The internet has changed NBA culture in myriad ways. It has allowed fans to debate, discuss, and grow even more invested in the league. It has opened up new revenue streams and avenues for broadcast, the game is more global than ever. It has even allowed the players to interact regularly with normal fans, well, at least Kevin Durant does this.
But there is another aspect to it which isn’t the best. Trolls and anonymous posters tend to mess with good basketball discourse often. This has given rise to a lot of hate being directed at players while inventing a whole new lexicon of terms for fans to throw around. And the interesting part of it is that the players being drafted into the league now have grown up with his culture and terminology.
Scottie Barnes showed that in a recent clip from a live stream he did. Talking about a fan getting hyped up while watching LeBron James play, Barnes completely roasted said fan in his stream.
Scottie Barnes clowning this LeBron fan 😅
(h/t @AhnFireDigital) pic.twitter.com/2CCbxLjEqF
— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) August 23, 2022
Nah, don’t lie though, don’t lie, don’t lie. Hey I want y’all to watch this next clip and tell me if the d**k-eating is crazy. Watch what the man does here now, and they went crazy. No way, no way he’s d**k-eating with a hat on. No, what? No. I’m in tears bro. This guy has me dead, bro. Oh my god!”
LeBron James indeed has some truly fanatical fans that can sometimes go overboard, but this isn’t that big of a deal. Barnes just seems to be having a good time and clowning on some fans while doing it.
What’s ironic about it is that’s the level of greatness Barnes should be aspiring to. If he can be as good as LeBron James, he’ll have fans acting all types of crazy around him as well. And with KD staying, Barnes has the chance to continue improving and start building a proper following for himself in Toronto.
