I agree with Paul George. Wholeheartedly. Passionately. Like invested fans might when they’re sure their side’s been victimized by a bad call.
I stand with him on this: “When people come to work, they should be respected at their job.”
And I also concur with his delineation – made Monday in support of Russell Westbrook after the Clipper point guard’s latest run-in with a fan – between most people’s occupations and his particular gig: “Nowhere else can people go to someone’s job and disrespect you at your job and it be OK.”
Yes, sir. We should respect each other. Also, his job isn’t a regular job.
So, no, you should not shout “you suck!” at the barista if she isn’t moving fast enough with your morning cup of joe. Shouldn’t threaten bodily harm to the people on the other side of the counter over some tacos. Shouldn’t defecate in the aisle of a plane to protest a delay. Or physically assault the overwhelmed nurse in the ER. Or go ahead and name the next 10 instances that come to mind.
You shouldn’t be gross, you shouldn’t bring an athlete’s family into it, you shouldn’t be racist. There’s a special place for fans who cross that bright red line, and it’s not within earshot of the men and women playing the games.
But while it’s not cool to shout complaints at the barista, yes, you absolutely can yell ’em at the multimillionaire who isn’t hustling on defense.
Don’t threaten, don’t harm, don’t do whatever nasty stuff people do on airplanes, but express yourself? Boo a bone-headed pass? Jeer a rushed jumper? Get ear-splittingly loud on an opponent’s third-and-long? Scream a free throw off course? That’s always been a part of the sports-going experience, part of literally buying in. To imply otherwise is disrespectful.
Because be for real: You’re not hooting and hollering and giving the barista a standing ovation when she makes your order perfectly like you would that rarified basketball talent, are you? You’re not asking for her jersey for Christmas.
Sports is sports because of how competitive fire catches. Because you’re all lunatics who love teams filled with players you’ll never actually know. Because you invest so much emotionally – and with the money you earn while taking crap at your jobs.
Gregg Popovich grabbed the mic the other night in San Antonio while Kawhi Leonard was at the free-throw line and told his team’s fans to stop booing: “It’s not who we are.”
Oh, but he’s lucky it is!
Where would he be if Spurs fans didn’t care so much? If those folks just sat on their hands, or, I don’t know, spent their money on any other pastime? Well, he’s Pop, he might have instead been an aerospace technician and still been traveling the world drinking fine wine, but he wouldn’t be doing it as someone who’s recognized by legions of strangers as a champion five times over.
Fans’ incredible investment – emotional and otherwise – is why Draymond Green was rubbing his hands together last summer during his appearance on George’s podcast, the two NBA veterans delighting in telling Miami Heat rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. about the perks of yacht life.
“There’s no service like the service on a yacht; that’s for sure,” Green told the former UCLA star. “So I’m not telling you to go buy a yacht, but you might want to go buy a yacht.”
“Or,” George said, “have some friends who have one.”
“That’s a fact!” Green said. “I tell you, there’s nothing better than being rich and having rich friends.”
I’m not mad at them! These people are the top percentile of the top percentile of what they do in the world, blessed with talent and the aptitude to capitalize on it.
But what they do isn’t making mochas to-go. It’s something millions of people get swept up in every year.
There’s a contract they’ve entered into and it comes with a level of scrutiny and abuse. An acceptable level – not the nasty stuff. Same goes for sports columnists, by the way. We know what we’re getting into, and we aren’t even expecting to spend our summer vacations being waited on while we float at sea. We’re just suckers.
And if George’s team brews up a disrespectful level of effort like in Monday’s 113-104 loss to the severely short-handed Nuggets – who were led, on the second night of a back-to-back, by former Clipper fan faves Reggie Jackson and DeAndre Jordan – the Clippers are going to get dissed by some of the admission-paying patrons in the stands; some of those suckers are going to tell the players they suck.
And that’s OK.
Look, I like George. Not only will he play basketball beautifully, he’s always looked us reporters in the eye afterward and answered our questions candidly and thoughtfully. A regular food-for-thought guy, chewing on this now included. Polite P. Please never change, PG.
The man seems like a good teammate, too. So it wasn’t surprising to hear him backing up Westbrook on Monday night, when the Clippers fell to 7-9 and fifth place in the Pacific Division.
Paul George on Russell Westbrook’s fan interaction:
“Nowhere else can people go to someone’s job and disrespect you at your job and it be okay… When people come to work, they should be respected at their job.” pic.twitter.com/mkqUx1zCne
— Joey Linn (@joeylinn_) November 28, 2023
But it also wasn’t surprising to hear George complain, in generalities, about negativity players hear from people who are supposed to be supporters.
George and his colleagues don’t want to be subjected to fans’ frustrations. But there’s no avoiding it. His fans – like everyone in Clipperdom right now – are frustrated since the gamble of a trade for James Harden, after which the team is 4-7, a jigsaw puzzle with no discernable fit.
It’s a tough equation that coach Tyronn Lue has in front of him, a lot of moving pieces, a lot of issues to work through, emotions to manage – and solving it won’t have a thing to do with how fans fan.
That the Clippers were answering questions after Monday’s embarrassing loss about fan behavior and not focused solely on their own shortcomings says something about their focus and their nerve, and about how much more frustrating things could get for everyone yet.