The Golden State Warriors extended their perfect start to the season in Utah on Monday night, but they had to work pretty hard for it. The Dubs needed a couple late clutch baskets from Steph Curry to eek out a 106-103 victory. It was their closest call this season and only the third time that a team even lost to the Warriors by five points or less in the 19-0 march towards history.
Once the final horn sounded, though, the fireworks were only beginning. Multiple Golden State players called out Utah Jazz writer/blogger Ben Dowsett for his tweets about what happened in the locker room after the game. Dowsett writes for Salt City Hoops on the ESPN TrueHoop network and Basketball Insiders.
It all started when Dowsett called out GSW stars Draymond Green and Steph Curry for what he considered to be slightly unbecoming behavior in the locker room.
Dowsett tried to temper the criticism a bit, then things got weird. First, he offered a “mea culpa” by saying he “misheard” what Curry actually said and that he actually wasn’t laughing at the Jazz or anyone else:
And somehow in the process of apologizing for misrepresenting what was one of the foundational elements of his critiquing the Warriors as bad winners, Dowsett stood firmly by the rest of his protestations.
This seems like an awful big deal made out of what probably was nothing, right? Well, that’s apparently what the Warriors players involved thought as well.
First, Steph Curry, who may lead the universe as the most well-liked and popular athlete at the present time, had this to say:
That’s one of the more polite and humorous athlete to reporter burns you’ll see. Draymond Green was a bit more straight to the point and called Dowsett a “mad corny dude” and a “coward”…
Even Andrew Bogut chimed in, scolding Dowsett and the NBA’s media rules that allow reporters in the locker room who mishear quotes and then run with them in lengthy Twitter soliloquies.
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/671731810854825984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
https://twitter.com/andrewbogut/status/671732309243002884?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
This is all very messy and complicated and unfortunate. Do the Warriors need to be worried about what a blogger in Salt Lake City has to say about the team? Probably not. But do they have every right to stand up for themselves and correct the record if they’re misquoted and their words are taken out of context? Absolutely.
For Dowsett’s part, if he’s been properly credentialed, then he has every right to be there. But if you’re not going to engage with players and then you’re going to paint players in a negative light in a social media screed and then you have to ultimately retract it… then those credentials should be under serious review.
In the end, it’s another example in the association of the media and the players not being able to find common ground, which is becoming a systemic problem at this point. Sadly, after reading this story, is it any wonder why players like Kevin Durant are so volatile and untrustworthy of the media?
(H/T Sheridan Hoops)
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