Celtics guard Jabari Bird – according to his girlfriend – attacked her over four hours at his apartment, choked her until she passed out, kicked her in the stomach, experienced seizure-like symptoms (allowing her to escape) then threatened to commit suicide if she didn’t return.
Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald:People around Bird have been aware that he recently had been experiencing, according to one source close to him, “panic attacks and things like that. It wasn’t a long-term thing, but everyone knew. The Celtics knew there was something going on and he was being treated.”
Said another, “This wasn’t one of the domestic-violence situations you usually see where someone gets jealous for one thing and loses control. There was something deeper going on here with (Bird). This was a bad situation.”
First, I’m uncomfortable with Bird’s mental-health issues being discussed publicly by people who remain anonymous. Hopefully, this was an authorized leak by Bird. But if that’s the case, why did his spokespeople seek anonymity? If Bird did not want this information revealed, that’s far more troubling.
But the information is public, and it’s worth discussing. When allegations first became known, many called for Boston to release Bird and the judicial system to throw him in prison. And maybe that will ultimately be the just conclusion. But this case could be far more complex than it initially appeared.
