While he may take guff for every move he makes on the basketball court that doesn’t result in a championship ring, and even though he has a reputation as something of an attention-whore, LeBron James brought some much-needed positive attention to the Trayvon Martin issue, one that Geraldo Rivera foolishly trivialized by focusing on clothing instead of, say, the appalling way the case was handled by the Sanford Police Department.
LeBron’s tweet, perhaps his best ever, has been quickly rebroadcast across the appropriate channels, as the Martin’s story continues to galvanize the rest of the country. On Twitter, the #hoodies hashtag is full of the same kind of respect for both LeBron and Trayvon:
Derek Fisher, the legendary L.A. Lakers point guard, has negotiated a buyout with the Houston Rockets after playing 537 consecutive NBA games.
The buyout came on Thursday, with Houston eager to get veteran Fisher on their roster–which includes mostly green players–in the hopes of improving their chances to make the playoffs; the team is currently ranked eighth in the Western Conference. They also needed to secure another point guard while Kyle Lowry recovers from a bacterial infection.
Fisher, who has spent 16 sessions with the Lakers, seemed undecided about how to proceed as the news hit the sports world and his teammates, including Kobe Bryant, who is reportedly upset to see his longtime friend leave. Fisher normally would have had 48 hours to report to Houston for a physical on order for the trade to be completed, but the Lakers and Rockets mutually agreed to extend that deadline to 72 hours, according to ESPN.com. If he clears waivers over the next few days, he will become a free agent.
Twitter feeds were flooded with speculation after the news broke as fans were hoping their team would pick Fisher up; others wonder where his loyalties lie.
A little less than a month ago, Jeremy Lin was taking New York City–and the world–by storm, bringing Linsanity to the people. The trend was so popular, as was the Knicks’ minor winning streak, some speculated Lin’s play was in the process of saving head coach Mike D’antoni’s job. Fast forward to March, and, well, things are different.
Naturally, Twitter is blowing up about D’antoni’s decision, but before that, some speculation. While Lin was credited with giving D’antoni a stay of execution, Carmelo Anthony is taking the heat as the one responsible for the failure the Knicks have been exhibiting. Furthermore, there were rumors of Anthony not wanting to play for D’antoni anymore, something he denied.
While denying the trade talks is well and good, Anthony didn’t necessarily step up for his now ex-coach, either. As for the Twitter explosion, as of this writing, the phrase “Mike D” was the top Twitter trend, and no, it wasn’t talking about the Beastie Boys MC, either. There’s even a fake Mike D’antoni Twitter account, and it, too, got in on the fun:
Twitter is truly becoming a second home for the NBA. Players are using the social networking platform to connect with their fans, converse with each other, talk about the league and feel right at home making all kinds of announcements using their social media savvy. So it comes as no surprise really to hear about one of the big pro basketball players announcing his retirement from the NBA to the world. Sorry San Antonio, but it looks like T.J. Ford has decided it’s time to officially hang up his spurs.
T.J. Ford, guard for the San Antonio Spurs announced today that he will be retiring from the game and the NBA after eight years and he did it using Twitter. His retirement is probably for the best although it will leave many fans wondering what happened and what might have been for Ford. His career has been riddled with injuries including a spinal injury during his stint with the Milwaukee Bucks and a horrible collision from a foul while at Toronto that took him out of the game and most of the season in 2008. He’s been battling neck injuries since then and seems to have lost his edge, having had little impact with his play at both Indiana and San Antonio.
Most fans and friends are glad to see Ford leaving while he can still walk away. Literally. The guard has been plagued with injuries serious enough to have nearly been paralyzed twice in his career on the court. T.J. Ford’s short career reminds us that the game is seriously punishing and cruel. The sentiment on the social networks was mostly congratulatory and mixed with a bit of sadness and relief. At twenty-eight years old, T.J. has a long life ahead of him and right now he’s smart to step away while he’s ahead of the game.
NBA players are showing their social networking savvy by utilizing Twitter and Facebook to communicate with each other and to fans about games and their lives. The players are using these platforms to respond to comments from fans about games and performance and even to each other regarding issues around the NBA community including wishing each other well when injuries occur or players are in a slump.
The NBA’s Minnesota Timberwolves have a player that is getting just such attention. Ricky Rubio, one of their point guards has been in a bit of a slump. He currently has an average Player Efficiency Rating but has been losing the ball with a very high 22 percent turnover rate and has been shooting only 35 percent from the floor. Not good if you are a point guard.
So when Rubio injured his ACL on Friday night in a game against the LA Lakers there was a flood of legitimate and heartfelt sadness and sympathy for the rookie from his colleagues on the the court. A truly tough break with NBA playoffs still to be played and the excitement of March Madness in the air. Ricky will be working on his recovery and return but it’s heartening to know that the NBA community is so caring and that they are willing to communicate with each and with fans through these social networking platforms.
@AdrianPeterson Adrian PetersonJust want to wish Ricky Rubio a quick and healthy return from his acl injury. He is a dynamic player and I can’t wait to see him return1 day ago via web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
J.R. Smith, New York Knicks guard definitely regrets posting a sexy photo of woman on his Twitter account Thursday. The semi-nude photograph caught the attention of a large number of his Twitter followers and eventually the National Basketball Association. By Saturday night, the league announced he would be fined $25,000 for posting the inappropriate photo.
The twenty-six year old native of New Jersey hasn’t been getting much attention for his on court performance so far this year for New York but apologized on Friday night, telling reporters he regretted posting the photo on his Twitter account. Smith eventually deleted the post from his account and announced he wouldn’t be appealing the decision. The New York Knicks office declined to comment.
Smith told reporters, “I didn’t know it was going to be as big a deal as it is now. I definitely regret it. Anytime I do anything that takes away from our team, I’m definitely going to regret it. I can’t worry about the off-the-court stuff, our issue right now is on the basketball court.”
Last night, Deron Williams of the New Jersey Nets went on an absolute scoring frenzy against the hapless Charlotte Bobcats, scoring 57 points, the most by an NBA player this season. Williams, a dynamic point guard who has already helped the United States win a gold medal in the 2008 Olympic Games, is perhaps the lone bright spot on a dismal 12-26 Nets team, and last night, it showed.
57 times.
Williams hit the NBA’s season high in scoring on a variety of jump shots and three-pointers. He also feasted on the free throw line, going 21-21. The rest of his shooting stat line is not quite as perfect–16-29, 4-11 from behind the 3-point line–but it’s the bottom line that counts, and in this case, not only did Williams set the season high for points in a single game, he also set the New Jersey Nets franchise record for most points scored by a Nets player in a game.
One enterprising YouTube user–who also appears to be someone who can sit through no defensive effort NBA games–has put together a video of all Williams’ baskets, save his many trips to the free throw line. I mean, while 21-21 from the free throw line is impressive, it doesn’t make for the most enthralling highlight video:
As with all things NBA, Twitter’s reaction to Williams’ scoring outburst quickly became a trend, one that’s still going as of the time of this article. The reactions are about what you’d expect when someone goes off like that, starting with some typical hatred from Skip Bayless:
Naturally, Skip tries to ignore anything that doesn’t come from a front-running team, but I hope someone asks Skip the following: Yes, the Bobcats have the worst record in the league, but how many other point guards dropped 57 against them this season? Just because the teams in question aren’t apart of the NBA’s elite doesn’t in anyway diminish Williams’ outburst.
At least not to me. Apparently, however, I may be in the minority:
So the fact that Rondo played on better teams doesn’t enter the equation? Or is basketball now an individual sport? There was, thankfully, some praise as well:
Today celebrates one of the most mythical, unachievable feats in all of sports. 50 years ago on this day in 1962, Wilt Chamberlain, playing for the Philadelphia Warriors, dropped 100 points on the New York Knicks at the Hershey Sports Arena in Hershey, Pa.. The 7-foot-1, 275-pound center shot 36-for-63 from the field and an incredible 28-for-32 from the free throw line. Being that he was a lifetime 51% free throw shooter, this was amazing.
Up until that time, the most points he had ever scored in an NBA was a 79 point game. Since then, only one other person has even sniffed at that record. On January 22nd, 2006, Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakes scored 81 points against the Toronto Raptors. Tracy McGrady, who scored 62 points for the Orlando Magic in a 2004 game, has a difficult time seeing a player score 100. “Not the way the game is played nowadays,” he says. “It’s just hard for me to see anyone even scoring 80 again. You don’t even see 50 no more.”
When WIlt Retired, the official record books had him holding 128 different NBA records. As of last year, 98 of those records still stood, and that’s 39 years after he had retired. Because of all this, it is very hard to argue against Wilt Chamberlain being greatest NBA player of all time. He does have one record that will NEVER be broken!
On October 12, 1999, rescuers found him dead upon being summoned to his Bel Air, California, home. His agent reported, after speaking with Chamberlain’s cardiologist, that Chamberlain died of congestive heart failure.
The NBA All-Star game just ended, and the West beat the East 152 – 149. I didn’t watch it, but judging from the conversation going around Twitter, it was a hell of game. Some are already talking about watching it again.
After ESPN’s unfortunate choice of words to describe one of Jeremy Lin’s basketball loses, the concept of treading lightly in relation to Lin’s race has become something of a hot button issue. Thankfully, the Asian American Journalists Association is here to help.
In order to avoid any potential embarrassment, the AAJA released something of a manifesto for covering Linsanity, complete with areas and descriptions you should avoid. It’s unfortunate something like this isn’t necessarily a tongue-in-cheek release, either. While there seems to be a sense of levity in the AAJA’s release, there’s also an unfortunate sense of necessity, as well. The guidelines, in full, courtesy of Yahoo Sports:
THE FACTS
1. Jeremy Lin is Asian American, not Asian (more specifically, Taiwanese American). It’s an important distinction and one that should be considered before any references to former NBA players such as Yao Ming and Wang Zhizhi, who were Chinese. Lin’s experiences were fundamentally different than people who immigrated to play in the NBA. Lin progressed through the ranks of American basketball from high school to college to the NBA, and to characterize him as a foreigner is both inaccurate and insulting.
2. Lin’s path to Madison Square Garden: More than 300 division schools passed on him. Harvard University has had only three other graduates go on to the NBA, the most recent one being in the 1950s. No NBA team wanted Lin in the draft after he graduated from Harvard.
3. Journalists don’t assume that African American players identify with NBA players who emigrated from Africa. The same principle applies with Asian Americans. It’s fair to ask Lin whether he looked up to or took pride in the accomplishments of Asian players. He may have. It’s unfair and poor journalism to assume he did.
4. Lin is not the first Asian American to play in the National Basketball Association. Raymond Townsend, who’s of Filipino descent, was a first-round choice of the Golden State Warriors in the 1970s. Rex Walters, who is of Japanese descent, was a first-round draft pick by the New Jersey Nets out of the University of Kansas in 1993 and played seven seasons in the NBA; Walters is now the coach at University of San Francisco. Wat Misaka is believed to have been the first Asian American to play professional basketball in the United States. Misaka, who’s of Japanese descent, appeared in three games for the New York Knicks in the 1947-48 season when the Knicks were part of the Basketball Association of America, which merged with the NBA after the 1948-49 season.
DANGER ZONES
“CHINK”: Pejorative; do not use in a context involving an Asian person on someone who is Asian American. Extreme care is needed if using the well-trod phrase “chink in the armor”; be mindful that the context does not involve Asia, Asians or Asian Americans. (The appearance of this phrase with regard to Lin led AAJA MediaWatch to issue statement to ESPN, which subsequently disciplined its employees.)
DRIVING: This is part of the sport of basketball, but resist the temptation to refer to an “Asian who knows how to drive.”
EYE SHAPE: This is irrelevant. Do not make such references if discussing Lin’s vision.
FOOD: Is there a compelling reason to draw a connection between Lin and fortune cookies, takeout boxes or similar imagery? In the majority of news coverage, the answer will be no.
MARTIAL ARTS: You’re writing about a basketball player. Don’t conflate his skills with judo, karate, tae kwon do, etc. Do not refer to Lin as “Grasshopper” or similar names associated with martial-arts stereotypes.
“ME LOVE YOU LIN TIME”: Avoid. This is a lazy pun on the athlete’s name and alludes to the broken English of a Hollywood caricature from the 1980s.
“YELLOW MAMBA”: This nickname that some have used for Lin plays off the “Black Mamba” nickname used by NBA star Kobe Bryant. It should be avoided. Asian immigrants in the United States in the 19th and 20th centuries were subjected to discriminatory treatment resulting from a fear of a “Yellow Peril” that was touted in the media, which led to legislation such as the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Hopefully, this handy set of tips should help you avoid any unfortunate Jeremy Lin-related puns. Of course, if you have to be told to avoid any race-related metaphors, then you need more assistance than the AAJA’s list offers.
The New York Knicks white-hot trending topic point guard, aside from being the talk of the sports world — move over, you Super Bowl-winning Giants, it’s Lin Time — he’s also one of the most popular topics on Twitter, especially during his ascension from relative unknown to household name territory.
The story of Lin’s rise to his current position as the starting point guard on the New York Knicks, all while turning into a Tim Tebow-like pop culture trend, has been well documented by many different sources, so I won’t rehash. His Twitter popularity, while hinted at, has now been put into measurable data, and let’s just say Lin generates more chatter than President Obama. Aside from Lin’s personal Twitter account seeing an exponential increase in followers — although, probably not as much as his currently popularity suggests (Lin’s followers total is still under the one million mark) — the amount of Twitter chatter mentioning Lin has been massive.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, during the week of February 6th through the 14th, the time Lin’s popularity took off on its rocket-like climb, Lin generated more Twitter chatter than any other NBA player. Furthermore, during that same time period, Lin was mentioned more times that President Obama:
During the week of Feb. 6 through 14 (when the Knicks won six straight games), Lin generated the most Twitter volume of any NBA player, according to a study by social analytics company General Sentiment. Users mentioned Lin 2,610,684 times on social media and Twitter.
But not only is he the hottest topic within the NBA, but he’s also more talked about than the president. The study also stated that within that time period, users mentioned Lin more frequently than President Barack Obama on social media and Twitter.
But the Lin chatter didn’t stop there. During that same time period, the point guard’s Twitter handle, @JLin7, was mentioned 215,408 times.
TV ratings for the New York Knicks have improved as well. The team’s games are shown on the MSG Network station, and since Lin’s star began to shine, ratings for the Knicks have increased over 87 percent. With all of this in mind, one has to wonder how Hitler feels about the Knicks sensation:
“All he does is Lin, Lin, Lin no matter what… And every time Lin steps in the building, everybody hands go up…” Or something like that, anyway. DJ Khaled songs aside, are you an active Lin freak or does his trend strike the same as Tim Tebow’s? If you’re a sports fan, do you think Lin’s winning ways will continue when the Knicks face teams like the Heat, Bulls, and Clippers?
Apparently, last night was supposed to be the beginning of the end of Linsanity as New York Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni reintroduced Amare Stoudemire to the starting lineup. The thinking is once these established players made their way back to the Knicks’ rotation, it would cut down on Lin’s touches and attempts from the field.
Perhaps this fear resides more with the upcoming return of Carmelo Anthony, but there were some rumblings of disrupting the chemistry the Knicks suddenly discovered as soon as Lin’s meteoric rise up the NBA trends chart began. After winning his first four games as the Knicks starting point guard and becoming the new hot trend in relation to sports — move over Tim Tebow, football is done for the time being. The Jeremy Lin trend has been well-documented in a number of publications, culminating in a Will Leitch love note to the white-hot Lin.
So how did Lin respond with the reintroduction of Stoudemire — a player who demands the basketball — into the starting lineup? By winning the game with a 3-point shot as the clock was winding down. If you’re a SportsCenter viewer, you’ve no doubt seen the highlight by now, but there’s nothing wrong with reliving it again:
Down goes Toronto, thanks the Lin’s 3-bomb. As is the case whenever something trendy happens, Twitter again exploded; and, in fact, the trend is still quite active this morning, as the Twitter love for Lin is indeed strong:
@Coach_D_Antoni Coach D’AntoniFloyd Mayweather thinks Jeremy Lin is overrated, which is funny because Jeremy Lin has managed to be undefeated without ducking anybody.1 day ago via web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
D’antoni’s post was retweed over 10,000 times. Of course, considering the bomb he dropped on Floyd Mayweather, these rebroadcasts were well deserved. If you’re unsure of the Mayweather backstory concerning Lin, read more here. Apparently, jealousy rules, even in the multi-million dollar world of sports. As for the Lin love, it’s ongoing over at Twitter:
@lazenby Roland LazenbyEvery night David Stern is getting down on his knees and saying, “God Bless Jeremy Lin. God Bless Jeremy Lin.” The NBA’s Seabiscuit.2 hours ago via web · Reply · Retweet · Favorite · powered by @socialditto
I actually agree with this sentiment to a degree. If you take out the Lakers win (against a Lakers team that was playing the final game of a six-game east coast road trip), the combined winning record of the teams Jeremy Lin the Knicks have beaten since Lin took the stage is 58-87. While Lin does deserve the praise he’s getting, I’m curious to see how he does against the Miami Heat and the Chicago Bulls, especially once Derrick Rose’s back gets healthy.
In light of that, here’s a humorous tweet that directly connects Lin to the world of ebusiness, courtesy of the Winkelvi:
When Blake Griffin absolutely baptized Kendrick Perkins with a beast-mode, get the hell out of my way dunk, the Twitter world exploded. In fact, I remember watching ESPN’s SportsCenter the night the dunk happened, and the show’s anchors were excitedly discussing how Griffin’s dunk “broke Twitter.”
While Twitter’s servers remained intact, the response to the dunk (of the year?) was immense. In case you missed it, before we go further, you need to take a look:
As is the case with most sports plays of note, by the time Griffin’s feet touched the ground, the Twitter reaction was in full swing, including a number of tweets from NBA players who were watching, chief among the tweets was LeBron James’ reaction:
The NBA Twitter even retweeted LeBron’s post. For some reason, however, when it came time to complain about how people embraced such an athletic feat, Kendrick Perkins lashed at out one person: LeBron James. Not only did Perkins try to put the onus of liking Griffin’s dunk on one person, he also waited about a week after the fact to bitch and moan about LeBron’s tweet.
But once he started complaining, he came through like a champ:
“You don’t see Kobe [Bryant] tweeting,” Perkins told Yahoo! Sports Tuesday. “You don’t see Michael Jordan tweeting.
“If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you. At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play.
“They also are not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2. I just feel [James] is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him.”
Perkins’ reaction is the same as the guy who gets beat up by 10 people, but only blames one person. Memo to the Oklahoma City center: If you don’t want LeBron James tweeting about you getting absolutely destroyed, don’t get absolutely destroyed. Maybe next time, instead of letting Griffin bring the sky down on your head, you’ll foul the heck out of him.
Whatever the case, if you do get dunked on again and Twitter explodes, it would be better if you sucked it up and simply waited for someone else to get smashed instead of complaining about it a week after the fact.
Kick a ball in the NFL, score a field goal. Kick a ball in the NBA, get ejected; this isn’t the NFL, Rick. In case you missed it or just didn’t hear anything about it, Mavericks’ coach Rick Carlisle got a little heated recently. Usually when I get mad I just chill to some smooth jazz, but what does Rick do? He decides to kick the game ball into the audience and hit someone in the head; smooth move, ex-coach. . .er, X-lax, yeah, that’s what I meant.
http://youtu.be/YdyMSvH-iOg
After he kicked the ball, relieving stress, he saw the err of his ways and approached the dazed audience member, apologizing for his mistake. Apologies aside, though, the referees decided to eject Rick from the game for his angry deed. According to one source, Rick later released an apology for his actions stating:
“I want to apologize to our franchise, Mark [Cuban], our fans,” Carlisle said after the game. “The incident where the ball got kicked into the stands — that can’t happen. My intent was not to kick it into the stands, I was trying to kick it to the referee, but I’m not a very good kicker. But, that can’t happen; the officials made the right call on that one. That’s a regrettable situation.”
“We’ve reached a tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations … but we’re optimistic that that will all come to pass, and that the N.B.A. season will begin on Dec. 25, Christmas Day, with a tripleheader.”
As for the games, it’s likely the league will keep the matchups that were already on the schedule: the Boston Celtics at the Knicks, followed by the Miami Heat at the Dallas Mavericks and the Chicago Bulls at the Los Angeles Lakers.
Below is some of the reaction from NBA fans and players alike:
@carmeloanthony Carmelo AnthonyJust wanna say Thank You to the fans for your patience and understanding thru all this!!!!!! Glad to give you the game of basketball back.8 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto
@CHARLESBARRKLEY Charles BarkleyNBA planning to have it’s opening game on Christmas Day. Celtics-Knicks, Heat-Mavs, Bulls-Lakers scheduled this day. RT – IF YOU HAPPY13 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
@tomclarkcomedy Tom ClarkLebron said he felt like one of his kids on Xmas morning when he heard NBA strike was over, not sure why he’d feel a sense of abandonment.1 hour ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Yesterday, the NBA Players Association rejected the latest offer from the NBA owners, and as a result, there’s a very real chance we won’t be seeing any NBA basketball for the foreseeable future, as, yet again, grown men failed to figure out a way to divide over $4 billion among themselves. While this is beyond a “whose side are you on” discussion, the desire to place blame — for those who are still following these shenanigans — still exists.
If you listen to NBA Commissioner David Stern, it’s the players fault. If you listen to the players, it’s the owners’ fault, and while that makes for entertaining arguments, it’s the fans who are actually losing here. Not the owners and not the players. Nevertheless, that doesn’t stop the Stern from throwing the players under the bus:
But, if the now-rejected CBA was so great for the players, why on earth would Ball Don’t Lie write something like this?
“The NBA’s terrible offer, and the Players Association’s response”
Which features perhaps the best take on the NBA lockout I’ve read, at least from a perspective of rationality:
These owners aren’t bullies. They’re apathetic. They’re uncaring about the thousands of lives they’re affecting just in their own region in terms of lost income. They’re certainly not concerned with the millions of fans that want NBA basketball back. They’re as greedy as anyone, haggling over ridiculous minor items after the Players Association has given in hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars worth of concessions. They can’t even throw the players a few bones, so to speak, in eliminating those relatively minor items while the players give in. And they’re geniuses in leaving the great unwashed to think, “50/50? Sounds about right.” [Emphasis added]
One wonders why Stern doesn’t address things like what the bold text points out when he’s blaming the players association for everything wrong in the NBA today? Another story for another day, apparently. Needless to say, once the players rejected the latest offer, Twitter blew up with tons of reaction, a lot of it from the players themselves.
So what does this mean going forward? Lost money and European contracts, apparently:
@Edge_Sports Keith KreiterInternational clubs look to make a run at NBA’s elite– we will see a ton of guys jump over within the next week or so– wild ride ahead9 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
@darrenrovell darren rovellToday is the 1st day of NBA players missing paychecks. The avg NBA player will lose $220,000 today.37 minutes ago via web · powered by @socialditto
The sad thing is, in relation to professional sports, a quarter of a million dollars is almost chump change. Three cheers for hitting the genetic lottery, right? Perhaps this is bad of me, but one of the things I’m enjoying about the reaction are all the “hey, maybe my favorite player will respond to me on Twitter” tweets, or those “I have no idea about what’s going, but since everyone else is talking about the NBA, I should too,” posts, like so:
Um, Earl, I hate to break it to you, but Rondo has no more of an idea about when the lockout ends than you do. So what are all the players doing now that there won’t be pay-for-play basketball for the foreseeable future? Tweeting, apparently, and they don’t seem really supportive of the owners or Stern, either:
@thekidet evan turnerThese sports updates on the ticker are blowing my mind. I use 2 think all grown ups were suppose 2b smart but they clearly aren’t12 hours ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto
Some players are trying to figure out what to do with all this free time they have now, and it looks like college admissions will be going up around the country:
In light of the “no NBA” idea, here’s something positive concerning the sport of basketball:
@Probballdraft ProbasketballdraftWho needs #NBA when you have Duke-MSU, Ohio St.-Florida, & Kentucky-Kansas all great games. These matchups feature nearly 20 future NBAers.2 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
But I’ll end this laundry list of tweets with some much-needed perspective:
@MrGeorgeA GA. The NBA & owners are selfish…millionaires arguing over $ While the regular workers won’t b able 2 put food on the table bcuz of no season2 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto
Any thoughts when/if we’ll be seeing the NBA again? Do you even want it to return? Let us know what you think.
It’s always exciting when high-profile personalities acknowledge the Internet space and the opportunities that exist on it. When this happens, it only helps to further validate what we, those of us involved in the Internet/tech space, live and breathe every day.
Rick Fox speaking to WebProNews at the BlogWorld Expo about his passion for new media was one of these moments. Fox, who is known for his successful NBA, acting, and producing career, told us that he turned to the Internet because he wanted to tell his story.
He is currently working on a Web series called Off Season, which is a comedy based on a basketball player that is struggling to stay out of trouble. Fox told us he tried Hollywood but found that his standards and its standards didn’t match.
“What I realized rather quickly was that the Internet provided me the same opportunity that television provides or the movies provide… it’s a self-distribution model that is there for all of us if we’re passionate enough and persistent enough to bring our story to life,” said Fox.
Even though it’s not always easy to ‘make it big’ online, the opportunities and potential for success are much greater than they are offline. According to Fox, “we are all received online,” whether it is by one person or one million people.
“The thing about the Web is that viral effect that great content can have where, instantly, you can go from one minute sitting in your living room and ranting about something that just bothers you, and you find that 1 million other people out there in the world are bothered by the same thing,” he said.
Fox went on to say that the world’s perception of what entertainment is, isn’t really what people want to see. This is why John Doe is able to create a remix of a song and get more hits than the original song itself.
He believes that the future of the entertainment industry lies in the individuals that create content based on their point of view. For too long, people in high places have tried to dictate what society wants, but the Internet has changed this. Fox told us that the entertainment opportunities online would increase moving forward and that the people who have embraced the space early will go on to tell us who the next generation of entertainers will be.
“Those people that are brave enough to step out and have that persistence of speaking to 1-10 followers one day and [are] now speaking to 10 million people – these are the people that are going to be galvanizing communities and they are gonna curate content… and they’re gonna tell us what we should be focused on, and they’re gonna become the next generation of entertainers,” said Fox.
For 5 years, WebProNews has partnered with BlogWorld and New Media Expo, the world’s first and largest new media conference, in an effort to broadcast how new media can grow your business, brand, and audience. Stay tuned to WebProNews for much more exclusive coverage.
While there’s still hope that some of the upcoming NBA season can be salvaged, that prospect is looking less and less likely, especially after the recent announcement from NBA Commissioner David Stern concerning the cancellation of the first two weeks of games for the 2011-12 regular season.
Stern, who indicated both sides “remain very, very apart on all issues,” has been taking something of a beating in the media, with the main point of contention being his preference for representing the owners’ interest and treating the players — and the fans — like they don’t matter. It appears as if Stern’s only concern is making sure his owners don’t lose money.
Stern hinted that the owners’ proposals to the players might only get worse so they can recoup losses incurred by the cancellation of games. Many players have long expected the league would wait until the players started missing paychecks to see if the union would settle for a less favorable deal.
There’s much, much more from where that came from, but the bottom line is this, especially after you read what various “sources” have offered; that is, the owners — with David Stern at their backs — want the players to capitulate while giving little to nothing in return. From everything that’s being written, we, as fans, may not see NBA basketball for some time.
And the owners are happy with that, especially if they get what they want from the players.
As is the case, whenever something big like the cancellation of regular season games in a professional sport hits the wires, people, including the players, react. Of course, one of the more popular mediums for these reactions is Twitter, and after the announcement, many players took to their Twitter accounts to let the world know how they feel.
These NBA player tweets did not disappoint. Along with the previous “David Stern” Twitter trend, the reaction towards the NBA establishment is not favorable. First, a couple of highlights from the Stern trend. Unfortunately, some Twitter users have no idea how the “greater than” symbol works:
If you aren’t aware, Derek Fisher is the president of the National Basketball Players Association, meaning he’s the main representative of NBA players in these discussions. Reaction from the players continues:
@SteveNash Steve NashThanks for the overwhelming support today guys. You know we want to play & you understand the propaganda/misinformation from the owners.14 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
Nash’s sentiment towards those who are employed by NBA teams for concessions and other duties has been echoed by many players:
@MoneyMase Roger Mason JrSad day in the NBA with the cancellation of first 2 weeks.I feel horrible for the thousounds of workers impacted by lockout. #freebasketball2 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto
@AndrewMBogut Andrew BogutWe understand owners have to make $ and that is what its all come down too. We just want to play. The following ppl are the 1s who get hurt:9 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto
@AndrewMBogut Andrew BogutTicket ushers, local bars/clubs/food, police officers, security, in arena food and drink, hotels,local small businesses,should I keep going?9 hours ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto
If they weren’t apologizing to the employees who won’t be working, the players were either expressing their disappointment, clarifying misinformation, or simply apologizing to the fans for the cancellation announcement:
@dwilkins3000 Damien WilkinsI want to let our fans know we can’t spell US without U! Thx so much for the support during this lockout. Hopefully we’ll have bball soon.1 hour ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto
Even though the players seem to be united, it won’t make much difference to the owners who feel their basketball franchise should be a guarantee of massive profits, and are willing to sacrifice an entire season to get their way. It also appears as if the NBA players aren’t nearly as organized as the NFL union was, who, at this point, had already filed to decertify their union. As far as the NBA players union goes, besides a letter from a group of agents who mentioned the option of decertification — something they already backed off of — the players haven’t made such a move, one the owners apparently fear.
For those of you looking for an answer concerning the return of the NBA, sorry, you won’t find any here.
Yesterday, the NBA was supposed to open its doors, allowing teams to participate in their training camp activities. Of course, the ridiculous and contentious lockout continues unabated as the two sides — players and owners — try to split a pie that’s about 4 billion dollars in size.
As it stands, the signs are pointing more and more to the 2011-12 season not happening anytime soon, regardless of how many times commissioner David Stern approves the release of preseason schedules — was that petty move an intentional slap in the face or simply accidental? — and with that realization, the NBA’s true reason for success, the fans, are getting louder with their backlash, especially now that training camps are not open.
The emptiness of various training camps was captured perfectly by The Basketball Jones blog, and such posts only help feed the growing dissension fans have towards the owners. It’s important to remember the owners are solely responsible for locked doors on NBA facilities, not the players.
Commissioner Stern deserves his share of the blame too, especially now that the only side he seems to care about is the owners’. While this article’s goal is to capture the reaction of NBA fans and players, an article written by Yahoo Sports’ Adrian Wojnarowski gives readers great insight as to where they should lay the blame:
All hell’s going to break loose on Manhattan’s East Side Tuesday, and David Stern has been asking for this agent uprising from the beginning of these labor talks. He’s been asking for the fight of his life, and maybe, the implosion of his sport when this should be a golden time. So, stop the preening, stop the end-zone dance and make those rich guys start to stare at their shoes again. For once, be the commissioner of the NBA, not just the owners. Enough’s enough, bully. [Emphasis added]
Apparently sensing the backlash towards the owners and Stern building, a few players took to Twitter to adeptly stir the pot and continue the fan revolt against the establishment empowering the lockout. One such player who experienced an incredible growth in popularity –Blake Griffin — spearheaded the Twitter responses with the following expertly-timed tweet:
@blakegriffin Blake GriffinFirst day of training camp finally here can’t wait for… Oh what’s that NBA owners? You won’t let us play? Sorry everybody…1 day ago via Echofon · powered by @socialditto
Griffin’s blast was retweeted by Dwyane Wade, which helped spearhead the responses:
It’s unwise, however, to think the hardline owners who support the lockout, or David Stern for that matter, give one damn about public perception or what the players think. They just care about lining their pockets with as much dough — at the expense of players (you know, the reason the league exists at all?)– as they can.
Unfortunately, it sounds like it’s going to get a lot uglier before we have a resolution. That hasn’t stopped people from issuing common sense responses to the NBA nonsense, like the following:
Too bad the lockout supporters don’t care about the fans, otherwise, these talks would’ve progressed a long time ago.
Thoughts on potentially losing the NBA season? Will the league be able to recover if they shoot themselves in the foot so severely? Let us know what you think.
What in the world are star athletes going to do if the NBA and NFL player’s unions and owners can’t reach an agreement? Well, of course it will mean that they won’t be playing basketball and football, respectively. But it also means that they will be forced to seek other employment.
Recently, we saw that some NFL players like Ray Lewis and Desean Jackson have decided to take their football talents to Iowa to play in Taylor Lautner’s cornfield football league.
And other NFL stars Peyton and Eli Manning have been forced to take their quarterback talents to the mean streets as they fight crime as Football Cops in a blockbuster event brought to you by DirecTV.
What this next batch of stars are being forced to do is a little less exciting than those career options.
Posted on The Blake Griffin YouTube Channel, this video takes the form of an infomercial with stars of both locked-out leagues selling themselves for menial work like swatting flies on the ceiling, filing documents and reaching high-up items for old people.
The video stars Adrian Peterson, Ron Artest (or should we say Metta World Peace), Kevin Love and of course Blake Griffin. We have already seen what Blake Griffin has been doing since the NBA lockout was announced. Shortly after it became official, Blake tweeted a short video of him planking on a flat cart as it moved across the Clipper’s gym floor.
The video, entitled “Lockout Profession” is quite awesome. It’s nice to see that some of the professional athletes involved in these labor disputes have enough of a sense of humor to step back and laugh at themselves. Check it out below –
When David Stern locks someone out, he really locks them out. Currently, the NBA is under a lockout as owners and players work on a new collective bargaining agreement. This is not breaking news, considering it’s been going on pretty much since Dallas beat Miami for the NBA Championship. However, the extent of lockout is somewhat surprising.
Besides $1 million fines for retweeting, another extreme can be found at NBA.com. Instead of images of current players, who apparently don’t exist as long as they are locked out, the site is filled with images of retired players from previous eras. Furthermore, team sites have been stripped down as well. A visit to any team site reveals a great deal of cheerleader images, which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing. The surprise, however, is just how far the NBA will to disavow the current crop NBA players. Did they cease to exist? Are they dead to the eyes of NBA owners until a new CBA is reached?
Clearly, that answer is a resounding yes.
Here are some screenshots of just how far the NBA is willing to go in an effort to divide the two sides even further, even if that’s not the intended result. Our first image takes us to the official site of the NBA. Notice the lack of any current players anywhere on this page:’
The only current basketball player appearing in the above screenshot plays for the WNBA. Meanwhile, the other visible players, Magic Johnson, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Tom Sanders, and Patrick Ewing, are all retired from their playing careers. The snubs, however, don’t stop there. A simple click of the “Players” link in the site’s top navigation takes you to an index page of all the players who were on rosters when the CBA expired. The only problem is, there are no images associated when a players’ link is clicked, save for the team logo.
The same is true even for Dirk Nowitzki, the current king of the NBA, at least in regards to active players:
On previous versions of this page, an image of Nowitzki appeared instead of the Dallas Mavericks logo. The elimination of current players doesn’t end at NBA.com, either. As indicated, a visit to any team site finds a great deal of information about the team’s cheerleaders, while absolutely nothing is available concerning players. As an example, here’s a screenshot of the official site for the Dallas Mavericks:
If this was 2010, that page would be full of Mavericks players celebrating their new trophy. Instead, we get cheerleader tryout links and stories about celebrity softball games. Even the videos are cheerleader-related, which, again, there’s nothing wrong with that from a guy’s point of view, but the fact remains, if you’re Mavericks fan navigating to that site, it’s probably to revel in the victory over the Miami Heat. Obviously, fans are supposed to take solace in the fact the cheerleaders are up and running.
Over at the New York Times, Howard Beck offers some details, although, the NBA spokesperson responsible for the quotes offers little clarification. Thankfully, someone tries to:
“We do not think it is appropriate to be using video and photography of current players at this time,” said Mike Bass, an N.B.A. spokesman.
Gabe Feldman, the director of Tulane University’s sports law program, said there was no compelling legal reason to remove player images. He suggested the decision was “a symbolic move,” implying that the owners would not only shut down the league but would “stop promoting the players, too.”
To further the point made by Feldman, take a quick glance at the NFL’s official site. That league is also in lockout mode, but somehow, images of players are still available on the applicable pages.
Too bad the NBA revealed its petty side as soon as the CBA expired. If, in the coming months, you start hearing about how both sides can’t come to an agreement and can’t stand to be around each other, look no further than the NBA’s reaction with its web properties for clues as to why things are so bad.
