Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports
When asked about why trash-talking has taken a dip in the NBA, Washington Wizards shooting guard Paul Pierce had the most antiquated response of all time. “Computers.”
Computers. And NBA 2K.
Let me begin by saying that Paul Pierce has been around for 17 seasons. He is 37 years of age. He was born in the seventies. The only thing that’s keeping him from being the oldest player in the league is his teammate, Andre Miller, whom he presumably talks with about ‘how times have changed’ and all of the stuff that happened ‘back in the day.’
The glory days of loud-mouthed swashbucklers who’d get under your skin like Gary Payton. Or like Charles Barkley, who would tell you that he was going to go around his back, between his legs, spin you like a top, then lay it in off the glass, and there was nothing you could do about it.
True enough. Those days were great. But those days are gone.
And nostalgia isn’t solid ground for an argument. Talking cash to opponents during the game is still very much a thing. Even if it’s arguably less of a thing than was the case in Pierce’s era, video games can’t possibly be to blame for the decline. Video games have been prominent, even within the league for longer than Pierce has been around. Doesn’t he remember NBA Jam?
Video games have been here for awhile and they’re not going anywhere. And what’s more– has he ever actually played a game of NBA 2K? If the actual game of basketball is 90% mental then video games are 99%. Winning the verbal battle is more important than winning the actual game. Last week I squeezed out a victory online and still lost because my opponent– who couldn’t have possibly seen me before in real life– said my “swag is unknown.” It wrapped my head in a pretzel for the rest of the evening, and I still think about it every other day. What did that even mean?
The point is that the whole thing just comes off sounding old rather than insightful or helpful in any way.
(Thanks to Ball Don’t Lie for sharing.)
