Caleb Swannigan passed away

[kkott]

From the lead writer on GBI:
"Since Swanigan's NBA career ended quickly and decisively, he'd become estranged from those who'd helped him along. He fell back into old habits, losing control of his weight, putting him in the dire health straits that ultimately took him. Drugs had become part of his life. Who knows what sort of counterproductive influences replaced those from his time in the spotlight." quote from Brian Neubert article on GBI

Just because something is factual, doesn't make it appropriate or right. Let's say, hypothetically, you are a douchebag. Stating that on a public forum like this might be OK in normal day to day discourse, but would be inappropriate on the day of and days following, your death. This is not a time to try and throw PU under the bus just because you don't like them or want to turn a tragic event to your desires. Give it a break.

 

[jimmygoiu]

Jimmy, you simply don't get it. Estrangement is a two-way street. As has been pointed out, others could well have reached out to him pleading for a change in Swanigan's life and using moral suasion but the other person has to be receptive to the entreaties. If he rejected them, what are they supposed to do? You cannot force an adult to take heed of your advice - as much as you would hope that is the case.

Is it possible that everyone who had previously been close to him and supported him suddenly cut him off? Possible, but is it likely? Barnes cared for him when he was a nobody and Barnes did not have to do so. He was under no obligation. He supported Swanigan long before anyone thought that Caleb was going to develop the way that he did. So then when Caleb gets famous and well-paid, Barnes rejects him? And his former teammates who posted and evidently spoke with him rather recently cut him off as well? All of this sounds unlikely.

Even if Swanigan was cut from the NBA, he certainly had opportunity abroad which pays rather well. He did not pursue that at all. A more probable scenario is severe depression combined with drug abuse and a loss of motivation. Physical disease accelerates the psychological decline. Combine that with a likely genetic disposition towards disease and you get the witnessed outcome.

This is a tragedy, the full cause of it presently unknown despite your aspersions. You want to cast mud on others without having any facts.

39
CS was not cut from the NBA, but elected to sit out the covid bubble year. I guess after putting on 100+ pounds and not showing up to camp, he was then released.

I do get that the "support system" is a 2 way street. IF the support system tried, every day, to reign him in, it failed. I agree that we DO NOT know what efforts were made, if any and to what extent, by his support side after CSs revenue stream had ended. BoilerN wrote that "I'd also heard Barnes had tried to move to Portland after Caleb was drafted", but did not move. I do not know, but did "guess" what the pu coaching staff did or did not do to support him after CS left them and then had his issues a few years later.

From the lead writer on GBI:
"Since Swanigan's NBA career ended quickly and decisively, he'd become estranged from those who'd helped him along. He fell back into old habits, losing control of his weight, putting him in the dire health straits that ultimately took him. Drugs had become part of his life. Who knows what sort of counterproductive influences replaced those from his time in the spotlight." quote from Brian Neubert article on GBI

If you review my posts on this thread, the above from the GBI lead writer mirrors my posts. I also posted Facts and details on CS that I took from news articles regarding his legal, weed, physical, weight and health situation.

My posts, word for word:
"drugs and morbid obesity, a sad situation. After the broilees used him, I guess they abandoned him. a shame."

"I did not write that they (drugs)did(affect his early death), but they did not help. He was caught with 8.4 pounds of weed, a huge amount of cash, and said it was for personal use. He also weighed 550 lbs and was an untreated diabetic. Not a good combo for living."

"What in my statement is not true? Where was his agent/"dad", porkchop and the coaching staff (his pu family)? The kid gained 250 pounds in 2 1/2 years, reportedly weighing 500+. It is a sad situation that intervention could have saved him. Did all these adult supporters just disappear? If you adopt a teenager, become hi$ agent and deliver him to your alma mater, shouldn't a dad be there to help him when he is no longer a pro? He obviously asked for/needed help when he was arrested while gaining that weight. That occurred over a year ago."

"this is a sad situation, a shame, as I stated in my original post. It could have been avoided."

"Lifestyle choices, morbid obesity, diabetes, failure of support systems, and ignoring medical/health advice are all "natural causes". That is what is being pointed out. You may have missed the point."

"So, when they got paid the agent commission or he no longer played for their team, did they stay on as his support system? I don't know that answer."

Those are my 6 posts, word for word. I wrote that it was sad and a shame and an event that could have been avoided. I wrote FACTS along with legit questions, which resulted in a bunch of personal attacks, along with just as many reasonable posts.

 

[kurt cloverdales]

39
CS was not cut from the NBA, but elected to sit out the covid bubble year. I guess after putting on 100+ pounds and not showing up to camp, he was then released.

I do get that the "support system" is a 2 way street. IF the support system tried, every day, to reign him in, it failed. I agree that we DO NOT know what efforts were made, if any and to what extent, by his support side after CSs revenue stream had ended. BoilerN wrote that "I'd also heard Barnes had tried to move to Portland after Caleb was drafted", but did not move. I do not know, but did "guess" what the pu coaching staff did or did not do to support him after CS left them and then had his issues a few years later.

From the lead writer on GBI:
"Since Swanigan's NBA career ended quickly and decisively, he'd become estranged from those who'd helped him along. He fell back into old habits, losing control of his weight, putting him in the dire health straits that ultimately took him. Drugs had become part of his life. Who knows what sort of counterproductive influences replaced those from his time in the spotlight." quote from Brian Neubert article on GBI

If you review my posts on this thread, the above from the GBI lead writer mirrors my posts. I also posted Facts and details on CS that I took from news articles regarding his legal, weed, physical, weight and health situation.

My posts, word for word:
"drugs and morbid obesity, a sad situation. After the broilees used him, I guess they abandoned him. a shame."

"I did not write that they (drugs)did(affect his early death), but they did not help. He was caught with 8.4 pounds of weed, a huge amount of cash, and said it was for personal use. He also weighed 550 lbs and was an untreated diabetic. Not a good combo for living."

"What in my statement is not true? Where was his agent/"dad", porkchop and the coaching staff (his pu family)? The kid gained 250 pounds in 2 1/2 years, reportedly weighing 500+. It is a sad situation that intervention could have saved him. Did all these adult supporters just disappear? If you adopt a teenager, become hi$ agent and deliver him to your alma mater, shouldn't a dad be there to help him when he is no longer a pro? He obviously asked for/needed help when he was arrested while gaining that weight. That occurred over a year ago."

"this is a sad situation, a shame, as I stated in my original post. It could have been avoided."

"Lifestyle choices, morbid obesity, diabetes, failure of support systems, and ignoring medical/health advice are all "natural causes". That is what is being pointed out. You may have missed the point."

"So, when they got paid the agent commission or he no longer played for their team, did they stay on as his support system? I don't know that answer."

Those are my 6 posts, word for word. I wrote that it was sad and a shame and an event that could have been avoided. I wrote FACTS along with legit questions, which resulted in a bunch of personal attacks, along with just as many reasonable posts.

they abandoned him is the whole thing, that's just speculation

 

[jimmygoiu]

they abandoned him is the whole thing, that's just speculation

and I speculated. Not once did I state it was a fact.

 

[arcb102000]

Jimmy, you are caviling. You claim that Swanigan "was not cut" from Portland, but was "released." I am not aware that there is a difference between those two terms. Perhaps you can educate us on the nuances between those apparent synonyms.

The fact remains that in your first post on the matter you criticized Purdue, Barnes, his coaches and others for not caring about what happened to Swanigan. A simple reading of your post indicated that. Those were your words and you have subsequently posted that you are, as are most of us, not really aware of the nature of those relationships. You tried to throw dirt without any information that would make the dirtied at fault. Is it possible that you are correct? I have written so, though I suggest that alternatives are a far, far more likely scenario. As others here have pointed out, your initial post on the matter was out of line.

 

[BoilerN]

and I speculated. Not once did I state it was a fact.

This is pretty damn close to stating it's a fact. "If you adopt a teenager, become hi$ agent and deliver him to your alma mater, shouldn't a dad be there to help him when he is no longer a pro? He obviously asked for/needed help when he was arrested while gaining that weight. That occurred over a year ago.

This is a sad situation, a shame, as I stated in my original post. It could have been avoided."

 

[TC4THREE]

I agree that we DO NOT know what efforts were made, if any and to what extent, by his support side after CSs revenue stream had ended.

Just because you are not aware of any, let alone all of them, doesn't mean they didn't exist. I'm not attacking. I'm not calling you names. I didn't in my first post either. I'm simply telling your that the hypothetical you set up can be dismissed by anyone with a bit of knowledge even remotely close to the situation.

 

[jimmygoiu]

Jimmy, you are caviling. You claim that Swanigan "was not cut" from Portland, but was "released." I am not aware that there is a difference between those two terms. Perhaps you can educate us on the nuances between those apparent synonyms.

The fact remains that in your first post on the matter you criticized Purdue, Barnes, his coaches and others for not caring about what happened to Swanigan. A simple reading of your post indicated that. Those were your words and you have subsequently posted that you are, as are most of us, not really aware of the nature of those relationships. You tried to throw dirt without any information that would make the dirtied at fault. Is it possible that you are correct? I have written so, though I suggest that alternatives are a far, far more likely scenario. As others here have pointed out, your initial post on the matter was out of line.

41
Clearly, I wrote "guess". Your GBI leader basically said the same thing. Your "guess" is different than mine, and I have not been able to find any articles supporting either position.

Cut, released, are the same. My point was that Swanigan sat out a year for not wanting to play in the bubble, and then never came back, due to gaining 100 plus in 9 months.

 

[jimmygoiu]

Just because you are not aware of any, let alone all of them, doesn't mean they didn't exist. I'm not attacking. I'm not calling you names. I didn't in my first post either. I'm simply telling your that the hypothetical you set up can be dismissed by anyone with a bit of knowledge even remotely close to the situation.

Please provide that info. My searches have yielded zero info, and it was clear that I did not state this as a fact.

 

[jimmygoiu]

This is pretty damn close to stating it's a fact. "If you adopt a teenager, become hi$ agent and deliver him to your alma mater, shouldn't a dad be there to help him when he is no longer a pro? He obviously asked for/needed help when he was arrested while gaining that weight. That occurred over a year ago.

This is a sad situation, a shame, as I stated in my original post. It could have been avoided."

that sad ending is what prompted my Question. You yourself wrote that you "heard" that "agent/dad" was going to move to Portland, but did not. Agent/dad was not there when he played as a very young pro, nor when he sat out the bubble year-the year which was the critical period of CS' life. I do know that if my 23 year old son, with the issues, said he was going to sit out a $2 million a year job, in a protected environment, I would be there to help. I'm sure most of us would. Who knows how much help he got at 23 when he moved back to FW, and had all the legal/health/medical/weight issues? The "support structure" may have tried, maybe, but it did fail that young man.

 

[LifelongIU]

Lifestyle choices, morbid obesity, diabetes, failure of support systems, and ignoring medical/health advice are all "natural causes". That is what is being pointed out. You may have missed the point

The point of bringing up his arrest for marijuana was to bad mouth him. It was unnecessary,and classless.

 

[LifelongIU]

I didn't bring it up, I was just saying I could see lifestyle being a contributing factor, as it's not "natural" for a 25 yo old to die at that age. It's a former player of our rival school on an IU message board; not FB or instagram (ie. I seriously doubt his relatives are seeing this). I wouldn't post about something like this on a more "public" forum, but I think it's a reasonable discussion here. If you don't want to have it, well, you don't have to, right? I thought Jimmy's post was classless, if you think discussing any aspect of factors that may have contributed to his death is classless, then don't get involved in the discussion.

I hear what your saying,I just thought the discussion should have waited at least a day. And yes,Jimmy's post was classless.

 

[LifelongIU]

No you're completely missing the point. Not a single person on here has attributed marijuana to his actual death. But I guarantee you the average IU person on here doesn't realize the path Biggie has been down and the demons he's faced the last two years. He was a first round pick less than 5 years ago and last played in an NBA game less than 2 years ago. He was arrested a year and a half ago with 8 pounds of marijuana and was nearly double his playing weight less than 9 months removed from playing in his last NBA game. That isn't normal for a professional athlete not even in the prime of his career. Should have been a major red flag the path he was heading down and the lifestyle he was living. Don't disagree that it was likely an insensitive comment given the timing but doesn't make anything the OP said untrue. There were warning signs all over the place for a life spiraling out of control that ultimately ended in tragedy.

Btw...I'm from Fort Wayne. I'm not saying I know all of the information but I'm not ignorant on his childhood and subsequent challenges regarding that and his health. Another reason why I thought the discussion should have waited for another day.

 

[8Stars5Banners]

that sad ending is what prompted my Question. You yourself wrote that you "heard" that "agent/dad" was going to move to Portland, but did not. Agent/dad was not there when he played as a very young pro, nor when he sat out the bubble year-the year which was the critical period of CS' life. I do know that if my 23 year old son, with the issues, said he was going to sit out a $2 million a year job, in a protected environment, I would be there to help. I'm sure most of us would. Who knows how much help he got at 23 when he moved back to FW, and had all the legal/health/medical/weight issues? The "support structure" may have tried, maybe, but it did fail that young man.

Dude…. Nothing you type is making you sound any better. Just stop

 

[TC4THREE]

Please provide that info. My searches have yielded zero info, and it was clear that I did not state this as a fact.

People don't usually publicize it when they are attempting to intervene in such a situation. You can accept the word of people who know more than you about the situation, or you can speculate the worst based on nothing. Up to you. It seems you've already made that choice and it says more about you than about anyone of which you are speculating.

 

[Davehack]

Good Lord, please let this thread end and Caleb rest in peace.

 

[Poprudy]

Right I don't think everyone shut him out either and why I said it's not fair to assume. But he was living in Fort Wayne at the time of his death (not all the way across the country) and there were documented issues of legal troubles and irregular weight gain while living back at home. But at the end of the day, some people who need help in the worst way don't always accept that help and why this makes for a sad and unfortunate tragedy.

This is correct. Many can't and/or won't deal with their personal issues. He had resources and never wanted to utilize them. This is very unfortunate and reminds of many Ft Wayne athlete's that take the wrong path. I can remember talking to James Hardy's dad after he went out to LA and was going to model instead of rehab from injuries, Selwyn Lymon, Kelton Davis all of them just didn't want help. Very sad situations.

 

[8Stars5Banners]

Good Lord, please let this thread end and Caleb rest in peace.

Quadruple super secret like

 

[BoilerN]

that sad ending is what prompted my Question. You yourself wrote that you "heard" that "agent/dad" was going to move to Portland, but did not. Agent/dad was not there when he played as a very young pro, nor when he sat out the bubble year-the year which was the critical period of CS' life. I do know that if my 23 year old son, with the issues, said he was going to sit out a $2 million a year job, in a protected environment, I would be there to help. I'm sure most of us would. Who knows how much help he got at 23 when he moved back to FW, and had all the legal/health/medical/weight issues? The "support structure" may have tried, maybe, but it did fail that young man.

Never said Rosie didn't move. Because idk if he did or not. But none of that matters now. Literally nothing you say matters unless you are interested in tearing people down.

 

[hoosier48]

So much energy spent on this post arguing and disrespecting each other when we should be talking about his positives as a player and person..... I am sure Caleb wouldn't have wanted to read this crap.

yes he was arrested for weed and had an eating disorder, but that's not how i remember him.

 

[arcb102000]

It appears that marijuana usage is correlated with certain psychological disorders, particularly true if there exist certain genetic predispositions. In particular, schizophrenia seems to be developed in many of these cases. That might well explain Swanigan's estrangement from those previously close to him. We do know that he was very involved with cannabis. If one cares to read about the studies in medical journals, a simple browser search will find them. This might explain quite a lot.

 

[8Stars5Banners]

It appears that marijuana usage is correlated with certain psychological disorders, particularly true if there exist certain genetic predispositions. In particular, schizophrenia seems to be developed in many of these cases. That might well explain Swanigan's estrangement from those previously close to him. We do know that he was very involved with cannabis. If one cares to read about the studies in medical journals, a simple browser search will find them. This might explain quite a lot.

Don’t tell Cav that weed causes schizophrenia 😂

 

[LifelongIU]

Don’t tell Cav that weed causes schizophrenia 😂

Completely disregarded the fact that the article clearly states "whether,and to what extent,psychological affects occur,is difficult to determine". Do you always cherry pick the part that fits your personal beliefs?

 

[8Stars5Banners]

Completely disregarded the fact that the article clearly states "whether,and to what extent,psychological affects occur,is difficult to determine". Do you always cherry pick the part that fits your personal beliefs?

Dude I was just joking. He brags about all the weed he smokes. Thus the laughing face, sir. I’m going full legalization. Not because I think it’s necessarily a healthy alternative to fruits and vegetables, but because I’m a libertarian and I believe freedom means freedom as long as you’re. It trampling on the rights of others. So please chill