2021 NBA Offseason Thread

[Man Called X]

Wow, thanks for the reminder that I never want to meet any of you IRL.

If you need the psychological advantage of calling someone a racial slur while playing a video game, you definitely suck at the game and very likely suck as a human being.

You've never talked shit in a competition in your entire life? That's all any of it ever was, generally by a culture of people that were already social outcasts in their own right. As gaming has become more culturally universal, unfortunately the toxicity of it's roots remains.

Sometimes people say fucked up shit and don't know any other context than their own lives to draw from. Sometimes people say things just to piss people off. Sometimes people really are just racist scum. Do you bother with the differences or just lump sum "piece of shit"?

Your holier than thou attitude is fucking hilarious though.

 

[Alec]

Wow, thanks for the reminder that I never want to meet any of you IRL.

If you need the psychological advantage of calling someone a racial slur while playing a video game, you definitely suck at the game and very likely suck as a human being.

The 0.001%ers (video games pros) talk like this and they definitely don’t suck. They just won’t do it in public forums.

 

[pr26]

You've never talked shit in a competition in your entire life? That's all any of it ever was, generally by a culture of people that were already social outcasts in their own right. As gaming has become more culturally universal, unfortunately the toxicity of it's roots remains.

Sometimes people say fucked up shit and don't know any other context than their own lives to draw from. Sometimes people say things just to piss people off. Sometimes people really are just racist scum. Do you bother with the differences or just lump sum "piece of shit"?

Your holier than thou attitude is fucking hilarious though.

X, I love ya as a member of the site....but my response to this would drag us down a non-basketball related rabbit hole since you and I have very different views on morality, feelings, mental health, etc. I grew up in a small town and I’ve said things in my past that I’m not proud of....but I also moved away, gained some perspective, learned about other communities, evaluated how my actions and words impact others, etc. So yeah, I would hold a millionaire athlete living in Miami to a higher standard than a 13 year old kid repeating what was said to him in a game lobby somewhere. Neither is right, but Myers has zero excuse.

If that makes me holier than thou, I can live with that. Feel free to pm if you want to discuss it further.

 

[Man Called X]

X, I love ya as a member of the site....but my response to this would drag us down a non-basketball related rabbit hole since you and I have very different views on morality, feelings, mental health, etc. I grew up in a small town and I’ve said things in my past that I’m not proud of....but I also moved away, gained some perspective, learned about other communities, evaluated how my actions and words impact others, etc. So yeah, I would hold a millionaire athlete living in Miami to a higher standard than a 13 year old kid repeating what was said to him in a game lobby somewhere. Neither is right, but Myers has zero excuse.

If that makes me holier than thou, I can live with that. Feel free to pm if you want to discuss it further.

I think you're confusing my argument.

It's not that I think it's right, or that it's okay because it just is.

I'm saying it just is, and there's no reason for the average person to get self righteous and upset about it. If you're Jewish and upset about it, okay fine. If you're just a social justice warrior that has to scream outrage at every instance of mean words, get fucked.

It's all just so tiresome. I personally just think he's an idiot for streaming it. Without this stream, there's no publicity, there's no incident broadcast to the masses. It's just your standard gaming stupidity.

 

[pr26]

I think you're confusing my argument.

It's not that I think it's right, or that it's okay because it just is.

I'm saying it just is, and there's no reason for the average person to get self righteous and upset about it. If you're Jewish and upset about it, okay fine. If you're just a social justice warrior that has to scream outrage at every instance of mean words, get fucked.

It's all just so tiresome. I personally just think he's an idiot for streaming it. Without this stream, there's no publicity, there's no incident broadcast to the masses. It's just your standard gaming stupidity.

Thanks for the clarification. We do differ here. You think he’s an idiot for streaming it, I think he’s an idiot for saying it. Agree to disagree.

*gets fucked*

 

[2 For The Brew]

I liked Julian Edelman’s tweet very much. Meyers should accept the offer and also go with Julian to Yad Vashem once travel is opened.

I tend to agree with Julian that Meyers’ comment was out of ignorance, although there’s also the possibility he’s an idiot. Anyone familiar with the history of basketball in this country, the history of the NBA and the religious beliefs of the Commissioner and many of the owners wouldn‘t shit where they eat.

 

[LeeBuckeye]

Myers Leonard is an idiot who stumbled onto a word he didn't understand or did understand it and hurled it towards another gamer to hurt them. This individual he insulted can't even hear them in game so he probably did it to entertain his twitch audience so that cancels out some psychological advantage. Maybe he meant "kiting bitch" which is having an enemy fire or chase you from range while avoiding in attack. In that video, he's being sniped and he's looking for cover but I'm assuming that would be his defense if that was the case.

He clearly shouldn't have said it (even dumber to do so while streaming) but because he did, he'll have to deal with the consequences from his employers regardless of his upbringing or the toxic nature of gaming. Will this change the world? lol no, it won't and Morgan Wallen is a testament to that who saw his sales quadruple after saying the N-word recently despite being dropped by his record label, Apple Music and Spotify. Either way taking full responsibility for your words/actions is the better path compared to dismissing it and blaming shifting societal norms as the crux of the problem.

 

[Los216]

So we're going to pretend that the guy who was the only player to stand during the anthem in the bubble while everyone else kneeled during the height of the racial tensions this past summer and he happens to be the same guy that as recently as January 6th this year released a statement explaining why he stands for the anthem claiming to be patriotic and not tolerating any forms or racism and hate speech didn't know what he was doing when he used a hateful word that has not even been used regularly or as often in society since WWII??????

You mean to tell me he didn't know??????

But he knew what he was doing when he went on his media tour telling anybody who listed why he stands for the anthem and that he doesn't tolerate hate speech. he knew that shit but he didn't know what he was doing while he was playing a video game?

 

[ACisKING]

Leonard feigning ignorance is not believable in the slightest. If you watch the video he pretty much pauses, presumably goes through his rolodex of offensive phrases, and then settles on using an anti-Semitic one that’s uncommon enough that most people reading this story probably had to look it up. Like this isn’t a phrase that was commonly used as an insult when we grew up (like “gay”) but which would now be off-putting to hurl at someone as an insult. This is one of those phrases that I’ve pretty much never heard anyone use in real life - not even while playing online games, which tend to be infested with immature behavior. And the fact that he used an expletive before and after the phrase means he also clearly meant it as an insult. So to go to that phrase is a clear sign that Leonard definitely knew what he was saying - and very much meant to say it as an insult.

 

[macbdog]

Jeremy fucking Lin complains about professional basketball players calling him Coronavirus on the court. Professional athletes can't get away from doing it. Why is the expectation that gamers should be able to?

The even worse part is this happened when he was playing for the Beijing Ducks in the Chinese League last year.

 

[Alec]

Competition brings out the ugliest of people.

Jeremy fucking Lin complains about professional basketball players calling him Coronavirus on the court. Professional athletes can't get away from doing it. Why is the expectation that gamers should be able to?

They are words said during competition, a time when your base emotions are going to be stronger and closer to the surface. Any psychological advantage is still an advantage. If saying a mean word is enough to throw you off, that's on you, not I.

You can't homogenize and pasteurize the world. It's never going to fucking happen. We've got an entire generation convinced that their feelings matter. Self absorbed jackasses the whole lot of you.

I can almost get the Jeremy Lin one because it would be like a bunch of Asian people calling the lone black guy at the math competition “malaria” which we know wouldn’t fly. But again, it’s competition Between a bunch of hyper masculine PED using alpha males. Shit is gonna be said.

 

[Sebastian]

The word Leonard used is really not in common use anymore.

I was in the Army and one hears every slur imaginable coming from the mouths of folks from all over the country and world.

I don't think I heard that word more than once in six years.

Very odd.

But also, indefinite suspension is a lot for something that was not aimed at anyone in particular, and was more or less a slip of the tongue during trash talk which most everyone engages in during games.

There is an iota difference.

Suspend him for five games or something.

 

[Benway]

The etymology is somewhat interesting though.

 

[Los216]

The word Leonard used is really not in common use anymore.

I was in the Army and one hears every slur imaginable coming from the mouths of folks from all over the country and world.

I don't think I heard that word more than once in six years.

Very odd.

But also, indefinite suspension is a lot for something that was not aimed at anyone in particular, and was more or less a slip of the tongue during trash talk which most everyone engages in during games.

There is an iota difference.

Suspend him for five games or something.

The word is so uncommon that anyone who uses it can’t simply plead ignorance.

You have to go out of your way just to know the meaning of the word. Then you have to go even further out of your way to use it the way Meyers Leonard used it.

How can you even play dumb after that? How?

 

[Lee]

I dont see the big deal with the Anti Semitic Slur. I mean David Stern, Adam Silver, there have never been any powerful Jews in the NBA management or anything.

Just as long as Meyers Leonard stays on the plantation, everything will be fine,