NBA players in today’s generation are often criticized by the old guard for not being as competitive as they used to be. Their main gripe is that players on different teams often share a strong friendship with each other and interact on a regular basis.
The old guard probably feels that players from different teams should look at each other as rivals, and not interact so openly and regularly with players they are trying to get the better of when they are playing against each other.
With the rise in popularity of the NBA, young players often form strong bonds with each other during their time in high school and college. And when they reach the NBA, they continue to stay in touch despite being on different teams than each other.
The advent of social media over the last decade has also helped this. As players who don’t play in the same city can keep in touch with each other and interact online without having to see each other on a regular basis. Two players who used this to their advantage to have some banter are Jamal Murray and Jaylen Brown.
Brown put out a Tweet recently saying that he has never bought a car with his money despite earning good money in the NBA for quite some time now. Jamal Murray responded by agreeing with Brown.
In a hilarious rebuttal, Brown told Murray to buy him a car for his upcoming birthday. Murray joked that he was broke, to which Brown responded with a funny picture of Murray himself looking confused.
Jaylen Brown. 😂😂 pic.twitter.com/rS4BsPhloa
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) September 27, 2021
Players like LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, PJ Tucker and Kevin Durant, among many others have shown that it is possible to maintain a friendship in the NBA while competing against each other.
The modern NBA has shown that it is okay to maintain a friendship with a player whom you are trying to compete with. Having a competitive spirit is applauded, but that doesn’t mean that there needs to be animosity among players.
