Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless – The Dynamic Duo nobody wanted. Two guys who remind fans of Squidward and Mr. Krabs, Bayless and Smith have opinions beyond their skill set allows them. The duo has a combined 75+ years of experience between them, yet they choose to disrespect the players that give them content.
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Skip in particular has a set of targets that he’s always on the lookout for. He particularly loves picking on LeBron James, mainly because he’s obsessed with Michael Jordan. Any sort of performance draws the same amount of criticism, be it a 50-point triple-double, or a missed go-ahead basket.
Stephen A. is no different, trying to drag anyone who has had a bad game, through the mud. Fans love their takes because it provides them the “afterparty” entertainment, but nobody realizes how it affects the players.
The athletes are trained to have thick skin – media comments are usually brushed aside jovially. But it does get unnerving if you are constantly being singled out. Iman Shumpert believes that some people do take it seriously if their bad performances become all the rage.
Iman Shumpert makes a great case about what athletes have to go through because of the likes of Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless
Players are human too – they get deified and people forget they are regular people with human emotions. Yes, they may have money to live by, but that doesn’t take away their feelings. How would you feel if 30,000 people booed you to your face at work? Or made memes out of your face when you don’t perform?
“You get paid to dribble a basketball” is the argument that floats around. Yeah, to dribble and shoot a basketball, not to hear vitriol about themselves and their family. Players do get perturbed, and some people hate going online, even if their family posted something.
Chances are, the comments spill over to their profile as well.
Skip and Stephen A. need to get a taste of their own medicine – the New Media like JJ Redick and Kevin Durant are taking care of it
2 people who don’t have a playing career are the most followed TV presenters. Why? Because they are super fans? Because they shout into a camera without stuttering? It irks the players to see someone with no credibility dictate what they should be doing.
“It is annoying to deal with comments from Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless,” says Shumpert. And it must be.
That’s why retired players like JJ Redick and trolls like Kevin Durant have stepped up to take back the reins from the aging horses. Players would like constructive criticism if it is warranted – not hacky comments from someone who averaged 1 point a game in high school.
