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I mean it’s obviously both. And it’s incredibly naive of Lowe to pretend social media doesn’t impact the way players and coaches talk about things

I didn’t agree with Zach here. I don’t think presti was saying it’s just a made up thing on social media but rather pointing out how viral and huge the discourse became which is true.

Sam Presti even within this same press conference literally addresses the coaches staff complaints. These talking heads are just rage baiting

So many players and coaches also defend him but this subreddict always dismiss or deflect their comments.

Presti literally called post-game pressers from coaches the bully pulpit but I guess Lowe didn’t bother to listen. Media discourse in a nutshell.

It’s everybody. Not sure why the comments in this thread is trying to act like it’s not. Literally everybody hates the foul grifting aspect of the game. I hear about it in real life, podcasts, broadcasts and on all social media.

If Shai was named Šajko Aleksandar he would be considered the savior of basketball

I mean, maybe it’s cause it’s true ?

Presti is doing is job really well and I respect him, but that’s not a reason for falling for his tricks, on the contrary.

I’d complain too if I was a coach and this guy was frying me every game.

The Thunder been on vacation for a minute now, for people that hate them so much it’s a weird time to talk about them.

I love Zach Lowe but this is so stupid lol. Has he seen how Shai is treated by social media lol? It can be both things at once man

Yall need to get a life lmao

Did Zach Lowe always spend a lot of time talking about NBA drama?

I thought he was analyst.

The only clips of him I see talk about anything but ball.

Can’t you just say it’s been both? Man I’ve been listening to Lowe for years… The quality is declining.

This is naive from Lowe

I’d suggest anyone to search “2011 Miami Heat floppers”

Being hated online seeps into coaches.

https://www.espn.com/blog/truehoop/miamiheat/post/_/id/15298/lebron-james-winner-of-the-anti-flop-rules

Look at this article they ran. Vogel called them the biggest floppers in the league

It’s so sad. Presti said alot of interesting things in that press conference, but this is all they cling too. The irony.

Hey look, its the exact type of nonsense Presti was talking about lmao

Poor Shai 😞

At this point, as a thunder fan, the discourse is so exhausting that I don’t even care. All of your teams do it too, and I’m just happy to have a great team to watch that plays winning basketball, is a bunch of great guys, and play an enjoyable game when they aren’t relying entirely on Shai in isolation. Hopefully dub and Ajay come back strong and asking with mccain we can see a more involved team next year.

Sam Presti’s full press conference was great. Clipping bits for a rage bait has become such a common thing. Presti mentions it, then people literally do it with his press conference lol.

Is Zach Lowe really this starved for talking points during the NBA finals? This is like his 100th take on this

Presti talked about there being an incentive structure (money via social media engagement) and how that drove a lot of online conversation, which is absolutely true. Why did certain social media figures & Sports betting accounts talk and post about it? Because it drove engagement. Same thing on Reddit. Post about Shai, get tons of engagement. I really like Zach but this was a weird tangent in this pod & made it seem like he really hadn’t listened to the presser.

SGA truthers working overtime in here

Zach skipping over the part where Presti talks about all these talks being incentivized by monetization on social, funny considering this will probably earn Zach a good bit of engagement. You might not like what Presti says or how he went about it but he’s right especially when it comes to big names and companies

Lowe needs to be better here.

Even the “serious” basketball guys are becoming hot take artists looking to argue with the subjects

Anyways… Two shots for Shai.

And players and coaches don’t have there own biases, agendas and aren’t influenced by narratives on SM?

Honestly I’m impressed how smoothly he can fall like he just melts into the floor.

And there’s probably a real connection between that theatrics and his elite deceleration jumpers, like they both come from insane lower-body elasticity and elite momentum control

Lowe is a moron, didn’t need this snippet to realize that

Lowe in 2026<<<<<<

Zach didn’t want to talk about the part where he discussed how some in the media are driven by the financial incentive that negative coverage brings? Weird.

A HIT DOG WILL HOLLER LOWE, he speakin about jabronis like you

We don’t want kids flopping on the play ground just like him do we?

Presti is a thinker. He’s playing into the optical illusion.

You get paid millions to not only play a sport but to deal with fans, social media, negative stories, trade talks, etc.

Suck it up.

the coaches are the only ones with eyes? this is not like an eyetest thing saying x guy is better than y, we all are watching the same thing a guy throing himself to the ground like his legs dont work after jumping

SGA is such an unfortunate case. He honestly seems like a good guy and a chill person and has all the tools to be a legit MVP, but his foul baiting game (and the incredibly generous whistle he gets) has made him so unlikeable to many NBA fans. I wish he didn’t have that as part of his player profile, otherwise he’d be a much more likeable player

Popovich defended Bruce Bowen trying to hurt other dudes by saying they were frustrated about his good defense.

Coaches are gonna defend the things that benefit their players no matter what.

Presti is right about this. And I think he’s being too kind because it isn’t social media, it’s the sports media.

The sports media pushed this narrative of OKC being unethical basketball and SA being ethical basketball.

Meanwhile Wemby is elbowing and throwing players on a regular basis.

Brunson did 90-100% of what SGA did and there is no talk about it. That’s pretty convenient.

So–?

Sam Presti called out internet nerds and this guy got offended.

Does that say more about Presti or the guy who got offended.

hes right. doesnt matter if presti mentioned it, he still made it sound like a narrative and not real complaints in the league.

The same way that nobody does rabid like Knicks fans, nobody does salty like Thunder fans.