Shabazz Muhammad Hazing is Over - He Won't Be Wearing a Jonas Brothers Backpack on Road Trips Anymore

Shabazz Muhammad, a rookie on the Timberwolves whose NBA career is off to a slow start (10 minutes total in eight games), had been dealing with traditional rookie hazing for the first couple weeks of the season. It was extremely mild – he was being forced to carry around a lame Jonas Brothers backpack on road trips. That’s actually pretty terrific, given the Muhammad/Gucci backpack kerfuffle during his freshman season at UCLA.

At any rate, the team has abolished all hazing – including the backpack. From the LA Times:

"“They actually said they don’t want us carrying them, but I understand with the stuff going on with the football thing,” said Muhammad, who entered the draft after one season at UCLA. “They want to be separate from that. . . . Now I think rookie hazing won’t exist anymore.”"

In the wake of Incognito/Martin, it’ll be interesting to see if this is a league-wide phenomenon, and if it extends to MLB as well.