TripleThreat wrote:knickknack wrote:The other day I was discussing with my dad how people in the media pick and choose who they consider to be a good guy and who's a bad guy, who's a team player and who's a ball hog or selfish, who's an all star caliber player and who doesn't play enough defense.
Something to note is that Michael Jordan played in an era before instant information and social media.
Jordan's gambling problems, his vicious attitude towards many of his team mates, his open disrespect of Robert Parish, his cut throat attitude towards Jerry Krause, his goal to mentally destroy Rodney McCray, punching out Steve Kerr because Kerr's son had the gall to destroy Jordan's kid in one on one basketball, he would openly crucified in today's media.
Something to note.
Superstar player get endorsements. Big companies like Nike and Adidas and Gatorade and such, have direct relationships with the networks and each sports league has a major relationship with the networks that broadcast their games. We are talking relationships worth billions of dollars.
Nike isn't going to pay Athlete X an amount worth Y millions of dollars and be the face of their company, only to see him get trashed on the network airing games where they buy Z amount of the advertising. In many ways, many of these players are protected, even from a youth sports level, from letting some true dirt come to light. So I think it cuts both ways. Yes, these players lose privacy and every action is scrutinized, on the other hand, they get a free pass in many situations where the average person would get destroyed by the legal system.
If Melo wants less criticism, his brand should sell more shoes. If Melo branded shoes were the best selling sports shoe in modern history, all across the world, garnering billions in sales and fly off the shelves, then you'd see way way way more caution in how he's treated in the media when he does get criticized.
People criticize you less in public when you win. Period.
People criticize you less when you move massive merchandise. Period.
People criticize you less when more and more major corporations and networks have a massive investment in your image. Period.
I won't fault anyone from saying that the media can be vicious and tear you apart. But all an athlete can do in the modern era is protect himself.
Tim Tebow is very controversial. But to his credit, whether you like him or not, he handles the media extremely well. He handles tough questions well. He knows how to avoid lose/lose type questions and the tricks and traps the media uses to try to stir controversy. He's controversial enough on his own, but HE HELPS HIMSELF. He knows how to present his image in a positive way.
Melo does very very little to help himself. Yes, the media is vicious, but Melo often says the worst things at the worst times in interviews. He doesn't seem to get how the media can trap someone in a lose/lose type of question or interview. Like LBJ, he's better off just saying nothing.
Peyton Manning took a ton of criticism before he won a Superbowl, but that ring, even one, did a lot to ease things for him in the media.
Another issue to factor in is that there is not enough real news to deal with 24/7 coverage of any pro sport. Not enough draft picks, not enough trades, not enough of anything to change the fact that , without scandal and media generated controversy, that you couldn't fill all the airtime, blogs, articles, sites and such with content for the masses.
Melo wants to be a "brand" then getting hammered in the press is a price to be paid for it.
The Kobe situation illustrates a different issue, at least now. At the end of a star players career, the limits where sports writers will go is different. When you think a guy has 10 more years left, you aren't going to lay in and blow your gravy train. When you know the guy is of no more real value to you, that he's declining and a year or two from retiring, you can unload on him at will. But again, Kobe did very very little to help himself over the course of his career. You want slack cut in the media, you need to buy yourself some goodwill.
Rumor out was that baseball loving actor Kevin Costner got to be good friends with Cal Ripken. And one day Costner came home and found Ripken banging Costner's then wife. And that the sports media and MLB made sure it got buried.
Some players are protected by their leagues, but often those players had to spend a long time earning that kind of slack cut for them. It's not free.
The last factor to consider is that the majority of the sports media is still white and a large percentage of the athletes in America, the pros in the major sports, are black. I would say there is less criticism and more care taken with white journalists and black athletes that ends up in most black athletes favor.
But there are just some things you just can't do, like raping a girl in Colorado, where you can't buy yourself a free pass from the media.
If Melo wants to eat it less in the media, he can
1) Win a ring. Even just one. It helps a lot, not just in the NBA, but in all sports and across racial lines.
2) Sell more merchandise. The more money you make your league, the more they will protect you.
3) Learn to help himself. Either don't talk to the media or learn to handle the media better. He often says just inane and senseless things at times that don't help him or his team.
4) Invent a time machine to enjoy some of the no social media era that Jordan got to enjoy.
