StMU Research Scholars

Featuring Scholarly Research, Writing, and Media at St. Mary's University

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May 10, 2022
Espera, ¿cómo dices eso?
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The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 
The media has completely changed a league that was once centered around on the court play and team performance. Nowadays what happens on the basketball court takes a backseat to off the court drama, postgame quotes, and narratives that have little to do with professional basketball. So much of what happens on the court is now dictated by what the media says and the players are conscious of various narratives and storylines that the media creates within any given National Basketball Association (NBA) season. These narratives have many implications that aren't usually talked about when discussing the NBA as a whole.
(Alex Montes)
The media negatively affects the NBA in many ways. First the media tends to sensationalize different events/quotes within the season. This done to to attract viewership and engagement with their posts. This type of sensationalism doesn’t just happen in the articles that are made by beat writers. Other more modern versions of media such as Instagram pages, TikTok accounts, and Twitter accounts that are run by these major outlets like ESPN, Bleacher Report, House of Highlights and they are one of the biggest culprits of this form of sensationalism. These pages spew off “hot takes” for the sake of increasing engagement on the post. While this may seem like a harmless form of increasing popularity, the long-term effects of this kind of media coverage are evident when you read between the lines. A lot of these engagement farming posts are consumed by the casual fan that isn’t as invested in the league as other, more die-hard individuals. As a result, the general perception of a team/player can be affected by these incendiary posts. The casual viewer won’t know how to differentiate the posts that are farming engagement from the reality of the featured team or player. As a result, a large portion of the casual fan population become uninformed on various topics within the NBA. 
(Alex Montes)
This negative coverage largely affects the overall perception of the league itself. If media members are consistently degrading the skill level and performance of the players within the league, it will lead to the league itself being seen as producing a low-quality product. One of the most glaring examples of this dynamic is the media’s constant need to call the NBA an offensive-minded league where no defense is played. This is a lazy narrative that glosses over the fact that the league has collectively become more skilled compared to the NBA of the 1980s/90s. This narrative also conveniently ignores the boom in three-point shooting that occurred between 2015-2018. Lazy narratives like this led to the NBA as a league being seen in a light that simply isn’t accurate.  On the flip side, some may argue that this negative coverage of the league isn’t all bad, as it leads to an increase in the overall popularity of the NBA and its star players. While this may be true if we’re looking at it from a pure engagement and popularity standpoint, but there are many downsides to having this kind of media coverage. For one, negative exposure can affect the NBA's relationships with sponsors, advertisers, and partners. Companies may hesitate to associate their brand with a league that is embroiled in controversy or negative publicity, leading to loss of sponsorship deals and revenue. NBA players often have individual endorsement deals with various brands. Negative exposure for the league can spill over to affect players' endorsement deals. Sponsors may be reluctant to renew contracts or may terminate existing deals if they believe their brand is at risk due to negative association with the NBA. This is especially evident in the NBA where, unlike baseball  and especially  football, in  basketball the players’ faces are easy to see and thus easy to use in advertisements,” which creates a “clearer identification between fans and individual players.” [1. Secular, Steven. The Digital NBA: How the World’s Savviest League Brings the Court to Our Couch. University of Illinois Press, 2023.] Because of this, the NBA’s presence in media and TV is much larger than other leagues such as the National Football League or the Major League Baseball. The NBA has the most marketable stars in all of sports because of how present any given player is throughout the season. Players play 82 games, giving advertisers time to structure ad campaigns and sponsorships centered on them. Often these players are very generous with their donations to non-profits within the local community and these endorsement deals are often relevant and important to the community for this reason. NBA players are in the limelight now more than ever. The popularity of the average NBA is much higher than it was 20 years ago with the rise of social media. These players’ lives are looked at under a microscope. One of the many skills that young basketball players are taught is how to respond to and interact with the media. "You're, in all humbleness, a big-time athlete, and I mean, in our case, we're in the NBA, and it's a dream for a lot of people. And so that means a lot of people are watching," Gradey Dick adds. "So, people are gonna try everything they can to just find different things out about you." [2. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago,”] Many programs, most notably Overtime Elite, a startup basketball league that is run by Overtime, a popular media outlet that covers all sports, makes it a point to train their young players on how to handle the media. The media has become a staple of NBA players lives with the increase for the demand of fan interaction and engagement on social media. As expected, players respond differently to this new age of NBA culture. Reigning NBA MVP Nikola Jokic has expressed his discomfort with the intrusive nature of NBA fans and has generally tried to stay away from the public eye. "Being famous, some people like it, some people don't. When I finish my career, I really wish nobody knows me," Jokic said. "I really don't like this life because, at the end of the day, we are just basketball players. We are just good at what we are doing. But the media is something that is around us, and, of course, we are getting paid because of the media, because of our popularity."  He added: "It just feels sad, whenever you go to the bar, restaurant, some game, people are just taking their phones out and trying to record you. I think that's really, I'm going to say, rude. It's not that I'm out showing myself; I'm just who I am."  The league and its organizations are actively working against this rising tide, trying to figure out how to keep information in-house before it gets leaked to the public and spirals into something much bigger -- something that could have a significant impact on how the organization is viewed or even how the players perform on the basketball court.” [3. The Guardian (London, England). 2024. “‘Nothing Is Sacred’: NBA Players Are in the Public Eye like Never before; Social Media Runs the World, Celebrity Culture Runs Social Media, and NBA Players Are More Famous than Ever. All of It Has given Rise to Privacy Concerns Unthinkable Even a Decade Ago”]  This relationship between the players and the media becomes much more complex when discussing what the players can and can’t talk about. For example, NBA Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving has been outspoken when it comes to voicing his support for various causes and movements that he agrees with. When Irving played for the Brooklyn Nets, he was required by New York law to receive the COVID vaccine to play at the Barclay’s Center, the home court of the Brooklyn Nets. Irving publicly rejected this request and sat out for the rest of the season. While NBA players are encouraged to support movements that are generally viewed as good and worthwhile, they have been ridiculed for supporting causes that aren’t unanimously viewed as positive.  This begs the question of how many liberties NBA players really have, and if the league is really entitled to players’ participation in the media. Players generally stay within the “gray area” when it comes to speaking about controversial topics to the media. “Players’ neutrality favored the NBA and their respective eco- nomic futures in the league by seemingly kowtowing to Chinese national interests [4. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]. Between the U.S. and China, the NBA struggled to appease one side without alienating the other [5. Burroughs, Benjamin. “‘Stick to Sports’ and Critical Sports Media Industry Studies.”]”. The NBA is currently trying to find a balance with what they allow their players to say or speak about. They want to empower their athletes to be outspoken about causes they support, but sometimes these causes don’t align with the views of the league itself. 
(Alex Montes)
In conclusion, the relationship between NBA players and the national media is growing and evolving with each passing season. As players get used to the tactics and methods of the media, they will be more equipped to deal with the problems that are caused by these outlets. While media exposure can increase visibility and fan engagement, not all exposure is beneficial. Negative media coverage can damage the league's reputation, affect player image and marketability, and strain relationships with sponsors and partners. It's essential for the NBA to navigate these challenges by promoting responsible journalism, prioritizing player empowerment, and addressing issues that arise with transparency and integrity. By doing so, the league can continue to thrive while mitigating the negative effects of media scrutiny, ensuring a positive and sustainable future for the NBA and its stakeholders. 

Current Episode Notes

¿Alguna vez ustedes se han encontrado con un hispanohablante que usaba una palabra diferente de la que conocen? ¿O tal vez pronunciaba una palabra de manera diferente a la forma en que la dicen ustedes? Entre los dialectos del español, hay diferencias fonéticas, o diferencias en la pronunciación. Este episodio va a presentar las diferencias dialectales entre tres países latinoamericanos: El Salvador, Honduras y México. Únanse a Analyssa y Justine en su búsqueda para obtener una comprensión más profunda de los fenómenos de la aspiración y la elisión del sonido /s/. La aspiración de /s/ a [h] es cuando /s/ en una palabra se pronuncia como el sonido inglés “h”, como en la palabra “hi”. Por ejemplo, la palabra “estados” puede pronunciarse como [eh.’ta.ðoh]. La elisión de la /s/ consiste en eliminarla por completo, como si la /s/ no existiera. Por ejemplo, si se pronuncia “estados” como [e.’ta.ðo]. La aspiración y la elisión de /s/ son comunes tanto en El Salvador como en Honduras. Pero, ¿qué hay de México? En México, es muy raro que un hablante nativo de español pronuncie el sonido /s/ con alguna aspiración o elisión. Uno de los principales enfoques en este podcast será cómo reaccionan nuestros huéspedes mientras escuchan diferentes dialectos del español de estos tres países. ¿Pueden predecir sus reacciones? 

Referencias

Lingo Mastery. (2018). Spanish short stories for beginners: 20 captivating short stories to learn Spanish and grow your vocabulary The fun way! CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform. https://usa1lib.org/book/3675982/0518ed?dsource=recommend    

Lipski, J. M. (2014). El español de América (S. Iglesias Recuero, Trans.). Cátedra. 

Morgan, T.A. (2010). Sonidos en contexto: Una introducción a la fonética del español con especial referencia a la vida real. Yale University Press. 

Quora. (n.d.). How different is Spanish spoken in El Salvador from other Spanish dialects?https://www.quora.com/How-different-is-Spanish-spoken-in-El-Salvador-from-other-Spanish-dialects

Resnick, M. C. (2010). Phonological variants and dialect identification in Latin American Spanish. De Gruyter.  

Spanac. (2021, June 9). Transition bells sound effect. Free Sounds Library. https://www.freesoundslibrary.com/transition-bells-sound-effect/

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13 comments

  • Jazlynn Ajel

    Hola! Me gusto escuchando a su podcast, fue muy interesante escuchando a los dialectos diferentes. Creo que es muy fascinante que los tres países hablan lo mismo lenguaje pero la pronunciación es un poquito diferente. Me di cuenta de que el español puede ser diferente entre las países hispanohablantes cuando una mujer de Venezuela comenzó a trabajar conmigo y ella usa palabras diferentes que los mexicanos. Por ejemplo, ella dice “ya coloqué las salsas” pero los mexicanos nada más dicen “ya puse las salsas” o “ya están las salsas”.

  • Nicole Estrada

    Hola Justine y Analyssa! Pensé que tu podcast era muy interesante. Nunca me di cuenta de cómo los diferentes países de habla hispana tienen diferentes palabras o dichos en sus países particulares. Aprendí muchas cosas de tu podcast. Específicamente en cómo se pronuncian ciertas palabras en los países específicos que mencionaste, como El Salvador, Honduras y México. ¡Buen trabajo!

  • Jose Ignacio Guerrero Donoso

    Hola Justine y Analyssa,
    me encanto el podcast de ustedes. Porque, no solo fue interesante, pero me enseñaste algo que yo antes no sabia. Además, yo te digo esto, porque yo siento que como Latinos nosotros no nos damos cuenta de estas pequeñas cosas en nuestro idioma; y tampoco nos damos cuenta que una palabra(s) que decimos en nuestro país a de ser muy diferente en otro país hispano hablante.

  • Amanda Uribe

    Hola! Franastico trabjo! Siempre es bueno escuchar el idioma y el dialecto de diferentes países. Es interesante como los diferentes dialectos tienen mas elisiones en una conversación normal. Me gusta la diferencia entre conversación formal y informal. Es mas facil para aprender como y cuando los hablantes nativos usan elisiones.

  • Priscilla Vargas

    Hola chicas, muy buen hecho. Me impresone que podieron obtener tres chicas para este estudio desde tres paises. Fue bien interesante como la /s/ se pronuncia o si elimina dependio desde donde viene la persona. Tengo amigas puertorriqueños y siempre me dicen que tienen, “lazy tongue”, lengua perezosa cuando no las entiendo. Aunque hablamos diferente en la manera de pronunciar si no estoy poniendo atencion a veces ni me fijo si pronuncian la /s/ o la elminan. Creo que en una conversación normal no lo noto porque mi mente llena lo que debo or creo que debo escuchar. Este estudio de la /s/ es fascinante.

  • Brianna Rodriguez

    ¡Hola Justine y Analyssa! Me encanta cómo tu podcast incluyó a tres estudiantes de diferentes países de habla hispana. Es interesante examinar las diferencias en su pronunciación y tono, especialmente cuando se analizan todos simultáneamente. ¡Buen trabajo en el podcast!

  • Samantha Bonillas

    Hola Justina y Analyssa. Gracias por compartir con nosotros las variaciones diferentes del español y comparándolos con inglés sobre el sonido sombre la /s/. Algo interesante que me gusto del episodio es cuando Bella anotó que la lengua de Elisa suena ‘más suave’ por que nosotros mismos no anotamos estos detalles pero otros hispanohablantes si. ¡Muy bien con el episodio. Aprendí mucho!

  • Melyna Martinez

    Hola Analyssa y Justine, me encante el tema y como explora variaciones del español y su comparación al inglés con el sonido de la S. La verdad es impresionante ver las diferencias en solo la lengua del español, como unas regiones ignoran el sonido y otros no. Las Mexicanas y la de centro América cuando escuchan su pronunciaciones es cuando uno puede ver la diferencia, pero si uno no lo apunto no creo que uno lo notaria mucho.

  • JoAnna Mendez

    ¡Hola Justine y Analyssa! ¡Para empezar, me llamo la atención que pudieron encontrar tres personas de diferentes partes! Es muy interesante que se puede escuchar las deferentes formas en que cada participante produce el sonido de la /s/. Esto me pone a pensar en cuando mi familia y yo fuimos a Florida de vacaciones y muchas personas estaban pronunciando la /s/ como /h/. Una cosita más que me gustaría aplaudirles es cuando explican lo que es la aspiración y la elisión y no nomas empieza con lo que encontraron durante su investigación.

  • Ryan Salinas

    Que facinante! Yo aprendi mucho para el podcast.Yo no se que en pais diferentes, hay pronunciation diferente para las letras o las palabras. En el podcast, ellas dan ejemplos especificos como la letra /s/. Dependiendo de pais o region, las palabras con la letra /s/ estan pronunciado diferente. Con hispanohablantes, hay muchos similitudes, pero hay un poco diferencia.

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