The NBA is viewed as the highest level of basketball in the world and is the dream of countless young kids. While the modern NBA has shown a decrease in physical violence, the unsportsmanlike conduct has risen exponentially, yet, the youth continue to idolize the players in the league, despite their actions.
With the rise of individuality at the expense of team focus, teen athletes have begun to imitate NBA players from their swag on the court, to their play styles, and most problematically, their attitude. When these high level athletes argue, yell, and fight in games it sets the stage for these kids to do the same, if not worse. While the NBA itself doesn’t aim to teach this level of physicality, it’s enforced heavily by college and high school coaches that preach aggressive play, oftentimes leading to these habits coming with players to the next level: the NBA.
When kids go on social media and see NBA stars showboating and exemplifying bad sportsman-
ship, then they see people laughing in the comments, millions of likes, and thousands of reposts, it tells the kids that they get rewarded and congratulated for this bad behavior. For example, there’s been a trend on the court where players will make a good play and start yelling or screaming at their opponents or crowds.
With the way social media glorifies stats and highlights, young players end up chasing stats and highlights to get that same gratification that they see other players get. Many of these highlights are results of 1 on 1 basketball games.
While being able to score 1 on 1 is a crucial part to most basketball players, when it’s put on a pedestal and becomes the only thing taught to young kids it breeds selfishness and uncoachability. This is because if young players only learn 1 on 1 basketball they’re going to tend to only worry about themselves in games, leaving their team out to dry instead of helping their team succeed.
While stats and highlights may lead to popularity or money, it doesn’t lead to winning games. Many kids make sense of or try to validate what players do since they look up to and find these players amazing. For example, after LeBron threw a tantrum on the court after the refs gave the other team the ball, many individuals did not criticize him because of his status as a player, essentially validating his horrible sportsmanship just because of his talent.
Basketball social media outlets and coaches should aim to put good role models for younger players in the spotlight, for example Jared McCain and Victor Wembanya who showcase good sportsmanship and respect towards others. While the players do the actions, we can’t put all the accountability on them because coaches in many ways go along with and support it. They encourage this bad sportsmanship in several ways, the biggest way being a boost in playing time in games.
The NBA’s influence on our youth can’t be stopped, but we can change what’s congratulated and applauded by basketball culture. Instead of flashiness and disrespect we should highlight humbleness and respect towards officials, teammates, and coaches. The Euroleague and overseas basketball are clear evidence that it is possible for a sports community to put the little things that aren’t flashy in the limelight, the NBA just has to follow suit.
