John Wall feeling the need to respond to critics and fans about Beal making more money than him, hearing about how KD once privately text a reporter after a game to ask him a question about Skip Bayless tweeting something about him so he could respond in a post-game conference, the D’Angelo Russell/Nick Young fiasco that could have possibly altered the rest of Russell’s career, Brandon Jennings going off about Robert Horry’s career over Reggie Miller’s (which is a non-story to me), how Gabby Douglas says she struggled with social media during this year's Olympics, or hearing from those closest to LeBron about how his game completely changed once he turned off social media during the playoffs further proves the point about how different this generation is with social media and that 24/7 sports coverage.
One side of it is pretty awesome that these guys can be so close to fans and those who report on the games but it seems like such a different and at times tougher road than it was back then since there’s an extra level of criticism and noise coming your way. A tweet can be a top story nowadays and players have to be coached with how they handle their online image and personality. It bites players in the ass pretty often too for stuff they impulsively put out there in response to criticism which can harm their reputation or just opinions they have. I can't call these people mentally weak or pathetic as I think it’s just a clear indication that it plays a factor into how people sometimes perform on the court. I mean, we're now in a time where you have kids that commit suicide from online bullying. I think it affects how people act at work or their relationships with their colleagues on and off the court, just ask Swaggy P
I think it gets to a lot of these athletes in some way or another. The best (or worst) example is what LeBron said after he lost to Dallas when the reporter asked something along the lines of what he had to say to the haters who were happy to see him lose and the only thing he didn't do was flip off the camera in that moment. That reporter got him good and it's too bad he went for it, it was a really bad look but in my opinion, I think he was baited in the lowest moment a player could possibly be at. The fact he rose out of that dark hole is impressive I think, his game could have taken a nosedive completely but it seemed to strengthen him and his game after he locked in during the playoffs after that. When I hear about KD supposedly trying to set up a question to respond to Skip Bayless with a reporter, that's amazing right there too. I used to always see KD buried in his phone at his locker after playoff games and I wondered what he was doing. I wonder if Wall & Beal will improve their play together after them hearing this noise about them, or if Wall really believes in what he says and not playing for the money or care. I don't know if some of these players use social media and that 24/7 sports coverage noise as a tool to motivate them or work on certain parts of their game but if I were in some of their positions, I'd try very hard to not have it cloud my thoughts on a regular basis.
Kobe seems to very unique in that regard since he came at the tail-end of last generation and brought that attitude into this current generation and stayed at a high level. Tim Duncan in a way too and we never heard much from him anyways. I always wonder how some of the past greats would have been if they came around in this age of technology and social media. That's why I can't stand seeing people say that MJ/Bird/Magic/etc would never say this or do that. It's like we don't have a damn clue how they would have been if they were born in the late 80s/early 90s and molded in this generation ha. I do find it fascinating to imagine though, that'd be a great Bleacher Report cartoon (like those Game of Zones episodes). Bird would have probably been cold-blooded on Twitter in his trash talk and opinions about past greats and other players. Barkley would have been hilarious I’m sure as he always has been. Maybe it would have shaped some players differently than the way they were in their actual time.
People for the most part, probably always want to say the right things (especially) when in the public eye but with a society over-saturated with critics, bloggers, and straight up roasters, nothing will probably ever be the right answer or response, or even non-response for some. Everyone’s a certified critic or expert in their own little way and has their opinions, which is fine I guess, I’m doing it right now I suppose. It’s a weird business and that’s probably why I limit how much time I spend discussing certain things online and such. I love my movies and sports and love nothing more to discuss them with friends, but it gets out of hand so easily and often. It’s too much ugly online and it even frustrates me at times with how I can be treated online, and I’m not even the one on TV being talked about. I missed whatever happened in here a couple weeks ago or whatever but it sounded like it got personal. But hey, that’s that forum business.
The positive aspect of it that I see from time to time are things like what happened a few weeks ago where that video of the player in a pick-up game in full Jordan attire was playing went viral, and Jordan himself was able to get in touch with the player (who is autistic) and got him a bunch of free swag and a phone call, that's just
awesome. What started off as a bunch of clowning on this guy (which I'm guilty of but I didn't know the autism part until the story came back up) turned into a great story. There's a lot of great young talent coming in this year and I hope we get to see some great things and they are tutored the right way in handling all the noise.
- On another note, I had some very small thought come to mind of the violence in Chicago when D-Wade announced he was going to the Bulls. When I think of Chicago, I seem to just think of how bad it’s gotten there since I’m from Gary, Indiana myself (which isn’t far from there and the reason my folks didn’t raise me there) and I have plenty of family in or near Chicago. It’s surreal that Wade’s cousin was killed before he even suited up for a game for the city yet. He did grow up in Chicago but that’s crazy this happened so quickly into his new chapter with the Bulls.
