Toronto Raptors: 4 Things the Durant Injury Revealed About All of Us

Sports Media: The Instigators

“He who controls the media controls the masses”. The late great Jim Morrisson nailed it exactly and when it comes to how fans view the players, the media must share the blame.

Even in today’s social media era, where any regular person can grow a following and become a self-proclaimed “media member”, the mainstream media still plays a critical role in influencing the minds of people.

Not only do they broadcast things like LeBron’s “The Decision” or ask inflammatory questions to get a rise of players or create triggering headlines that overstate topics, but they also paint players a certain way.

Cousins, who has had a tumultuous relationship with the NBA media, went off in a post-game interview citing how it was both the fans’ and media’s fault:

"“So trash! We’re all idolized as superstar athletes. We’re idolized for what we do between the lines and then once we lash out and do human type things, then we can sit back and …” Demarcus Cousins"

He was lamenting how the media is so quick to jump on NBA players the moment they show a human side to them. They are painted as gods among men.

Almost on cue, the New York tabloids took aim at Durant in the most tasteless of ways:

A classless move and below the belt. And yet it’s this same provocative style of “journalism” that allegedly moves the needle.

People love controversy. They love drama. They beg for the media to stir the pot.

It’s the same reason why so many sports talk shows like FOX Network’s Undisputed and The Herd and ESPN’s First Take are so popular. No one is watching them for their play-by-play analysis or intricate breakdown of basketball mechanics.

Everyone is tuning in for the narratives, no matter how outrageous.

Skip Bayless is notorious for his outlandish takes and his incessant harassing of NBA superstars like James and Leonard. Yet he has 2.9 million followers on Twitter, behind only Stephen A. Smith who is no saint himself for his scathing commentary on the players.

Jalen Rose, a former player turned media member, went the other route. He harangued both the media and fans for creating a “toxic culture” labeling Durant “soft” and playing a part in pressuring him to play.

But like the players, the media can often be viewed as a caricature: a group of individuals with an agenda. Yet they are still people. And it is as unfair to paint the general media as “bad guys” out to get the players when there are many who work tirelessly to cover a story objectively and capture the more humane aspects of sports.

Although like the classless Raptors fans who gave Canadians a bad name, the careless editors and producers of the media will continue to stain the industry.

NBA players will continue to have a love-hate relationship with them. But they aren’t the only ones.