OKC media vs. OKC Thunder

Yeah, well, no.

 

It's a rube approach, thinking they'll attract free agents by minimizing their media contact. Where does that rank among any confident/cocky athlete's priorities when choosing a team? And even for Durant, Westbrook and the rest, do they think those guys would fret about stepping into the media cauldron of Washington or NY or wherever if the money, supporting casts, endorsements, lifestyle, etc., were right?

Don't get too high on Reggie Jackson off that one anecdote about the chair, either. During last year's playoffs, I was told in detail by an NBA-covering pal that after a big game, Jackson made reporters needlessly wait until he was just about the last guy exiting the locker room. He could have done a quick 2-3 minutes but he let the small crowd fighting deadline after a long TV game wait at his locker while he did the whole "loiter and look down with his feet in the ice bath, shower slow, b.s. with teammates, lotionize, fiddle with the jewelry, get his headphones just so" thing before finally acknowledging them. Burned close to a half hour they didn't really have at that point.

Young guys learn that crap from their teams' entitled and indulged stars. And from the PR staffs that are supposed to raise them right. Then they emulate it, take it to their future teams and it spreads.

 

Yeah, that kind of diva behavior always annoyed me. The list of players who do this is a long, long one... Also, a player who jumps to a reporter's defense when someone is giving them grief, completely trumps a guy who takes forever to get dressed after a game.

 

That used to be true. Used to be. Coaches and athletes make so much money now that media relations staffs mostly exist to bend themselves around the coaches and players' narrow, often mercurial worldviews so they can keep their jobs. Good people who rarely have much of a voice in the way things are done and are respected only half of the time.

True "PR," anymore, is done by the in-house media or a marketing staff that arranges charity events, fan meet-and-greets, etc.

 

It's interesting. There is so much access in NBA, NFL and baseball locker rooms (Can't speak for hockey) compared to colleges, so it's a lot more obvious when a guy is ducking the media as opposed to colleges where sometimes a top player might not speak at all or you might get him occasionally sitting next to his HC at a press conference. I covered a Heisman candidate who they wouldn't let talk for three weeks in a row. They can't do that in the pros. Most of it is on the player and it's a very rare case these days where the PR staff would try to persuade a guy to talk and if they do, it's usually for someone other than the local guys.

 

"The fodder for those who would paint Westbrook as a jerk comes day after day. He's not exactly a social butterfly. He's not desperate for your approval. He's not going to beg you to like him. He is what he is, always, at all times. Take it or leave it."

The Thunder's Russell Westbrook is comfortable with who he is. - Oklahoma City Thunder Blog - ESPN

 

I understand the players who don't like to talk or are private and don't trust the media. The ones I'm most interested in are guys like Durant, who spend some time as a media darling and they they turn. I think we're seeing more and more of that these days, athletes who feel betrayed by the media.

 

Betrayed = Criticized once or twice after a lifetime of adulation. Everybody's got to learn people are fickle sometime.

 

Well, that was a bunch of ass-kissing. Even his flaws are actually good traits.

I love the "hey, come watch him read to little kids" setting at the start. That has "agent-driven fluff piece" written all over it.

 

I think there is some truth to this, but also, that "well fuck you" reaction is probably a big part of why these guys are professional athletes. Meaning, when confronted by opposition, their reaction is to cut that person out and work harder. Not for all of them, certainly, but a decent portion.

 

Boy, CBS Sunday Morning just did a complete ass-kiss rodeo on Westbrook ...

 

Westbrook vs. Tramel II happened Sunday afternoon and it was pretty entertaining. This clip made the rounds on Twitter yesterday and there's been a bunch of chatter about it.



And here's Tramel's ensuing column, which says Westbrook is the "no doubt' MVP: Play is fantastic with Westbrook on floor, but on the bench questions arise