![]() ![]() Mentorship is very much a real thing - Kobe Bryant and Hakeem Olajuwon being notable examples - but it’s not something done on camera with no insight beyond “you don’t have what it takes.” Because that’s just going to be seen as an attempt at making good television, rather than real help. LeBron James Destroys Shaq Over Donovan Mitchell Comments JanuNBA legend Shaquille O’Neal has triggered an avalanche of comments in one of his recent interviews. None of this is to say superstars of the past have nothing to offer to today’s players. And even if Mitchell was lacking, you would hope he has better sources for inspiration than television hosts he barely knows. The charitable interpretation of O’Neal’s comments is that he was trying to provide Mitchell motivation to get better, but Mitchell is a 6-foot-1 shooting guard who had to replace an outgoing star in his rookie year and became an All-Star. ![]() However, it also results in moments like Wednesday’s, and you can’t blame some players from rolling their eyes when it happens. The whole dynamic clearly does well in the ratings department, on social media and at awards shows. Obviously, it’s part of a studio analyst’s job to criticize players, but O’Neal and Charles Barkley have often taken the role to hyperbolic extremes, like calling for LeBron James to be punched in the groin, feuding with Draymond Green, struggling to pronounce the names of a league MVP and straight up saying the league has never been worse. Hating on active NBA players has been something of a recurring segment on TNT’s “Inside the NBA,” especially since O’Neal joined the crew in 2012.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |