Matt Barnes believes too many former athletes in the media are being overly harsh of today’s players in order to chase clicks.
As a former player himself, Barnes advocated for a little more balance during an appearance on the Stephen A. Smith Show.
“I feel there are athletes who have been former players that have kind of crossed that line too,” Barnes says. “And I don’t feel like these guys can call the homies they used to play with anymore and be like, ‘Hey, what’s up,’ or try to get the scoop. We all have our inside sources, and to me, I’ve always valued that more than giving a network kind of what they want. I feel like sometimes the networks want you to go that extra mile for views and clicks. And I never looked at it that way.
“When I was fortunate enough to work at ESPN — for the three-and-a-half, four-plus years I worked for them — I was always very content in my space because I knew that I could give you an in-depth analysis from a player’s point of view and throw some analytics in there. But I was never willing to go out there and disrespect these guys because I know how hard it is to be in the position. Like, I was a role player for 15 years. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like, but I know much more than a regular pedestrian, what it’s like to be one of these stars.”
Barnes made the point that you can critique a player without disrespecting them.
“So, I’ve never — I’ve always understood, not just in basketball, but across the board. I think we’re in an era now where loud disrespect is accepted instead of critiquing athletes, which is what it used to be. So, I don’t know if it’ll ever really go back.”
It was interesting that Barnes made the comments to Stephen A. Smith, considering the longtime ESPN personality has a long history of flaming players dating all the way back to his famous roast of Kwame Brown.
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