The NBA today is a lot more friendly than it used to be in the 1980s and the ’90s. Sure, the rivalries still exist, but off the court, many players are pretty close. They share shoe brands, gyms, and even trainers.
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Drew Hanlen, who trains some of the biggest names in the game, from Jayson Tatum to Joel Embiid, has come under fire online after he claimed he uses negative words to get his clients motivated to be their best selves. The loudest voice against Hanlen has been Brandon Jennings.
Since Hanlen trains both Chet Holmgren and Tyrese Haliburton, who are facing each other in the NBA Finals, the trainer came under some scrutiny on X after claiming he adds his clients to group chats together to motivate them. Jennings, who’s one of the most outspoken voices in the NBA podcasting space, claimed that Hanlen’s method was bogus.
“What f***ing motivation do I need to be in a chat with somebody else for? As a trainer, I’m paying you to m***********g train me. Why are you putting me in a group chat? He said Jayson Tatum was in a group chat with Embiid,” Jennings said in an explosive rant on Playback.
The former point guard reiterated his assertion by using Tatum and Embiid, two players who are often mocked online for their shortcomings… Tatum for not having an MVP to his name, and Embiid for not having a ring.
“F*** Embiid! I pay you to make me great, you over here talking about why I don’t have an MVP or why Embiid never have a ring. M**********r, you’ll never have a job again if you keep putting me with this goofy a** m**********r that I have to go up against,” added Jennings.
Things did not end there. Jennings then brought up Giannis Antetokounmpo, another client of Hanlen, who has a bit of a reputation for being poor from the free-throw line. The Milwaukee Bucks star shot just 61.7% from the line this year. Jennings said Hanlen would better serve the purpose if he trained free throws with him instead of adding him to group chats.
“He [is] over here training Giannis, and Giannis can’t make free throws because he [is] over here trying to work on.. Giannis gets to the line f*****g 9 times, 10 times a game. Make sure he’s shooting a thousand f*****g free throws a night. But you wanna make sure, you wanna kiki in a f*****g chatroom! I hope Giannis doesn’t ever work with that m**********r again!” he yelled.
Jennings’ explosive rant didn’t end there, though. He went on to yell into the mic that Hanlen’s players aren’t paying him to instigate them against each other; rather, they’re paying him to make them better and improve their game.
Since everyone has different strengths and weaknesses, different players need to practice different things, reasoned Jennings.
Of course, this beef isn’t coming out of the blue. Jennings and Hanlen have been going at each other since Game 1 of the Finals.
After Haliburton made the game winner that game, Hanlen tweeted out “Group text is lit right now!” almost as if clarifying to doubters that his methods do work, irrespective of what anyone else has to say about him.
