https://youtu.be/NSTlnYVQybc
One of the first things they teach you when you are in journalism school is before you give an opinion talk to the person you are giving the opinion about, so you can make an informed one.
The media and mostly old white media talked at length yesterday about Lonzo Ball’s diss track to Kyle Kuzma. Some were quick segments, many like Colin Cowherd were long rants (Cowherd spoke about it for 3 hours).
None of the reporters spoke to Kuzma or Lonzo Ball. The media either didn’t do any research or they didn’t care to inform their viewers that this type of back and forth between Kuzma, Ball, Josh Hart and all the Baby Lakers have been going on all year.
The narratives that were put out by the media were just simply wrong. There is no beef, friction or anger between these two. They are two of the up and coming players in the NBA. Ask any of the guys Lonzo played with what type of teammate he is. Ask anyone how hard Kuzma and Josh Hart work.
The problem with mainstream media is they don’t understand young players. Diss tracks and social media roasting is how they communicate; it is how they show they care about each other and are friends. Some of the “coded words” I heard yesterday was so bad and all it does it put a bad stigma on these young players with older fans who already have their prejudices and stereotypes.
Instead of explaining, so they understand this really isn’t a big deal, they made it into a bad and something negative which it wasn’t.
This is what happens when 90% of the people you have on air are white or old athletes. This is when you need more minority voices behind the scenes and in front of the camera. This is when you need someone to tell these people to chill, and this is just part of the culture.
In the 90s they said “Yo Momma” jokes, in 2018 they post a meme. The lack of representation of minorities in media when the majority of the sports they cover have minority players in them is always going to be a problem. It is one of the reasons, if not the main reason I started BSO so many years ago, because I was tired of old white people not knowing what the hell they were talking about when it came to young black athletes.
It has gotten better, but there are times where these problems have arisen. If you look at the comments to Lonzo and Kuzma, they mimic the ignorant thoughts of the media members who made this a story that didn’t exist.
The Lakers probably annoyed by it, but it isn’t as serious as people making it out to be, and LeBron isn’t going to change his decision because of a social media post or diss record.
You tell me who has better basketball IQ, JR Smith or Kuz and Lonzo as rookies? Someone like LeBron knows exactly what is going on, how hard these guys are working and what their potential can be.
Lastly, because no one will speak about it, there are MANY in the media who want Lonzo to fail because LaVar Ball doesn’t kiss their ass, so they are willing to put Lonzo in a negative light because of their feelings for LaVar. I know this factually, this is not my opinion.
I will say be careful whose opinion you are taking at face value because in the end the media especially mainstream media are just looking for things that are going to get ratings and anything Ball related will do well, so they were willing to say whatever they had to say to get you to listen. Because there aren’t enough minority voices around to shut them down they will continue to do so, so you have been warned.