In the NBA, players have been criticized for their presentation of the game. Whether it’s the lack of effort during the All-Star game, the number of three pointers shot in a game, or load management, it feels as if the player is getting most of the blame. The problem with this way of thinking is that it gives a pass to everyone else. Everybody has a hand in what we see on the court today. Yes, everybody, I’m talking about the players, commissioner, referees, coaches, and everyone in-between including the fans.
In no way is this a pro-player piece, because they’ve had their role in it. For example, the All-star game. Former two-time All-Star player Allan Houston said it best when talking about the attitude of the All-star game he said that the players set the tempo. Honestly, y’all couldn’t give a little bit more effort? I don’t need game seven of the finals or even a regular season game, but can I get a summer run at USC level of play? Yall do make a lot of money and as irritating as it may be to do all that media when over 95% of your peers are on vacation, you do have a responsibility to the players before and after you to continue to push the game forward. One thing I can’t blame on the players is load management.
If I’m not mistaking the beginning of load management began with Gregg Popovich, now it wasn’t as bad when he was doing it, but it did plant the seed for what became a big problem. Also, an aspect of load management that is rarely talked about is the role that the trainers or organization may play. An example of this is Zion Williamson. Recently he was asked about how much input he has on his playing status, especially on back-to-back games. He said that he would love to play back to backs but he works for the Pelicans. To me that screams I’d love to play more but the organization or trainers won’t let me. The problem with this is no one knows the Pelicans trainers, and they don’t see the owner or general manager a lot, so they don’t care about them.
The last group I’d like to address is the fans and media. As media there’s a responsibility to be careful with how we present a sport. This is because the casual fan will view the sport through the Lince of the media. So, when media debates about meaningless questions like, should the Boston Celtics break up Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, or is Devin Booker the closest thing to Kobe it creates friction within fanbases. For the fans, this is relatively simple, just relax a little bit. Understand that you are the only one that gives a dam about your failed parlay. What I’m about to say may be counter intuitive but it’s true. Don’t believe everything you see or hear, from media, do your own research and just because you agree with an opinion it doesn’t make it true. Be passionate, be appreciative, and enjoy the game, it is truly as simple as that.
As I rap this up, I understand I left a lot of issues on the table like the number of three pointers shot a game, or refereeing, but sometimes you must tare everything down before building it back up. I believe this is a step we all must take for the sake of the game.
Today Isn’t Yesterday
In the NBA, players have been criticized for their presentation of the game. Whether it’s the lack of effort during the All-Star game, the number of three pointers shot in a game, or load management, it feels as if the player is getting most of the blame. The problem with this way of thinking is that it gives a pass to everyone else. Everybody has a hand in what we see on the court today. Yes, everybody, I’m talking about the players, commissioner, referees, coaches, and everyone in-between including the fans.
In no way is this a pro-player piece, because they’ve had their role in it. For example, the All-star game. Former two-time All-Star player Allan Houston said it best when talking about the attitude of the All-star game he said that the players set the tempo. Honestly, y’all couldn’t give a little bit more effort? I don’t need game seven of the finals or even a regular season game, but can I get a summer run at USC level of play? Yall do make a lot of money and as irritating as it may be to do all that media when over 95% of your peers are on vacation, you do have a responsibility to the players before and after you to continue to push the game forward. One thing I can’t blame on the players is load management.
If I’m not mistaking the beginning of load management began with Gregg Popovich, now it wasn’t as bad when he was doing it, but it did plant the seed for what became a big problem. Also, an aspect of load management that is rarely talked about is the role that the trainers or organization may play. An example of this is Zion Williamson. Recently he was asked about how much input he has on his playing status, especially on back-to-back games. He said that he would love to play back to backs but he works for the Pelicans. To me that screams I’d love to play more but the organization or trainers won’t let me. The problem with this is no one knows the Pelicans trainers, and they don’t see the owner or general manager a lot, so they don’t care about them.
The last group I’d like to address is the fans and media. As media there’s a responsibility to be careful with how we present a sport. This is because the casual fan will view the sport through the Lince of the media. So, when media debates about meaningless questions like, should the Boston Celtics break up Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, or is Devin Booker the closest thing to Kobe it creates friction within fanbases. For the fans, this is relatively simple, just relax a little bit. Understand that you are the only one that gives a dam about your failed parlay. What I’m about to say may be counter intuitive but it’s true. Don’t believe everything you see or hear, from media, do your own research and just because you agree with an opinion it doesn’t make it true. Be passionate, be appreciative, and enjoy the game, it is truly as simple as that.
As I rap this up, I understand I left a lot of issues on the table like the number of three pointers shot a game, or refereeing, but sometimes you must tare everything down before building it back up. I believe this is a step we all must take for the sake of the game.
Adonis Watt