Minnesota State Rep Pat Garofalo says NBA is full of criminals

Minnesota state representative Pat Garofalo shared some strong thoughts about the NBA on Twitter Sunday.

Let’s be honest, 70% of teams in NBA could fold tomorrow + nobody would notice a difference w/ possible exception of increase in streetcrime

— Rep. Pat Garofalo (@PatGarofalo) March 9, 2014

Problem is, his assertion has no factual basis. It’s really just his opinion. Per ArrestNation, a website that tracks sports arrests, there were 19 professional basketball arrests in 2013. There are approximately 450 active NBA players.

Of course that was followed up with an extended explanation.

Hi Tim. Thanks for the email and for giving me a chance to respond. I was talking about the NBA’s high arrest rate and that their punishment for positive drugs tests are weaker than other leagues. No intent beyond that. The culture among many pro athletes that they are above the law is the problem, not people like me pointing that problem out.

But BSO dug up some old tweets from Garofalo

Seems as if there is really something else going on here.