JaVale McGee vents about reporters
by Mike Prada on Aug 16, 2010 11:01 AM EDT
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PrintEvidently, JaVale McGee read some articles he didn't like after being cut from Team USA yesterday. I know this because he said so in a series of Tweets yesterday.
Reporters who never played the game of basketball or never succeeded in it... Shouldn't b able to report on it #FACT
JaVale McGee
bigdaddywookie
im coming from a point of view of most reporters seriously feel as if there opinion counts on wat someone that doesnt fit into a certain....JaVale McGee
bigdaddywookie
catagory of wat is the norm counts... learn about evolution... going from radios to tvs monkeys to humans... and this isnt coming at anyoneJaVale McGee
bigdaddywookie
its my opinion and just like the reporters i have a right to express itJaVale McGee
bigdaddywookie
and let me change it to i feel u need to have the credentials and the resume to b a sports writer.... as coached in college, or even playedJaVale McGee
bigdaddywookie
appreciate all the comments... mad i gotta stir up sh** to get replies but hey confrontation sells... how u think bad girls club is still onJaVale McGee
bigdaddywookie
(On a somewhat unrelated note, JaVale also tweeted this last night).
Who knows exactly which articles made him upset, but I actually don't think JaVale's opinion is a particularly unique one among NBA athletes. Hell, I'm sure you'd be frustrated if someone who never performed your job was questioning your ability to do so. That said, this is sports, and sports is different. Criticism happens, and you kind of just need to have a thick skin in this business.
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Grow up, JaVale.
If you want to become anonymous and not subject to criticism, give up your fame and multi-million dollar job playing a game.
Spare me your sanctimonious “If you ain’t played, you ain’t got no right to comment” crapola, too. Uh, folks are allowed opinions, aren’t they? You’re criticizing the press; have you ever been a reporter or writer? Based on your semi-literate rants, I’m guessing not. Since you’ve never been one, and that seems to be your criteria for having opinions, you come across as a pouty hypocrite.
Preschool’s over, JaVale. Time to graduate.
twitter: making it to easy for people to circumvent their brain-diarrhea-filter since 2006.
i hope this whole social-networking fad eventually dies and we can get back to sanity, but i fear that attention-whoring has become an addiction more widespread and harder to break than any drug.
a life: it's the shit that happens while you're waiting for moments that never come -Lester Freamon
by eastcoastatlas on Aug 16, 2010 11:30 AM EDT reply actions
Ask JaVale the following...
Are we allowed to only criticize Obama or Sarah Palin if we’ve been politicians?
Maybe the only people...
…who should comment on reporters are those who have been media professionals. Or, perhaps those who can spell “what” or “category” or can construct a meaningful analogy.
by TheSecretWeapon on Aug 16, 2010 12:35 PM EDT reply actions
regarding- Hell, I’m sure you’d be frustrated if someone who never performed your job was questioning your ability to do so.
Huh? this has been happening the 25+ years i have watched pro basketball. in baseball, it has been happening for over 120 years! i am sure he knew games would be reported and those reporters probably did not play and will express their opinions when he decided to be a pro, certainly when he cashed his multi-million dollar paycheck!
i think it best shows where he is maturity-wise and that he is not thinking. ironically, one of my major concerns when he is on the court! i am not sure he will be where we need him to be when his contract is up. will be interesting to see what we do. until then, keep drafting centers!
having said that, i am pulling for him. but we need a center that can run the floor reasonably well, defend the paint, alter shots, make putbacks and rebound. he still has a long way to go. he reminds me of the basketball version of those track stars the nfl would sign to be wide receivers- you know, super athletic cant catch!
by les boulez bomber on Aug 16, 2010 12:47 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah, it's all part of what you sign up for
Just saying I do understand the frustration, even if it’s wrong to express it.
agreed! i dont even think it is wrong. i think it is not smart. why pick a war with the media when a good relationship can earn you tens of millions of extra dollars. you cant buy positive press, and you probably wont get it by slandering them!
by les boulez bomber on Aug 16, 2010 4:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Just part of the process of growing into the job
I’m glad this happened over the Worlds rather than the regular season or playoffs.
By the way, criticism doesn’t feel any better when coming from a pro. But people get over it pretty quickly and move on to bigger and better things.
It will be interesting to see how Arenas deals with the random kiddie antics this year.
Absolutely
By the way, criticism doesn’t feel any better when coming from a pro.
Absolutely. Guys hate it when former players criticize them. And former players are nastier and grumpier than regular fans. Look at all of the Portis vs. Lavar, Portis vs. Brian Mitchell etc. Redskins crap to see that having played the game doesn’t really matter either. Players don’t like to be criticized. I wouldn’t either.
Not sure what set JaVale off though. I haven’t seen anything particularly negative out there.
twitter is a f-ing pain in society's arse.
really – it’s not technological progress – it adds nothing new. it just sucks. get off my lawn!
"hindsight is 50-50" - Steve Spurrier
by little stevie colter on Aug 16, 2010 1:05 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
remedial english lessons
should be required of all pro athletes who want to twitter or blog.
if javale spent as much time practicing his game and watching film as he does venting on twitter, he would shut up all the critics and get them to actually praise his game.
glad they didn’t have twitter when antoine walker and gary payton were playing. and you think stockton would ever waste his time on that thing?
Prada,
Thanks for at least understanding where he’s coming from in your article. No one in any profession or station likes to be criticized. It hurts on a pure emotional level.
That being said, he needs to turn this into motivation or channel it into something positive for him. The Twitter page was probably not the best. Maybe he should talk to Gilbert about how to do that. He’s a master at having a chip on his shoulder.
by Craig_ on Aug 16, 2010 2:38 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
If it's news to Javale that most sports media are lowlifes, snakes, or idiots
then he is more green than I thought.
No offense to anyone present, of course.
If it's news to Javale...
that most sports media are lowlifes, snakes, or idiots
/fix’d
by TerroristFistJab on Aug 17, 2010 10:48 AM EDT up reply actions
Publicly Scrutized by many more media......
I think this is the first time I have seen McGee’s game analyzed (and picked apart) so publicly these last few weeks, what with being affiliated with the World team. But still its par for the course and he had better learn to deal with it if he wants to be a great player. I mean many players have used criticism to drive him to be better players.
Maybe it was this blog
So, I follow BF and JM on twitter, and I noticed that he started spouting off about an hour after BF posted their thoughts on what JM learned from team USA. That twitter post by BF used his twitter handle, so he could see the article. I think this blog and reporters need to be careful about how they put blog posts out there, almost directly handing them to the players. The breakdown of his play is fine, but I don’t think its necessary to link his twitter handle. if he wants to search out articles about himself he can, but it’s basically like you mailed him a list of criticisms, which I would take offense to as well. Would you say those things to his face? It’s almost like you did, by linking it to him…
Kyle's posts have been fair but really damning
He has illustrated in vivid detail how awful McGee played for Team USA. If it was anyone I’d guess him.
by BayAreaBullet on Aug 17, 2010 11:50 PM EDT up reply actions
PS
even more inane than twitter: constantly blogging about players tweets
Why is that inane?
Twitter (and Facebook, to a lesser extent) are windows into the pyche of a player, providing insight that can be helpful when attempting to evaluate that player.
If JaVale can’t handle a little criticism from SB Nation – he needs to grow a set. Seriously.
by TerroristFistJab on Aug 17, 2010 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm no longer a fan of Javale Mcgee (at least for now)
How can you knock someone who is doing their job and making their living doing so? My guy 7 Day Dray has gotten much worse from the media and he never complained to my knowledge. Mcgee needs to humble up. What has he even done in the league??!?
If JaVale was cool w/criticism from a pro, he'd have listened to Mom
But Pam McGee has said straight up that she doesn’t even bother talking the game with him directly. She just writes it down hoping one day he’ll come around and think about it.
This is a kid that’s still in teenage rebellion mode- which isn’t all that out of character for a 22 year old. He will mature and get more professional on and off the court. It will be slow and painful and occasionally weird. But it will happen. Again here’s hoping he stays healthy long enough to have both that maturity and his athletic gifts at the same time.
by goober nackulum on Aug 16, 2010 10:05 PM EDT reply actions
You nailed it on the head
JaVale’s issues with Mom are a pretty good indicator of where his maturity level is at right now. The man cannot handle criticism. During the summer league games, JaVale was being interviewed after a great performance. The interviewer jokingly suggested that maybe Mom could still school Big Daddy Wookie on the hardwood. JaVale very defensively responded, “Maybe when I was 11!” Wrong answer. (“You see, the interviewer wasn’t asking whether she could literally outplay you…”)
Before posting on Twitter or giving an interview with these dreaded media folks, JaVale needs to start asking himself, “WWWD?” (What would Wall do?)
Shaq made the exact same point in Ny Times last week
Most pros probably agree with Javale, he just doesn’t need to say it. Read Shaq’s interview in the New York Times Sunday mag last week.
QUESTION: I’m sympathetic to that, but why do so many sportswriters seemed miffed that, at 38, you won’t get out of the game?
SHAQ:: Now that I’m in a diminished role, everybody says, "He doesn’t have it." But I will never take criticism from people who can’t do it themselves.
QUESTION: You mean sportswriters?
ANSWER: Exactly. Now if Kareem comes out and says something, then I have to listen. He’s a guy that’s done more than me. A guy sitting behind a desk writing about what I should do — I will never listen to it.
As usual with Shaq, he is intelligent and amusing. The interview is at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/15/magazine/15fob-q4-t.html
Kareem had to play longer
Kareem was 39 or 40, set to retire, and then his house burned down, no insurance and his agent took all of his money. He was essentially penniless at the end of his career. He played two more years to get back on his feet financially. I don’t think Shaq has the same worries.
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