We often tend to forget it, me first. Like us, professional athletes in general and NBA players in particular are mere mortals, not Marvel superheroes. Like us, they have feelings that they spend their time (trying to) hide. But love, hate, sadness, joy, confusion, anguish, serenity, rage or anger are part of their lives. Several recent events have reminded us of this in a scathing way, each time against a backdrop of confrontation between the emotions of the players and those of the fans.
Thursday last week, in the last quarter of a once again explosive Knicks-Celtics at Madison Square Garden, Julius Randle pointed the thumbs down after a very important basket bringing his team to four points. A gesture of frustration aimed at his own public who is only playing his role: living his passion intensely. A gesture that did not go unnoticed and which was obviously not appreciated by New York fans. Moreover, understanding very quickly the scope of this imperial thumb, Randle was quick to apologize publicly through a message posted on his social networks. Was it so serious? Did the Knicks strong winger do well to apologize for letting his human emotions speak? Opinions may be divided on these questions, but this situation highlights an inescapable reality of professional sport, a reality that is all the more valid for stars and very well summarized on the spot by Charles Barkley: “When you are good, you are praised . When you are bad, you are booed”. The deal is clear.
Et oui Julius ! What did you expect ?
After a huge 2020-21 regular season, friend Randle is disappointing this year. His statistical production is down sharply while the collective results are below overall expectations and in the fourth basement compared to fan expectations. Seeing them get impatient and strain the one who is considered the franchise player of their team is not surprising. It’s even a classic that is part of the game in all arenas and even more especially in the New York Garden. Despite his first name and his emperor gesture, Randle is a gladiator who finds himself in these arenas crowded with supporters every game night..
The fans are not there to offer objective analyses. They can ! Don’t make me say what I didn’t write. They are there to receive and give emotion. Live emotion, the emotion of an action, a victory, a defeat or a specific event. These fans can sometimes overstep the mark, throw something in a player’s face or utter racial slurs. They must and are most often severely sanctioned for these unacceptable deviations. Nevertheless, the fans are at the heart of all the emotions of the sport. Fans stand up to see their favorite players perform and players play to see their favorite fans stand up. We see it on a daily basis when we follow the big league. A withdrawal of jersey (hello Dirk), the speeches that go with it, the smiles and the ovations of the public. A serious injury on the floor, the silence that invades the room, the fear on their faces, the tears and the applause of encouragement that rises. A death (we think of you Kobe), the infinite sadness, the inconsolable fans, the sobs, the celebrations… And above all, we see it during the matches. The fans are at the center of the action. Whether we like it or not, whether the players like it or not. If the room is on fire, it can change a match. If a player gets booed or jeered at every time they touch the ball, they can outsmart (hi Russell) or smash (like you go Trae?).
The players know it when they arrive in the NBA or learn it very quickly: they have to deal with all these emotions, those of the fans but also their own and those of those around them. Because the fans often tend to idolize the players, especially the strongest and most talented, which increases the reactions tenfold and makes them all the more violent. This is also one of the reasons – if not the main one – for the extraordinary mental level required to succeed in a career as a professional sportsman. The more talent you have, the higher the expectations, the more the emotions are highlighted and the more difficult it is to resist the pressure that this generates. It is not a question here of seeking to clear the players of all responsibilities when they, too, exceed the limits. Quite the contrary. Their star status requires them to be examples for the youngest, to remain disciplined no matter what and we know it is not possible. It’s human to break down once in a while. It’s human to freak out when too many people are kidding you or worse on Twitter or MySpace.
It’s human.
Kevin Durant, for example, is human. Yes Yes. We grilled him with a fake Twitter account that he used to go after anyone who criticized him. Whoops. We laughed at his backpack. We saw him thank his MVP mom with tears in his eyes in 2014. We know that KD can have aggressive interactions with fans or the media, to say the least. But that’s also what makes the charm of the Nets winger. This skin-deep side that can push him to tangle with anyone on the blue bird, to send a huge tackle to a journalist before heading to the playground to let off steam because what he loves more than anything Kevin is playing. His playground is called the NBA, but that’s a detail…
Russell Westbrook is also a human, even if he has been compared a lot to a marsupilami from another planet. We saw him on the verge of tears after the loss against the Grizzlies, then full of dismay but also hope in a press conference after the Lakers’ loss to the Kings in which he gave us another apocalyptic performance at the shoot. He said it himself: “I can’t get in a fuckin’ shot.” Westbrook said it, staring into space, body weary and mind visibly very affected. Him, the indestructible, the one who does not deal with the media, the one who has made his power and his determination speak for so many years, he is in pain, on the edge of the abyss mentally and it shows. It’s sad. We can criticize it, some fans are having a blast and make us laugh. Russ’ performances haven’t deserved anything else lately anyway but we can also hope that he will find the psychological resources to bounce back.
No allusion will be made in these lines to the nascent rivalry between Devin Booker and the mascot of the Raptors because it is still far too early to know if this episode in the career of the back of the Suns will have a negative impact on him mentally. . Judging by his profile picture on Twitter, the sequels look real.
More seriously and finally, passion and all the feelings it implies are an integral part of this orange ball game that we love so much. Whether it is the players, the fans, Westbrook, Julius, a superstar, a bench-end player, a referee trio or a coach, no actor can control these emotions and should not even try to eliminate them. Because there is no shame in being fragile, no shame in cracking under pressure when the shots don’t come in or when the public takes a dislike to you. It’s human and on a floor, we’re not in a Marvel.
Fortunately because with superheroes, Basketball would be less beautiful.
