Some time ago, an NBA executive who didn’t like a story I wrote about his team decided to send a text message sharing his displeasure.
“My only hope is that you have ChatGPT spit up some of this shit for you so it didn’t take me long to write.”
“Oh, sick burns,” I thought, before I could somehow go on with my day.
However, beyond the details of this particular contradiction, there was an undercurrent in this initial letter that was impossible to miss. By choosing to angle AI with criticism, there was a strong conclusion that my reporting job—all jobs in sports media, really—was never superfluous.
Your days are numbered…
The robots are coming…
Like this.
It was, quite literally, an inhumane way to start a discussion with someone in this line of work.
But then you see a moment like the one Giannis Antetokounmpo and our veteran writer, Eric Nahm, had on Wednesday night, when he asked a simple question — “Do you see this season as a failure?” — after the collapse of Milwaukee against Miami sparked a two-minute reaction that was raw and revealing that would dominate media discussion for most of the next 24 hours. Despite the vain discussion on social media afterward, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban pacified the anti-media crowd by Play the same AI card Which CEO was with me that aforementioned day is reminded why fans always want objective sports reporters — of the human kind — to be part of the process. Thanks to Giannis and Eric, they consider my hope restored.
You know why Jianze fought through his frustration to unload all his feelings at that delicate moment? Because of his relationship with Nehm, who has chronicled Antetokounmpo’s incredible journey since 2015 with class, curiosity, fairness, and nuance throughout their time together. Most casual fans don’t care about this context, of course, but it’s not hard to Google their name and dig through the archives yourself. Kevin Durant Versus the media in the Gulf regionthis was not.
No matter how you view Antetokoummpo’s view of Ringz culture in the NBA, you now have a better sense of his experience because of that two-handed question that inspired the initial response. You can feel his pain and understand his points about the harsh reality that comes with playing professional sports. One team wins. Everyone else doesn’t make it to the proverbial mountain top.
Does that mean that everything you put in that season was for nothing, and that a year’s worth of sweat, physical sacrifice, and the inevitable injury all amounted to thousands of wasted hours that would have been better spent on some other endeavor? It’s a philosophical discussion that extends beyond the basketball court into life itself, and the truth is, there is no “right” answer here. But Giannis’ willingness to share his point of view certainly takes you beyond the square and adds to the fascinating dialogue. Isn’t that the point of us being there in the first place?
There may be no better speaker for this discussion than Giannis, if only because no one in NBA circles — and I mean, no one — questions the depth of his desire. He is an incredible worker and a generational talent, yet he knows as well as anyone that even these elite traits are not enough to get the trophy every time. Not even close.
Just read this quote from our conversation in mid-March and try to tell me that he doesn’t want this like everyone else.
“Why am I here (at this level in the NBA) because I’m desperate,” he said after the overtime loss at Golden State. I’m not as talented as Steve. I’m not as talented as KD (Kevin Durant). Because I don’t want to lose these things – and it’s not going to stop until I’m out of this league.”
Given this lens, is it any surprise to anyone that Giannis — who missed two and a half games in the Heat series due to his back injury in Game 1 — wasn’t quite ready to face the harsh reality of what just happened? It’s one thing not to make it to a title, and quite another to get bounced back by an old rival when you’re widely regarded as the best team in the NBA.
Still, to his credit, the 28-year-old, who for the ages has been helping fans understand his psychology when it comes to competition. And the timing of his Ted Talk couldn’t be more appropriate.
Everywhere you look in the League this week there are star players who can relate to this fact highlighted by Antetokounmpo: winning it all is really really difficult. Just ask the Clippers, whose title hopes have once again been dashed by injuries to Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. Or the Cavs, who spent most of this season hunting down the elite, only to see their new franchise pivot, Donovan Mitchell, struggle when it mattered most as they fell to the Knicks.
Or Jimmy Butler, who looks just as dominant now as he did when he led the Heat to the 2020 NBA Finals in the Orlando bubble, but he hasn’t won it all yet. Or LeBron James, the Lakers star who fell to the Finals six times (while winning four) and who finds himself in a first-round battle with the Memphis Grizzlies of the moment. Or Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta, whose rebuilding team went from propelling the Warriors to the West Finals five years ago in the James Harden era to hiring coach VIM Odoka (former of the Celtics) who also knows that feeling of missing out on a title opportunity for Golden State.
To varying degrees, all of these people—and many more—know how hard it can be to finish first. All of this makes Warriors Week even more awesome.
To watch the defending champions come back with three straight wins against the Kings, and catch a glimpse of everything as they did last season while they did it, was to admire their collective age and greatness. With and without Kevin Durant, the Steve Curry-Klay Thompson-Draymond Green superstar has won four of the past eight league titles while reaching the Finals six times. But even with this level of historic dominance, and their status as the gold-standard team of the era, they still fall short (sometimes very short) at halftime.
Along the way, their stories are penned by the kind of talented scribes who bring audiences that much closer to the experience. But whether it’s Marcus Thompson, Anthony Slater, Tim Kawakami, or any of the other Gulf veterans who are good at what they do, those moments of truth like the one Giannis experienced with Naham are a must.
In due form, then, I’ll give the final word to someone who recently made it clear he couldn’t agree more with this point of view: Green, the Warriors frontman who He hosts his own podcast He is also an analyst for TNT.
“When I talk (about) New Media (and) Old Media, there’s room for both,” Green said recently during a visit with veteran NBA reporters Chris Heinz and Mark Stein. #ThisLeague Uncut podcast. “There (is) an audience for both. Honestly, we’re all in the same bubble. I’m always talking about how this game works and feeds all of our families. And at the end of the day, I know things are often very disconnected (between players and media), but we’re all one group putting together a product.” He’s eventually sold to the masses, and he’s created a great life for all of us, so I don’t take that for granted.”
In a broad sense, Draymond is right. But I’ve never heard a player put it quite that way, and it was honestly very refreshing – and much appreciated.
He continued, “I never look at it like there are any hard feelings.” “Does it get emotional sometimes? Of course, but what doesn’t get emotional when it’s important? I think anything important gets emotional, so there are never any hard feelings. You heat up, and things always heat up. But in the end, it’s a team.” One big one—the NBA, the NBA reporters, the NBA players, the NBA staff, the NBA media…. It’s one big team that, at the end, brings together the best product in the world to sell and I’m so grateful and appreciative for that.”
For the record, my disagreement with the CEO was resolved amicably and professionally because, well, that’s the way these types of situations usually go. And don’t disappoint all the keyboard warriors who celebrated Giannis’ alleged removal of their insatiability, but it’s safe to assume they’re good again, too.
More coverage by Giannis Antetokounmpo from Eric Nehm:
January 30, 2023: Giannis Antetokounmo knows he’s doing better this season, but the Bucks star isn’t finished settling.
January 4, 2023: Giannis Antetokounmpo sets career high with casual dominance: ‘It’s a whole other world’
October 19, 2022: How does Giannis Antetokounmpo continue to be great? by being “a little crazy”
January 18, 2022: NBA 75: At No. 24, Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes one of the game’s most decorated players in less than a decade
November 19, 2021: Giannis Antetokounmpo and his continued evolution in basketball: What it tells us about his growth as a player
July 23, 2021: One-on-one with Giannis Antetokounmpo in the NBA in the Bucks: It’s crazy. It’s crazy.
July 20, 2021: Giannis Antetokounmpo’s historic 50-point game leads Bucks to their first NBA title in 50 years
July 20, 2021: From Bubble Burst to Champs: Inside the Incredible NBA Title Run by Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Bucks
July 15, 2021: from “Oh, st!” To ‘Shock’: How Giannis Antitekounmo’s Famous Block Saved the Bucks Season
December 15, 2020: Gian flips, turns, and worries: Inside the biggest deal in NBA history
June 24, 2019: Coronation Achievement: Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo was named NBA MVP
May 30, 2019: Giannis Antetokounmpo Unplugged: Bucks star pulls off playoff performance and tough team finish
(Giannis Antetokounmpo top photo: Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
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