On Wednesday night, Kevin Durant was a little more silent than usual, and the media hated it. After dropping the hammer on the San Antonio Spurs and picking up a commanding victory of 141 to 102, Durant met with reporters at the post game interview. When pressed about why he wasn’t talking as much, Durant went on a tirade about how he doesn’t trust the media and how his words are often twisted. Before leaving the interview in a heat of frustration, Durant urged the media to grow up. While fans may be quick to call him dramatic, Durant may have a point.
Not so fast, KD.
Now, Kevin Durant has a lot to be on the hook for. As many strongly hold on to, Kevin Durant ruined the NBA. By joining a team that won 73 games without him, Durant created a power shift that has allowed the Golden State Warriors to monopolize winning in ways previously unseen. Moreover, the rich simply kept getting richer, as the Warriors added Demarcus Cousins this season to make a real-life version of the MonStars from Space Jam. Of course, Durant is allowed to make his own decisions. The fans perception of those decisions is another thing entirely. However, Durant may have a point about the media’s role in all this.
“Don’t Ask me that Again.”
When it comes to things like free agency and trade discussions, its easy for us who aren’t going through it to constantly make it a conversation point. However, for the players, it’s understandable that they don’t want to constantly be bombarded with inquiries about their next destination. A lot of players, particularly Kevin Durant, are focused on the here and now, with a special emphasis on winning. He has made it abundantly clear that his free agency decision is off limits for now, a sentiment shared with his fellow player and friend, Kyrie Irving. Perhaps Durant said it best, these guys just want to play ball.
There is another side to this argument that player’s like Durant invite these inquiries. Durant is no stranger to cryptic tweets and in person subs. He has made more than one controversial statement over the years. In fact, he has been viewed as a figure who might actually like being at the center of these kind of discussions.
We all have a job to do.
The reality may be that players want to control their own narrative. It makes sense. Players like Durant, or Irving, or even LeBron have certainly reached a position where they want to tell their own story. They’re champions, players at the top of the game, and quite frankly, it is their lives. If Durant wants to call himself as the villain, then that’s what he is. If he doesn’t want to talk free agency than maybe that’s his right not to.
At no point is Durant under an obligation to answer questions that he doesn’t want to answer. So, if he makes it clear that he doesn’t want to talk about something, then perhaps reporters should leave the topic alone. Now, of course, we all have a job to do. That includes KD, and the reporters that interview him. However, Durant’s frustration is about the job itself, but about the way the job of these reporters is being done.
In Conclusion
Durant just wants to play basketball. Maybe its unrealistic for him to believe that in his role he’ll be able to do that without garnishing certain kind of questions. Fans may not be so inclined to believe the hype surrounding his drama. Fans may be even slower to show sympathy to a man that fans liken to a snake. Whether Durant has a point or not is purely up to us. Until Durant ultimately makes a decision or decides to talk about it himself, reporters and fans should prepare for more of these kind of reactions by Durant.
These are the starters for the NBA All-Star game in this year, which is going to be held in Toronto. The left side is the Western Conference team and the right side is the Eastern Conference team. So, there were many stories that surrounded the All-Star lineup this year. Zaza Pachulia almost started. If you don’t know who he is then you should already see the problem there. Stephen Curry is an automatic shoo-in every year now since he has become the NBA’s most popular player over the last 2 years. Some people are questioning if Kyle Lowry deserves to be starting, but not that many people too mad at him starting and how would it look if the host city didn’t have representative from its team starting the game. Some people are mad that Kobe is in it at all and definitely shouldn’t be starting despite this being his last year due to his performance this year and his team’s poor record. However, those are mostly Kobe haters. Besides that and annual conversation of who got snubbed, there hasn’t been much conversation about who’s starting. When you look at that list, you think to yourself, “I guess all those people deserve to be there. However, when I look at that list, I see one glaring issue: no centers. There are absolutely no centers in the All-Star game. Why is this you may ask? This is due to the voting format.
That is Demarcus Cousins, starting center for the Sacramento Kings. These are his stats this year, so far. This was actually soon after the All-Star starters were named. So, that is how he responded to not being named a starter.
Andre Drummond plays in the East and Demarcus Cousins play in the West. So, it works out that both could have played and would not be competing against each other for votes. There are other people that got snubbed. There is Jimmy Butler of the Chicago Bulls that’s having a career year. There is Damian Lillard who is having a very underrated year, as well. There is no doubt that everybody mentioned so far will make the All-Star team as reserves. The fact of the matter is that there are only 5 people in each conference that can start. Therefore, to Jimmy Butler and Damian Lillard, oh well. However, for Demarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond, it’s different. They aren’t starting not because there were other people in their conference and their position that were better than them, they aren’t starting because they are centers. Period.
Originally, the NBA All-Star voting was done by the position. You vote in a point guard, shooting guard, small forward, power forward, and center. Then, the NBA realized that most players are able to and do play 2 positions. So, they changed the format to 2 guards, 2 forwards, and a center. Two seasons ago, the NBA changed their format to the format that we have today. They completely eliminated the center position from the voting process. Now, you vote in 2 back court and 3 front court players. This is why you have 3 small forwards starting in the East. The game of basketball is changing. The Warriors are the face of that change. They don’t shoot threes because the defense makes them. They want to shoot them. Positions 1 to 5 are above average three point shooters. They embrace spacing. And, argument can be made that their best lineup is a lineup in which Draymond Green is starting at the center position and he might be shorter than their starting shooting guard. However, Demarcus Cousins and Andre Drummond are undoubtedly the best players at their position in their conference. Can anybody really say that they do not deserve to be starting in the All-Star game.
Let’s be real. The All-Star game is a popularity contest. The most popular players always start because the fans vote for who they like and the most popular players tend to be the most liked. However, the most popular players tend to be the best players, as well. Their skill level, numbers, and success get them noticed and the better they play, the more popular they become. However, there is an issue here. There is only so much that a good center can do as far as exciting a crowd. Most (almost all) centers cannot handle the ball well enough to break somebody’s ankles. Most centers, although that is changing, cannot hit threes like guards. The traditional elite center has post moves that make them elite at scoring in the paint. The traditional elite center garners the hearts of fans by fooling their defender with posts moves like Hakeem Olajuwon. Traditional elite centers can dunk on you. The absolute, undisputed best centers possess all these skills. Demarcus Cousins and to a lesser degree Andre Drummond do. However, the best guards and forwards possess those skills as well in addition to their ability to cross you up, shoot threes, and make fancy passes. So this AUTOMATICALLY puts the center at a disadvantage in All-Star Voting. Centers can still be voted in because they are categorized as front court players. But, can Andre Drummond, a guy that is incredibly productive but in a limited way, become more popular than Carmelo Anthony, a guy that is productive as well but in a more exciting way. Unless he is dunking, Andre Drummond will not entertain you with his rebounds, but Carmelo shooting over 2 people and making the shot will. I am a Knicks fan. Carmelo Anthony has been playing very well recently (keyword: recently) and has looked like the superstar that he is. However, he does not deserve to be there over a guy who has been the best center in the Eastern Conference all year and if it had not been for this voting format, he would not have been. Carmelo only had 360 votes more than Drummond who was leading him for months. Plus, the effort put forth by his team alone should make him a starter in the All-Star game. Look at this.
And, he still didn’t make it. My point is this. If you are the best in your position, you should start in the All-Star game for your team. This is basically discrimination by the NBA against centers. The center position, despite the lack of scoring from most teams at this position, is still very important to the NBA. Centers are extremely important to a team’s defense. If you can’t rebound well, it makes it extremely hard to win a championship. Their importance to the game alone should warrant them still having a position on the All-Star ballot. It is true that the game is changing and most centers either shoot threes or get rebounds and defend. However, the best centers are still traditional in playing style. You might see Demarcus Cousins take a three point shot here and there, but his game is based off of his dominant post play in the paint. He is not a combo center/forward or whatever you want to call these new age centers. Andre Drummond is not shooting threes. Hassan Whiteside is most likely not going to take defenders off the dribble with elite ball-handling skills. But, they are the best at what they do. Most centers cannot decide to play a back court position if they want to for most of the year. But, Kobe, one of the best SHOOTING GUARDS in NBA history, is a frontcourt player this year. This is another unfair advantage. Demarcus Cousins might have to win the NBA Championship and get the Finals MVP if he wants to make an All-Star team just because he is a center despite being the best one in the NBA and that is wrong.
Now, I know that saying that it is an epidemic is maybe a stretch given the fact that not every player is not cooperating and not answering questions in post game interviews. However, it is the atmosphere that is created when that is acceptable. The players ultimately aren’t calling their peers out on it. In the Thunder’s case, Kevin Durant kind of picked up on Russell Westbrook’s behavior and kind of copied it. The fans love it and that’s the one part that many of the people who talk about press-player interactions don’t really say (I thoroughly enjoyed those Marshawn Lynch interviews when they first happened). In most cases, the coaches aren’t saying much to the players about it. And finally, the press kind of just take it. When this atmosphere is created, it creates the possibility of other players (especially future professional athletes) mimicking their behavior. After all, any publicity is good publicity, right?
This has happened before in sports. For example…
The relationship between the media and the players have always been an awkward one. If you are playing well on and off the field/court, you’re going to not mind a post game interview so much. As a matter of fact, some players would even want the post game interview to brag about their stats or their team’s win. But, when you aren’t playing well and looking bad off the court/field, you have instances like the ones shown above. In my mind, I think of the relationship like the relationship between the principal and the student. When you get called to the office and you know you’re doing well in school, you might just get some props from your teacher or get put on the honor roll or something. When you’re not doing well, you know what’s coming and then you complain about how the principal doesn’t know what’s really going on or if you want to Marshawn Lynch it, just don’t answer the questions because you already know what’s coming. The analogy may not work so well, but if you think about it long enough it might. Kind of.
I was watching a debate show called First Take on ESPN 2 and I saw this “debate” live. They weren’t really arguing the point so it’s not really a debate, but it’s a debate show.
They basically said when you don’t answer our questions, we can ruin your image. They didn’t literally say that, but they toed that line. What Stephen A. Smith said is was SERIOUS and seeing how Russell Westbrook doesn’t really care too much for the media these days, I’m surprised that he hasn’t cursed Stephen A. out already.
In the media, when a player is being disrespectful or just difficult with the media, the media seems to always portray the player as just taking out their frustration with whatever it is (either their play or off the court/field activities) on the media. See the pattern there? The media always asks good questions, right? The media never tries to sully people’s images due to personal conflicts, right? The media never oversteps boundaries, right? The reason that Marshawn Lynch doesn’t cooperate with the media is because he doesn’t trust them. Even when he has a good game, he’s not saying anything. He REALLY doesn’t trust them. Russell Westbrook has had a bad relationship with the media almost his whole career, especially with the Oklahoma City media. Mainly, because they have called him selfish, a ball hog, a bad presence in the locker room, and somebody who hurts his team rather than helps it. I am not in the locker room with his team and I have never covered the Thunder so I’m not going to completely disregard those specific criticisms. However, put yourself in Russell Westbrook’s shoes. How would you feel if you were getting triple doubles almost every night but people were still saying that you were hurting your team. Now if you check the comments on the last video, you will see a lot of people say that the players are just soft. That may be true and maybe when a player doesn’t respond to the media that he or she is showing a sign of weakness because he or she is showing that they are letting the criticism get to them. However, it could be a statement of protest because of how they feel that they are bring treated by the media. By the way, it’s mandatory in most sports leagues for the athletes to do post game interviews. When Marshawn Lynch said in an interview “I’m just here so I won’t get fined” he was really only there so he won’t get fined by the NFL. So when these players are there looking miserable, it’s because they don’t want to get interviewed.
The Players’ Tribune is a website started by Derek Jeter in 2014 for athletes to tell their stories how they want. It is basically a platform that allows athletes to become journalists. Players have social media, as well. Players have all kinds of ways to convey whatever they want however they want. So in society, the media’s role is changing. It might become a less important role in sports. So, this enables players to bypass the media by not answering questions and interact with the fans how they want to. So, Stephen A. and Skip Bayless may be thinking in a very old school way.
Despite how unprofessional his behavior during interviews may be, Marshawn Lynch is well liked by fans and not just Seahawks fans. Fans love the interviews that don’t go well, despite the fact that it is annoying for the interviewer. However, I believe that the media has to understand their place in the sports world now. Athletes are going to not make it easy for them when they aren’t in the mood because they don’t need the media to get fans to know them anymore. They have social media. As a matter of fact, they have Player’s Tribune and social media. I think that the media should take Stephen A’s advice and speculate all they want. However, I don’t think that the effect intended by Stephen A’s advice is going to happen in today’s society.
The Soapbox 