Just to clarify, yes I am a Boston Celtics fan, and I am sipping on that Kool-Aid. Now moving on, the Boston Celtics have steamrolled their way to a record-setting 18th NBA Championship.
64-18 in the regular season, 16-3 in the playoffs, 80-21 overall, 4-1 in the finals – all lovely numbers and things that point toward one of the all-time dominant seasons. But these numbers probably aren’t going to be talked about with the ridiculous constant discourse that has surrounded this team and really that has infested this sport.
Media and social media discourse exist in all sports in this day and age, but what I see and witness in the footy media landscape, the NFL media landscape and the MMA media landscape doesn’t even come close to the ridiculous toxicity of NBA discourse.
ESPN’s hit show ‘First Take’ is obviously a problem, the FS1 talking head programs also play their part, but the worst is Twitter or X.
Kristaps Porzingis dunks the ball. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
The dread that hits me when scrolling through Twitter and seeing some of the most brainless basketball takes just numbs my brain to this point. I would swear that 90 per cent of Twitter takes come from people who just have no idea how basketball works or even watch it.
You will see a lot of easiest playoff runs ever debates (they won the chip in five), and you will see people try and drag Jayson Tatum for not winning finals MVP instead of propping up Jaylen Brown for winning the award. That will never get old as a Celtics fan, watching morons try to pit the J’s against each other, they are happy being the best duo in the NBA.
No one even wants to compliment anyone when it comes to Twitter I swear, that goes for the media coverage as well not just Twitter. At halftime of Game 5, ESPN’s coverage spent a bit too much time trying to rag on Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. Sometimes it is just healthy to be positive… I promise.
Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic. (Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Twitter just gives off this nasty sense that people don’t even enjoy basketball, they are just looking forward to someone’s downfall. The discourse through these playoffs has truly been ridiculous, some highlights being:
– Worst playoffs ever?
– Easiest playoff run ever?
– Is Ant the next MJ at the veteran age of 22?
– Was Tatum happy enough for Jaylen?
– Are the Celtics battle-tested?
Is a bit silly isn’t it?
As a Celtics fan, I can predict that Luka is going to be the recipient of a lot of unfair criticism as he wasn’t able to beat the Celtics (no one this year was able to or could’ve let’s be honest). He will receive the ‘gow does this impact his legacy debate’ when really he should be applauded for lifting a five-seed Mavs team all the way to the finals, in what was an extremely stacked Western conference according to Twitter.
People will rag Luka for his defence, well guess what? No NBA player is perfect; Tatum, Brown, Ant and Luka, like everyone else, have limitations in their games.
However, that will be altered by some to make the Celtics’ achievement look less. Will this stop Luka from being the GOAT, who cares? Have those debates when he is in his late 30s and has retired.
This ring-chasing GOAT debating obsession with social media and the talking heads media of America makes it so hard to just enjoy the sport and live in the moment. Every single thing LeBron James does is compared to that of Michael Jordan. Now, Anthony Edwards has to suffer that noise as well. Is Ant the next MJ? I don’t know how about just letting the young star play.
All the discourse won’t change any of these facts: Luka will be back next year putting up mind-boggling offensive stats, Ant will continue his upward trend into one of the best players in the NBA, and the Celtics will be back (thank you Brad Stevens) and will still be your 2024 NBA Champions.