The Contentious Relationship Between NBA Athletes and the Media

It doesn’t matter if you’re an NBA athlete, paid millions to play a game you love, or a member of the basketball media, paid tens of thousands to cover said millionaires — we’re all human. As humans, we owe it to each other to be respectful, understanding and accepting of each other in all situations. So why do contentious relationships pop up between NBA athletes and the media so often?

THERE’S A GOOD WAY AND A BAD WAY

The most recent version of this came up last night, as Russell Westbrook told The Oklahoman reporter Berry Tramel, “I just don’t like you.” The comment was in response to Berry asking Westbrook if he was upset with something, as Russell’s answers to each question included six different instances of “good execution” in a 90-second interview.

Tramel didn’t go on a Twitter rant, calling Westbrook out. He didn’t write a scathing piece running down Westbrook for his (lack of) comments. Instead, he went about doing his job, reported on the game and didn’t make mention of the instance. I applaud Tramel for that — as it would have been easy to bash Westbrook publicly, but that’s not the right thing to do.

We saw something very similar in the Phoenix lockerroom on Tuesday after a big win over the Cleveland Cavaliers, as Markieff Morris didn’t want to talk to the media after the game, to which some local reporters took great exception, including this tweet:

Full disclosure — I don’t know John on a personal level and the fact that he’s been doing this for 17 years means he’s been around much longer than me and my three years in NBA locker rooms. I had similar feelings of confusion as to why Morris didn’t want to talk about his career game, but at no point did it get to that level.

Still, the fact that John acted entitled only makes the situation worse. Do you remember what it was like to be 23 years old? Did you also have millions at that point and were able to basically do whatever you wanted? No matter how mature you were, nobody was going to push you into doing things you didn’t want to do.

We have to remember that these players are young and each have their own different backgrounds. In corporate life, they teach about multi-generational communication and they do diversity training all the time. Why? Because there’s no playbook, no black-and-white way to talk to people. Media members who get upset because an athlete doesn’t feel like talking would do well to take some of those classes.

I spoke to Markieff last night after the game — about nothing at all. We talked about casinos, playing craps and media in general. Was I doing my job? Of course I was. But that’s the thing — while we’ll never be friends, people are people. If Markieff doesn’t want to talk basketball, that’s OK. Down the line, because I was more respectful to him, maybe he’ll be more open to talking hoops. I believe that building respectful two-way relationships are the way to go.

It’s that kind of personal touch that I think is missing from professional sports. The goal isn’t to be the most liked writer, it’s not to be buddy-buddy with everyone and it’s not to shoot rainbows out of my pen. The goal is to tell a story — but how can we tell that story if we don’t take the time to learn about players? How can we learn about the player if we try to shove our agenda down their throats?

WHY ATHLETES GET UPSET

As humans, we’re very susceptible to getting upset over criticism. We don’t like being called out, we don’t like being run down and I’ll tell you this — athletes don’t just “get used to it.” It wears on you and follows you around like a dark cloud, affecting your confidence and changing the way you talk to the media.

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Here in Phoenix, we have extremely kind media. I’ve talked to and been in scrums with media members from places like Los Angeles, New York and Boston — and I’ll be the first to tell you that they can be brutal.

Athletes read what’s written about them, whether they seek it out themselves or they have friends/fans tell them about it. And they remember those times when a writer is unfairly critical and that pops up in the locker room. Think about your co-workers — are you more likely to be frank and open with people you like? Of course.

So now, you’ve got an athlete who is expected to continue dealing with someone who they deem to be unfairly blasting them. Should they be happy? Should they give detailed, thoughtful answers and just “suck it up” because it’s part of their jobs? Absolutely not. Respect goes both ways. Put yourself behind the microphone. Out of those 15 faces, if you see one who has twisted your words or blasted you recently, how would you feel?

One of the first things I learned was that you can be critical as long as it’s based in fact. If I write a piece filled with typos and you call me out, what am I going to do, argue with you? Same with basketball.

THE ONLY THING WE OWN IS OURSELVES

A lot of this contention between media members and players comes out of a requirement that athletes are to give the media certain access. There are periods before and after practices and games when NBA players are supposed to be available for interviews. So, when a player decides he doesn’t want to talk, it can ruffle some feathers.

As a relatively new member of the media — and someone who is a lot closer to the age of the athletes than most media members in the locker room — I can understand and respect the fact that doing the same interviews over and over can be grating. Watching people smile at you after they write a scathing piece that questions your maturity and worth isn’t something that comes easily.

But, let me ask you this — do you have rough days? Do you have days when you don’t feel like doing everything that’s expected? Of course you do. Do you have people forgetting all of the charity work you do outside of the public view, so that they can paint you in a negative light when you choose to not do one small part of your job on one day? I’d guess you don’t.

It’s akin to being a janitor. They’re paid to clean, right? Does that mean we’re entitled to intentionally make bigger messes and if they don’t clean it up we’re justified in blasting them? If you said yes to this, you’re the worst.

INSTEAD, A BETTER WAY

As a member of the media, it’s my job to report, analyze and shed light on the world of basketball. Most people don’t have the access I do and they look to the members of the media to get information that they can’t get by just watching the game. Are my articles watered down if they don’t include a specific quote from a player? Am I unable to talk about the game, the team and even the player, if he doesn’t want to answer questions?

If the entire locker room refused to talk every single day, then yeah — that would really change things. But, that’s not what we’re talking about here. Most players are fine with doing media, because it’s not that much time out of their life and they like having their own words out there.

I’m sure long-time reporters and PR people would fume at that thought — that players should be able to choose to not talk to the media…but people deserve to be treated as such. The fact of the matter is, the media is a conduit through which players can address issues, and we’ll always be valuable in that role.

I understand the viewpoint of “it’s in their contracts, so if they don’t want to talk, maybe they shouldn’t take the money.” I can’t argue with that — but if a player decides to take a day off from talking to the media, he also doesn’t deserve to be chided as if he flipped the buffet table and cussed his way past fans.

Players deserve the same kind of respect that anyone else gets. If they don’t want to talk, we should leave them alone. Imagine how much more insightful the interviews would be if they were voluntary and not forced every single day.

Note: This is my personal view and doesn’t represent the view of my employer. You may not agree, you may not like it, but I believe the information we get from athletes to convey to the masses would be of greater quality and would be more plentiful if it were more voluntary instead of forced.

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