There are a lot of things about life as an NBA player that seem desirable. The chance to play the game you love, the money to be made, and the worldwide fame are a huge plus. But in the modern age, there are a few drawbacks too, and Josh Hart seems to think that the lack of privacy surrounding NBA contracts is the biggest one.
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Hart and Jalen Brunson discussed the widespread knowledge about every contract in the modern day and spoke about how it gets a little uncomfortable for them, as players. As the involvement of social media in the NBA increased, fans online started to get a closer look at how their favorite teams spend money, and how much each player earns. Hart mentioned how Google has made it extremely easy for fans to find out intricate details about player contracts, and spoke about how it feels weird to him.
They agreed about feeling weird about it initially but claimed that the longer a player spends as a pro, the more they get used to the fact that they are going to be under a microscope.
“Everybody just wants to know everything. There’s no more privacy in it. It’s like it’s weird because like anyone can Google whatever, I guess you just kinda get used to it.”
However, that’s not the most infuriating thing, according to the former Laker. Hart claims that easy access to information becomes a problem when fans start equating a player’s worth to the team in a monetary value, as opposed to what he can provide on the court.
Hart calls fans out on their behaviour
A common theme in the modern NBA is social media criticism. A player seemingly can’t go through a slump, as fans immediately start questioning whether he’s worth the money he’s paid by the team. Hart brought this up, discussing how fans feel entitled enough to abuse players on social media.
Brunson joined in, mentioning death threats as something that players have to deal with when going through a slump.
“It’s just another way for people to interact and talk and tweet at us, saying were not worth what we make, saying they wanna kill us.”
Josh Hart is extremely active on social media, and his activity often opens him up to a ton of criticism. The Knicks star seems to power through it every time, and he has established himself as a beloved figure in the franchise, and a central cog to Tom Thibodeau’s plans for the Knickerbockers.
