Deandre could actually play without being the number 1 option though. A scoring guard who can’t pass,defend or move like a spot up shooter isn’t winning basketball

This extends beyond the nba. In any company, your skills and accolades are only a part of the equation. The other part is being liked.

Tristan Thompson probably still floating around on a bench somewhere, too

We just saw Joe Ingles hitting 3s in garbage time too

Tony Bradley (8 seasons ) and Thomas Bryant (9 seasons) have basically been 10-15th men the last 5 years and they’re about to get that 10 year NBA pension.

Something most redditors don’t understand lol

Deandre Jordan’s 7ft reel and an athletic specimen lol

And he seems to love his teammates

I mean its well past that lol. He just seems completely incapable of taking criticism and improving. He is extremely hooperpilled and delusional

Probably could be landing $15-20M per year contracts over the next decade if he’d learn defense and accept a 6th man role like Lou Williams or Jamal Crawford.

Literally maybe just played himself out of like $150,000,000 in potential career earnings because stuff like a misconstrued Zach Lowe podcast quote got to him.

It’s also a good example of why some skills don’t make you a great basketball player

For example let’s say Cam vs Draymond. Cam is faster, can jump higher, can dribble and shoot WAY better but draymond is a winning basketball player because of his screens, chemistry, passing/playmaking, defense etc etc so he’s a way better player

It’s hard to get that into kids heads as a youth coach. They think just being flashy and being able to dribble and shoot make you great. They just want to score or cross someone up and it’s not what makes a good basketball

All timer 😂

Very well said. If everyone likes you your successes are amplified. Your victories are cheered for louder by those above you. Especially in a corporate setting.

People don’t understand that even if you’re good at your job, PLENTY of people could be just as good/better at that same exact job.

No matter what you do for work, you are replaceable.

The key is to be someone people enjoy having around and don’t want to replace

If Cam had his ego in check, him being an introvert wouldn’t have been a problem. But if you want to be the man, then you can’t get shy when things get tough either.

Being an introvert isn’t an excuse to be rude or uncooperative or selfish. I don’t mean to imply you are at all, but it’s pretty surprising just basic stuff like controlling your emotions, communicating normally and being responsive are definitely not something nearly all employees have. I’ve worked with some super bright engineers who have been horrible to work with, just because of terrible interpersonal skills.

I’m super extroverted, but most of my coworkers are remote and I’m not even slightly close to any of them, like I’d never text or call them except regarding work. And at work I just want to get my stuff done, be valuable and help out where I can, I avoid any unnecessary interactions. But you gotta at least exchange pleasantries, it’s just rude not to even though you don’t intend it that way.

Good luck to you, hope you find a better gig/team. Unfortunately in this market it’ll probably not be in the very near future

Same, I remember with a fellow software developer that’s a very funny and charismatic dude, but stretches a half day’s work into 2 weeks. And no one says a damn thing to him, not even our boss who nitpicks everything.

And I know it’s not a skill issue because I’ve seen him work, he just does the barest minimum and let’s his personality do the rest.

Well, Cam Thomas didn’t have any “merit” either. He was terrible, that’s why he’s gone.

Humans are social animals

I’m the loud personality you’re talking about and yes, that was my experience in my career. I had 4 job offers right out of university based on interviews and just meeting professional recruiters, and so I could literally pick what I wanted to get. I got into a management trainee position immediately, and then within 8 months promoted to Assistant Brand Manager. Then I just made friends with a big time TV producer while on my current job .. He offered me a better position as Assistant Producer and pay and then promoted me 10 months into the job with another pay raise.

Even after I suffered several lapses in my career because of my neurodivergence, I kept getting job offers and better pay for 8 years through just being good at interviews. Always getting promoted and praised simply for being that person who was social and likeable (a lot of that had to do with personality mixed with competence). I wasn’t bad at my job either, but there were definitely people who were better and didn’t move up half as quickly as I did.

I see the word nepotism thrown around a crazy amount these days whenever an employer /boss chooses or favors someone thats even mildly related or familiar with them and most of the time its just this. Yes there are cases were completely incompetent people get the job via relation but this happens much less than people think. It is not illogical or stupid to choose a candidate because you have known/trusted them for years and also has some degree of allegiance to you vs a random person who may be 10-30% better at the job on a purely technical level.

He wasn’t even a good scorer either. He settled for so many tough looks and was inefficient

And there are guys in the league who could be putting up 25 but aren’t the main option, so he’s not even rare in that regard

Not even a particularly efficient 25

What about Cam Porter then

Porter is an idiot, but he’s also pretty likable and he’s generally pretty amenable to other plans.

Porter has a ring and is way better looking by the way lol

There’s a difference between being introverted and anti-social. It’s one thing to not talk to guys off the court and do your own thing but if he’s not even talking during practice then that’s going to be a huge issue

What do you do for work as a introvert bro ?

take your own advice chief

Ahh, yes, let me go full turtle in the highest professional league of the career path I’ve chosen that requires 4 teammates on the floor with me.

There’s a difference between being introverted and anti-social

Introverts still function in the workplace by talking to people, we aren’t recluses lol

Nah, you need to talk to your teammates man. You don’t have to be friends with them or ever go out with them after the game. But teamwork is a prerequisite in a team sport. Especially if you want to be a leader or best player on the team.

No one would care if he was mute if he was good at basketball lol

you can’t really be an introvert on a team sport.

Theres a difference between between being introverted and refusing to talk to anyone at work, especially in a setting where youre required to communicate. If I sign up for a public speaking job but cant handle crowds, thats not the world hating me, thats me being an idiot.

You can be introverted as long as your frustrations aren’t affecting a team negatively. I’d imagine he was lashing out in some ways if it’s obvious he’s frustrated without saying a word.

Also, Kawhi exists in the same era.

Edit: Also, a lot of the terminally online people on Reddit and other social media are shut-in losers and assholes who think that their only flaw is being an introvert.

Introverts can and usually do have social skills, sure it kind of sucks that MPJ appears to be using the term interchangeably with “antisocial” but from the rest of what he’s saying it’s pretty clear the problem wasn’t just that Cam needed a bit more quiet time on the bus or the plane than the other guys.

I work in software dev and the most introvert/autistic/shy people in the team still talk more than just a few words a day. If you can’t even manage that, maybe you don’t really fit into society and you should be come a sheep herder or so.

you have to talk to people on a professional sports team

that’s not being an introvert that’s being a dick

The world just likes cooperation. A large element of the human experience. You can be introverted all u like but don’t come crying when no one sticks up for u

Anything but taking accountability

Except those pandemic years, when the script flipped on extroverts for a while.

Did he? What personality traits did he share with Kobe out of interest?

Huh. MPJ has been in the NBA 7 seasons. And has gotten the second contract and about to get a third.

There has been a ton of chuck wagon offense only scorers in the NBA. They usually get second contracts and stay in the league as they provide punch off the bench. Team chemistry matters. Personality matters. This is not 2K.

The process of being a good teammate starts on AAU and middle school teams.

How did you get him being a loser out of this? Because he doesn’t socialize much?