My viewing activity this week was a perfect storm that has resulted in this article. The more often I hear Draymond Green speak or read things he’s said, the more I like him. But I’m getting ahead of myself because Green isn’t the beginning of the personal revelation represented by the title of this article. R. Kelly is. Kevin Durant is.
The R. Kelly Part
This past Saturday season one of, Surviving R. Kelly landed on Netflix. I proceeded to watch all six episodes in one uncomfortable constantly-cringey sitting. And yeah, cringey is definitely understating matters. Now, I know that might seem like a lot but there was a method to my madness. Just being aware of the things that the sick, damaged, and musically gifted Robert Sylvester Kelly has done and is still doing taints a person a lil bit. I knew the lingering stank-by-even-very-distant-association-with-R.-Kelly would require a looooong shower to be washed off. (Not that kind of shower. Get your mind out of the gutter.) Cleansing after the R. Kelly experience needed to be a one-and-done situation for me.
The Raptor Queens Podcast Part: The Last Dance
Then on Sunday, I was on the Raptor Queens Podcast for the first time. One of the topics we touched on was the fact that the long-awaited Michael Jordan docuseries, The Last Dance was premiering that evening. We also discussed if we thought any of what would be revealed in the series would change people’s opinions of Michael Jordan.
Because it was only the day before when I had watched Surviving…You know what? I’ve already reached the maximum number of times I’m willing to say his name. Let me start that sentence again… Because I had watched… what I had watched on Saturday, it was very fresh in my mind that Michael Jordan had been pretty chummy with- He-who-will-no-more-in-this-article-be-named- back in the day.
MJ is remembered first and foremost for what he did on the court. So much so, that it’s sometimes easy to forget that he’s still a person. And that he has not always been a stellar person at that. I mean, come on. You have to know Jordan at least heard the rumours about what- He-who-will-no-more-in-this-article-be-named- was getting up to. If that set of rumours, even if they are only rumours, isn’t enough to make you say to yourself, “You know what? I think I’ll just keep my distance,” that has to say something about you, right?
The Other Raptor Queens Podcast Part: Kevin Durant
Also on the podcast, we discussed the latest Kevin Durant news making the rounds. In an excerpt from his book, The Victory Machine, Ethan Strauss writes:
I tried to make a few points, saying I didn’t begrudge him [Steph Curry] for having leverage with his contract and insisted that I had good reason to write what I wrote. KD wasn’t impressed and accused me of trying to “rile up Steph’s fans.”
He expressed that this was a constant theme in the Bay. All of us local guys just wanted to kiss Steph’s ass at his expense. This was KD’s consistent lament. He would frequently squabble in direct-message conversations with the Warriors fans of Twitter, frequently accusing them of favoring Steph at his expense.
My take? Kevin Durant doesn’t understand that being an incredible basketball player and being a likable human being are two very different things. He believes they should be mutually exclusive. I feel like if KD had an internal theme song it would have gone something like this:
To the tune of, Nobody Likes Me (I Think I’ll Go Eat Worms)
Nobody likess me, Everybody hates me, Going to the media to bitch, Being super petty, Sliding into DMs, I'm the best, I don't deserve this shit.
As someone who both really likes Steph Curry and can’t stand Kevin Durant, I could go on for days explaining all the ways KD makes himself unlikable. I mean, when your ego is so fragile that people can only prefer someone else at your “expense”…? And when that someone else is one of the most likable guys to ever play the game…? Honestly! (Insert exasperated sigh and eye-roll here.) KD is the epitome of a dude who still believes his mama when she says he can do no wrong. Am I right? KD, let me help you out. It’s your mama’s job to believe that but it’s not actually true.
The Draymond Green Part
Okay, finally we’ve arrived at our title player, Draymond Green. Today Draymond responded to Kevin Durant’s comments and even His Royal Airness himself was not off-limits when it came to Green’s criticism. And I’m sooo there for it! I’m not going to get into exactly what Green had to say because frankly, someone else has already written that story. Instead, I’m going to bring all the pieces of my title revelation together.
I think my favourite thing about @Money23Green is that no one is safe from being put on blast. And that is as it should be.#NBA #NBATwitter #TheLastDance #BullsNation @DubNation https://t.co/oevuSLQ1N1 via @CBSSports
— Jade Johnson (@auxiliarythings) April 21, 2020
The thing that Draymond Green understands that too many people in society fail to grasp, especially when powerful or influential people and celebrities are involved is this:
Being exceptional at something should not exempt you from criticism for everything.
Makes Sense, Right?
It seems like such a simple straight-forward concept, doesn’t it? But if you take a long hard look… okay, if you take a cursory glancing look at our society that’s not a widely accepted position to take. Look at the men in the camp of- He-who-will-no-more-in-this-article-be-named. Those who knew what was going on. Those men who helped him get away with it. Not just enabled by making it possible, but actually got their proverbial hands in the proverbial dirt. Anyone of those guys could have stopped it at any time. But because of a musical gift, crap tons of money, they looked the other way!? And yeah, they very obviously feel terrible about it now. But they don’t feel worse about it than the victims and their families.
The number of grown ass men on #SurvivingRKelly who basically said, "Well, I knew about this little part but because I didn't know about all that, I didn't do anything," is mindboggling and distressing. #survivingrkelly2
— Jade Johnson (@auxiliarythings) April 19, 2020
If there had been a Draymond Green in that camp; someone will always speak up even though the person he’s calling out has been put on a pedestal by society and his peers, there may never have been enough material to make six-part docuseries about surviving. Oh, wait. My bad. It’s actually 11 parts because there is a season two. So much for one-and-done. But I digress.
If every camp had a Draymond Green, the #MeToo movement may not have been necessary at all.
Think about that for a minute.
Follow me on Twitter @auxiliarythings and check out my podcast Hardcourt Hunnies. Need more basketball? I hear ya! The Belly Up Hoops department has got you covered.
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