Trash talk is something that even your little brother does to you. It’s literally apart of everyday life and as Gary Payton discussed, there are certain rules to keep in mind but social media ruined it.
When Kevin Garnett retired, many labeled him as the biggest trash talker in the NBA. While that may be indeed true, there have been others who paved the way for all trash talk. As UpRoxx pointed out, Gary Payton once had a moment in which he trash talked Michael Jordan. However, after reading the interview, it seems like Payton is disappointed with the levels of trash talk because he said that social media ruined it.
It’s always messaging, this social media stuff. They are trying to send a message. You always want to get your followers up. Okay, whatever. That’s not trash talk to me. Trash talk is when you get on the floor and everything comes in the flow. Anything can come out of your mouth when you’re being competitive. Me waking up and plotting something out, that’s not trash talking. When you got a script to what you’re going to do and put it on your page, you wake up and you talk about, “Oh, today, I’m going to talk about this guy.” That ain’t trash talk to me. That’s a setup.
As he does make a great point, I think trash talk has just evolved and has perhaps made the animosity between players increase based on what they comment, like, or share. If anything, trash talk these days has a bigger network and allows for more ground to be covered in case you didn’t hear the person on the court, which would be hard.
Me getting on the basketball court and going at anybody, at any time, that’s trash talking. Me talking to a referee, me talking to a fan. When you’re getting on social media, you’re making it personal against one person. That’s what our society is about right now, social media. That’s why I’m glad it wasn’t in my era. I hate social media because it’s possible for me right now … I’m in a car. I just post where I’m at and I’m like, “I’m going down whatever boulevard right now. I’m in a car, and the license place is this.” Who would want to do that? I don’t want to do that. I don’t want nobody to come roll up on me. I like a private life.
It’s a little bit different. There’s Instagram. There’s tweets. Show everybody what you’re doing. Show everybody the inside of your house. It is a little different.
His age is showing out incredibly as he’ll be turning 50 in July. You can’t blame him for thinking this way considering that even he said it himself, “That’s why I’m glad it wasn’t in my era.”