Even though we’re constantly looking at reports, digging deep into the news, and even speculating and making projections about what could happen next, the truth is that there’s a lot going on in the NBA that never comes to light.
Teams, agents, players, executives, and media moguls have private conversations we never know of.
Not to be paranoid, but more often than not, they already know what’s about to go down way before it reaches mainstream media. They just have too much power and leverage to make things happen behind closed doors.
And, according to Ethan Strauss, the next big move that could happen in the NBA could come as a product of that leverage, as the Zion Williamson to New York rumors have been around for quite some time, albeit Zion isn’t a New York native, nor he went to college there.
Strauss says that Zion going to the Knicks would benefit ESPN because Creative Arts Agency represents most of their key personalities. Knicks GM Leon Rose used to work for that agency, and both Zion and Tom Thibodeau are represented by CAA as well:
(Transcript via House of Strauss)
“Even if I don’t take it as seriously as malfeasance in our politics or financial institutions, sports corruption still has an impact on coverage, and I dislike how much of the game behind the game is shielded from readers. For example, Creative Arts Agency (CAA) happens to represent key media personalities at ESPN NBA, which was by design, and accomplished with the subtlety and tact of the Red Wedding. When you combine that nugget with knowledge of CAA’s influence over the New York Knicks (GM Leon Rose is a former CAA superagent, coach Tom Thibodeau is a CAA client), ESPN’s reports of Zion Williamson (CAA client) having an interest in joining the Knicks gets put in a different light. The way it’s presented to the consumer is the mere reporting on a rising star in New Orleans wanting to play in New York. You’re not supposed to know that ESPN wants this to happen because ESPN is CAA and CAA is ESPN, which means that CAA is the Knicks, meaning that the Knicks are ESPN. You’re not supposed to know that this factors heavily into why New Orleans is shit out of luck, gumbo and jazz music be damned. In many ways, the agencies run the NBA. The media that they use to execute their messaging is making the principals seem peripheral. So often, the story of a trade or free agency signing is told absent mention of its true author.
Again, all by design. You are not meant to know when a reporter and player he’s reporting on work for the same agency, even when and especially if it’s completely obvious that the two are on the same team, working together. I’ve already argued that the sneaker brand is the main employer for a few players at the top of the heap. I could make the same argument with superstar reporters and their agencies. And if that’s the case, then perhaps the public is not getting the right frame when information is presented. “
Strauss isn’t implying that Zion to the Knicks is a done deal by any means, he’s just articulating and explaining how the game behind the game works.
You’d have to be quite naive to think that the media doesn’t have a big influence on what goes down in sports. Hopefully, Zion will do as he pleases and not just what he’s told.
