)
Jack detailed the concerns he has when he goes out.
If you go to a room full of 100 people, I don’t know any of these people, but all of these other people know me. They can look at you from different prospectives. Some people can be fans, some people look at you like potential mark in some circles, for numerous reasons. There are people that take advantage of people and do harm for personal game, or do it just for fame purposes. Some people could not like you because of the success you’ve attained. That’s the spot they may have wanted to be in.
…
There are moments, whenever I go somewhere, day or night, we survey the crowd. We always understand what the crowd is wherever we are going.
Jack also sent his regards to Early in the interview, saying that “nobody deserves, or warrants,” what happened to him.
The gunshot is not expected to derail Early’s career in any significant way, as he’s expected to make a full recovery.
Shatter The Glass — Catching Up with Jarrett Jack
