The Ugly Truth About Social Media's Influence on Basketball

In the world of basketball trends come and go that come and change an entire generation of basketball in the United States, sometimes for the good, and sometimes for the bad. But in the 2020’s, one thing I know that reigns supreme is the surge of social media and its effects on the basketball world itself. Recently in a video made by Austin Rivers he mentioned how "Highlight Culture" is ruining the NBA and the sport of basketball due to it's many negative promotions. Whether it is the promotion of bad, flashy, and inefficient basketball, the promotion of anyone can get a mixtape if they pay for it rather than to earn it like he did, or how it is ruining basketball in the NBA because now the NBA is starting to become littered with these people who grew up in that generation who bring zero defense, zero good basketball habits, and zero basketball IQ, and even how European Prospects will soon run the NBA and the World in basketball due to this. This is the subject we'll discuss today with many faces making appearances for their part in the movement like Mikey Williams, Jalen Green, Ja Morant, DJ Wagner, and many more.

Chapters:
0:00 - 1:42 Intro
1:42 - 6:50 The Origin of this Debate
6:50 - 11:55 The Fundamentals in Basketball are disappearing
11:55 - 19:41 The "Anyone Can Get a Mixtape" era
19:41 - 30:02 How this effects the NBA and US Basketball as a whole
30:02 - 31:31 Outro

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[Alvini_Linguine]

So what are your thoughts on the current state of basketball in the United States and this issue itself?

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[TiggySL]

I fell like this is one of the reasons why so many players respect Jrue Holiday. He isn’t a trash talker, he isn’t a flopper, he plays constantly elite defense… heck he has won games with defense using those late game steals to put the game out of reach. There is a whole video of NBA players calling Jrue the most underrated player in the NBA

[theowenstuart]

that is what people do not fully capture when trying to mimic stephen curry. he is quite possibly the best cross country runner the nba has ever seen. kids do not try to replicate his off ball movement, his understanding of where the ball moves and where to create space, let alone his leadership and EGO-LESS, WINNING-BASED attitude. Yes, his dribbling and shooting looks pretty in a highlight reel. But there are layers to his game that get completely ignored, especially by casuals.

[leogolive]

Social media has had an ugly influence on the whole world not just basketball.

[mig.z]

This is why international players are dominating the league now. International players care more about the fundamentals and not the highlights that come with their play. It takes a bare minimum of discipline to keep your head in the game. For some reason, this new generation of ballers are only in it for the fame. Hopefully, they mature into individuals that care more about the value of winning games and championships.

[atp]

The highlight culture will not die out in the US simply because you need these highlights to be spotted and to continiue your path to college and the pros, while in Europe prospects are integrated in the mens teams at around 15-18 years old, if they are good enough. They know that they don't need to prove their worth to the world and can find their role on the court early on and contribute to winning.(Also in Europe you can't afford to lose, because your team will get relegated to lower division or lose revenue, if they underpreform, so players and coaches are under a lot more pressure to win.)

[fletch]

Played AAU growing up...I knew something was wrong with youth basketball when my team was up 25 points one game in the 4th quarter but the other teams PG had a posterizing dunk and all people cared about on both teams & in the crowd was that dunk...it didn't matter that we won, as long as there was a highlight everyone was happy.

[broadwaynicky]

I love the Jrue Holidays, the Alex Carusos, the Royce O’Neales and the Jose Alvarados for always being those guys that play team ball or do things that help the team more than the highlight reel.

[bytgfdsw]

Early on in the season Steve Kerr benched Kuminga because he wanted to chase highlights and didn’t involve his teammates. It basically took him a month to teach Kuminga to do the little things, and now he’s a staple rotation player by playing hard defense, making good reads, and cutting hard while still able to score from the post.

The way intangibles are discouraged today is unbelievably sad for me because if I were to make a championship level team, I would always prefer someone like Danny Green more than Jalen Green or Lamelo

[michaelbarnes]

The more I grow older the more I realize the internet is the worst thing that happened to the world cause it’s basically ruining our perspectives and destroying human interaction as far as society, our culture here in America and relationships of all types

[TheBlademan-]

Personally i’ve always felt like that a player shouldn’t even be getting media attention until they are 18. Some of these new dudes be getting celebrity type exposure from age 14-15 and you can’t tell me it doesn’t go to their head.

[hugezk]

Never really thought about highlight culture being a problem for entire generations until this video but that's maybe because I'm European and we hardly glorify flashy plays out here. Good shit, keep it up!

[TheSmoothViewASMR]

Playing a role is very underatted these days, look at Patty Mills, he has a small role as a 3pt shooter off the bench for the Nets but in the Olympics for Team Australia his role changes to the 1st option scorer

[michaelthompson]

My son played traveling and highschool 🏀. He wasn't the most gifted offensively but he was a lock down defender. He was literally one of maybe 2 kids who ever seemed interested in playing D. I remember him telling me how he was getting playing time over players who were better on offense but they didn't play D and weren't as coachable as him. Some kids hated him for it. The Coach valued kids that were coachable, who would listen, hustle and play some D. My son was one of those kids. We need more coaches like that.

[artisttjan]

The Cons are all very true and I loved this video.

The Pros of Social Media:
-I see several ways for people who wouldn't ordinarily have exposure to gain it.

-Ability to capitalize/monetize from your followers at an early age. Esp since American doesn't let people go pro at 16

-Access to more information.

I will say that AAU also plays a huge role in the lowering of skill level and IQ, social media is a secondary effect of bad coaching plus highlight culture.

[kavencci]

Dj Wagner is the perfect example of not caring about the social media hype he's gonna have a spectacular career in college and in the league

[bnnyvavm]

What these kids don’t realize is that they can get a bag and have a SUPER long career in the NBA as a 6’4 to 6’8 guard or wing that plays defense and shoots catch and shoot threes.

[YcMdattGUY]

It’s the same thing that happens in every aspect of our life. When people realize social media can help them they try their best to maximize attention.

[KANI_APEXX]

I’m so happy that someone is actually talking about this topic, the purity of this sport is being destroyed by social media and “highlights” hell I can’t even play a normal pick up game in P.E without someone tryna shoot a contested shot or make horrible passes (senior year btw) it really sucks

[joseumana]

100% agree. This social media age is leading to more and more guys who are going in the top 20 in their drafts being busts, guys like Mikey Williams seeming like greats prospects and slowly falling down the ranks, and players that seem like great prospects in HS and proceed to be average or even bad at the college level.