The competitiveness and passion that has led to on-court issues also drive him to be the great player he is today. A player can be a shit-talker, get in trouble once for reckless driving, look at the opposing team's bench after making a shot AND still be a really good person. You realize this, right? If you have Friday's game recorded, watch the very end. Watch how XJ interacted with Xavier players in the handshake line after the game.
You should learn a little bit about the player you are bent on vilifying:
https://www.insidethehall.com/2021/12/20/xavier-johnson-and-the-fire-from-within/
Here's another guy whose "cake is baked" and I'm sure "we'll no doubt read about more antics."
ITH: I think every time IU gets set to play Purdue, I always see a gif pop up on Twitter of you flexing at their crowd. How much did you enjoy sort of taunting the opposing team?
Sheehey: "I love talking shit. Like, I don’t care. If I feel like I’m better at something than someone, then I’ll talk shit, and if they’re better than me, then I want them to talk shit, too. My friends to this day and those guys on the team all they do with me is talk shit because that’s just how our conversations go. Like, they know that that’s what I like, and they can give it and they can take it. So, yeah, my friends to this day are good shit-talkers and I think coaches like that. I remember getting thrown out of a game once in college for shit-talking, and Crean was like, “Hey, I’m gonna tell everyone on the team that I’m gonna make you come in and run for days, so like when everyone asks, you have to tell them you’re in trouble, but I love that shit, keep it up. That’s what you bring to this team like that’s just who you are.”
I can’t help it, like some guys just are the way they are. Like Jordan (Hulls) for example, he’s just the nicest dude ever, and you can’t change him to be a bad dude, that’s just who he is. I’m just a shit-talker. I can’t help it, that’s just who I am."