So far this season (9 games in) I have enjoyed reading posts and posting in the GameDay threads. After watching last night’s game (Pacers) I was surfing the r/UtahJazz posts and noticed an article about THT and why he thinks we should believe in him.
Now I’ve read all the comments about him and Sexton and the rest of the Utah Jazz players and staff. Apparently, some of the players read these posts too. It got me to thinking about some of the things I’ve read and frankly, some of my own posts.
Coaches and players know what bad losses feel like, if you’ve ever coached a youth sport, you know. The fans(parents,families) really lose faith quickly. Second guessing coaches, players, the organization as a whole. They begin shouting at refs, expressing their negative opinions on the sidelines etc … Not a great environment for the players, or any of the participants for that matter.
I’m seeing a lot of that behavior this season with our favorite team. The amount of negative comments about THT, Sexton, Clarkson,just about every member of the team is just not good. If the players read these comments, it’s not good at all.
Some of the best teams start with the worst records. As you build, the winning usually takes care of itself. The atmosphere you build becomes the culture, culture attracts talent, talent affects winning, and the winning feeds the culture.
Yeah, we’ve seen some poor basketball this season and I can empathize with the other fans about those losses but let’s not tear the team apart from the inside out. Let’s respect the players, coaches and staff and support them with positivity. After all, Utah has a tough time attracting free agents when we’re winning, what do you think a bad team with terrible fans will attract ?
I personally think it’s fair game to talk about and critique how players perform on the court on these sorts of forums, I mean that’s what they are designed for after all. If a player seeks out posts and comments on reddit, they would be aware of what that may come across and the positives and negatives of that. Pro athletes that make the elite level are often their own harshest critics so comments made here aren’t something they are un aware of or know that they need to improve, it’s not like people are attacking their character or their quality as a human. I agree though that if people are seeking out players and social media and tagging them or privately messaging them to criticise them then that is poor form. In general though what a fanbase says on reddit will have very little if any bearing on how the franchise is viewed by players in the league.