Former NBA player Michael Beasley was widely known as one of the most gifted basketball players to make it to the league and a prolific scorer. Unfortunately, due to personal circumstances and struggles outside of the game, Beasley often earned a bad reputation.
Many years later, Michael Beasley looks back on his life with some degree of humor, sharing hilarious stories from his past. Among these, one that gained particular attention involved him stealing pizza from an 11-year-old Kevin Durant. Although Durant has also attested to this story, Beasley revealed more details during a recent episode of the “Club Shay Shay” podcast.
When asked by Shannon Sharpe whether he stole pizza from Kevin Durant, Beasley confirmed it without hesitation, much to Sharpe’s amazement. However, he added:
“I had to. Because y’all judge decisions and not choices. You all think you know what you know and what you wouldn’t do. But at the same time, you boast to the world how you’re the only one of your kind and then chastise everybody else for not being like you. I wasn’t like them.”
“I was going home to five mouths to feed, and my mother always told us, ‘If you bring one in the house, you better bring enough for them all.’ So I wanted a slice of pizza, but at the same time I didn’t want my a– whooped.'”
Michael Beasley grew up in a household with four siblings, two brothers and two younger sisters. In light of the rules implemented by his mother, Fatima Smith, bringing home a slice of pizza without any to share with his siblings would have undoubtedly led to unfavorable outcomes.
“If I’d have got home with one slice, man, she’d have took the slice, whooped my a–, and none of us would have gotten pizza,” he continued. “So yeah, I took half the slices, because half the slices was f—ing five. I was eating one, and I had four more… I was the man in my house.”
Beasley continued by sharing that when he got home, all he received was special treatment for bringing pizza. Aside from having first dibs on the Xbox, Michael Beasley also received a kind gesture from his mother.
“My mom, she didn’t have to cook dinner,” he recalled. “She made me a cool- like, my mom used to make this banana pudding. We were going to sleep, and she brought me a little cup.”
As Sharpe acknowledged, it was apparent that Michael Beasley had to shoulder some big responsibilities even as a child. Along with looking out for his siblings, Beasley also had to take care of his mother, who sadly passed away in 2018 due to cancer.
Beasley recently recalled an emotional story of how his mother hid the severity of her condition from her son when he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. Given the tragedy that followed Beasley that season, the significant dip in production (7.0 PPG, 2.3 RPG, 1.0 APG), and his frustration with teammates such as LeBron James, seem completely justified.
For the most part, although Beasley seemed to be in good spirits while recalling this story, the former NBA player has largely been a victim of his circumstances. Despite all his challenges and tribulations on and off the court, it can be argued that Michael Beasley carved out a respectable NBA career and continues to grow in stature as an individual.
