It’s safe to say the NBA has changed massively nowadays compared to 20 years ago. Many could attribute that shift to the game’s overall growth, but the standard of living is much different. The world’s advancement of technology, more so the ascension of social media, shares a direct connection to today’s NBA. Although it has certainly benefited the league, there are some drawbacks to it as well.
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The line between what’s acceptable for a fan to say to a player has become extremely blurred. Before social media, the only way a fan could communicate with an NBA player was if they bumped into them in person. Typically, people kept those interactions cordial.
In the new dawn of social media, anyone can simply send a message to spark a conversation with the biggest NBA stars. At first, there were no issues that arose, leading the public to think highly of social media.
“Early on, social media was amazing for the NBA,” Mark Cuban said on the Road Trippin’ podcast. “When it was just about fans getting to know players and players being able to communicate with fans. It was cordial and fun. There wasn’t much hate at all. Now, it’s the exact opposite.”
Things have changed drastically over the years, and unfortunately for the worse. These days, players receive a plethora of hate messages. Mark Cuban has seen the lengths to which the dynamic between fan and player has changed.
“[Fans will say], ‘I lost my parlay because of you.’ Guys have to be afraid to even post anything other than a highlight,” Cuban said.
As soon as a player has one bad game, the comments on their recent Instagram post will have hordes of hate comments. Consequently, Cuban now believes that the squeeze is not worth the juice!
“I think we’ve reached a point of diminishing returns where it’s less valuable,” Cuban said. “You can post, but you don’t want to look at the replies because you’re going to get mad.”
The majority of NBA players agree with Cuban’s sentiment. Richard Jefferson and Channing Frye certainly did. Jefferson immediately responded by saying, “I tweet like once a month. It’s just so toxic.”
Not everyone has the same attitude as Kevin Durant and can put up with trolls consistently. Social media has expanded the league abundantly, but where there is good, inevitably, the bad will always follow.
