Is the NBA eating its young?
It’s a rhetorical question. There is perhaps no sports league where former players criticize, belittle, chastise, and attempt to humiliate current players as much as the NBA.
That venom has lived in the Celtics locker room for years, with harsh assessments on Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown despite the two combining to win a championship seven months ago.
Former NBA guard Brandon Jennings recently called Tatum the “softest’’ Celtics star of all time; Tatum responded with a laughing emoji on Instagram. Meanwhile, the Raptors social media page posted a picture of Jennings along with the linescore after their victory over the Celtics on Wednesday.
Tatum and Brown have withstood their share of scathing judgments from fans, but it may have a different impact when the vitriol comes from a former player. There are several former players with podcasts that discuss the current NBA and, to no surprise, many are not positive about the players or the state of the league.
One primary issue may be money. Salaries have risen exponentially the past decade, and even recently retired players missed out on major paydays.
The league’s highest-paid player during the 2015-16 season was the late Kobe Bryant with $25 million, followed by LeBron James at $22.9 million.
This season, Stephen Curry makes $55.7 million. Brown is sixth at $49.7 million. Tatum is 39th at $34.8 million, but that will rise by $20 million next season when his five-year maximum deal kicks in.
Salaries began rising when the NBA Players Association decided it didn’t want to steadily increase pay with new collective bargaining agreements, so the free-agent class of 2016 — which included Luol Deng, Evan Turner, Kent Bazemore, and Joakim Noah — cashed in when the salary cap spiked. Curry will earn $62 million per season in the final year of his deal in 2026-27.
There may be a tinge of bitterness from some relegated to watch today’s players, many of whom are load managed and benefit from an offense-favored league, flourish financially more than any other NBA generation.
Many former players also tend to overvalue or overstate their careers. The “Inside the NBA’’ crew of Shaquille O’Neal (Hall of Famer), Charles Barkley (Hall of Famer), and Kenny Smith (two-time champion point guard) are brutally honest in their assessments, but their on-court achievements back up their words.
Jennings, meanwhile, was a lightning-quick guard with the ability to score in nine NBA seasons, but his career was derailed by a torn Achilles’ tendon.
Third in Rookie of the Year voting in 2009-10, he became a journeyman in his final years. Jennings played in 25 playoff games, and reached a conference semifinal just once.
“I never played in the NBA and I’m not a former player, but that’s the way the world works,’’ Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said about the critiques. “It goes back to the perspective and the humility. If we all just remembered where we came from and don’t hold ourselves in such high regard, then we wouldn’t say stuff like that.
“Sometimes, the older you get, the better you were as a player, and that’s everybody. If we all just kind of remembered where we were, we wouldn’t have so many opinions of other people.’’
But as long as there is an audience, and rewards for the opinions, sometimes unfair or uncalled for assessments are going to continue.
Many podcasters are not graded or scrutinized on the lack of facts to support some of their wild opinions. Jennings said he based Tatum’s lack of toughness on his not winning the NBA Finals MVP in 2024. (Tatum lost the vote, 7-4, to Brown.)
Whether they believe it or not, these former players are members of the media because they offer analysis on a public platform. The question is whether the players themselves make that connection.
“That’s the term that probably gets, not necessarily thrown around, but I think it gets lumped into it. It may not be ‘media,’ but it’s a media-driven topic,’’ Mazzulla said. “I think that word gets thrown around, unfairly at times, but the topic of how it’s happening is through a media outlet.’’
Mazzulla said he gave Tatum and Brown a timeline of a former player’s career and the comments that were being said and written about this player at the beginning, middle, and end of his career.
“It was comical [what was said], keep bouncing back and forth of the opinions. But you try to just keep perspective because every player has gone through something,’’ Mazzulla said. “You want to be great and you have to go through that, so maintaining the level of perspective is the most important thing.
“It was hysterical to watch what people say at different timelines of his career and if [those people] could be held accountable for those, that would be great.’’
Criticism from former players is just something this generation is going to have to accept. Even if there does appear to be a sense of delusion where it’s coming from.
PAIN IN LOS ANGELES
Trying to recover from the fires
The Lakers and Clippers resumed play at their respective arenas this past week after postponing games because of the California fires. It was good for both to be home, despite the difficult circumstances.
“It was good to see people come and show up. Hopefully take their minds off the devastation and tragedy that is going on,’’ said guard Norman Powell, a San Diego native who played at nearby UCLA. “Shout out to the first responders and everybody that is helping the people and families in need, donating.
“I’ve been glued in and locked in to my place in Encino. I had evacuation orders. Talking with everybody that I know that’s been hit. We got a job to do and being able to focus on the task at hand, play basketball, and worry about things after the game. Making sure all our people are OK and doing what we can off the court to help the ones in need.’’
Los Angeles native James Harden also said the Clippers are trying to offer a distraction for those impacted.
“Man, it’s really sad,’’ he said. “It’s hard to explain. There are so many people who are impacted by this tragedy. There are so many things, whether it’s materialistic things or loved ones or whatever the case may be; you don’t really know what to say to people, but just try to support them, have their back, and really come together and closer. Honestly, that’s the only route we got.
“I just try to make sure everything is settled and figure out where I can put my imprint and help whatever needs to be done, but it’s something you can’t control, and it’s frustrating. So I feel for the people that are out there that had to be evacuated or lost homes or lost loved ones and everything we had, so we’ll figure out how to help people.’’
Star forward Kawhi Leonard left the team in Denver to attend to his family, which was affected by the fires. He returned to the floor Jan. 13 against Miami and returned to form two nights later, with a 23-point outing in the blowout win over the Nets.
“He was really good. His pace, his force, how he got to his spots,’’ Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “So, just keep stacking these days, you know, I’m feeling good. I’m trusting it, I’m believing in it. And like I say, you put the work in and get to this point, and so tonight is a good test run to really go hard and really test it out and feel good about it, so I thought he did that tonight, and he looked pretty good.’’
“I work hard every day,’’ said Leonard. “I love this game, and I put in my repetition. So, things like this aren’t a surprise for me.’’
As for the Nets, they were outscored, 105-46, in the final three quarters. While Brooklyn is in the middle of a rebuild and changing lineups constantly, they have competed under new coach Jordi Fernández. Wednesday wasn’t one of those nights.
“You know many things when you see a loss like this, a lot of things went wrong and, obviously, you know the energy and the competitive spirit was not there,’’ Fernández said. “It is plain and simple. But you know right now the only thing I can do is support the guys.
“It is never a good experience to go through this, but analyzing the whole season, none of our guys work for this and they’ve competed the whole time, so all I can do is support them . . . If it’s nights like these that make us a little bit, even one percent better, then I’ll take it.’’
ETC.
Sun dawn anew in WNBA offseason
The Sun are in the midst of some major changes during the WNBA offseason.
Stephanie White resigned as coach to join the Indiana Fever and superstar Caitlin Clark. Only three players are under contract — Marina Mabrey, Tyasha Harris, and Olivia
Nelson-Ododa. Mainstays DeWanna Bonner, Brionna Jones, Alyssa Thomas, and Tiffany Mitchell are all unrestricted free agents, while defensive ace DiJonai Carrington is a restricted free agent.
The Sun made an interesting choice for a new coach, hiring Belgian national coach Rachid Meziane to lead the franchise into what could be a drastically different era. Meziane was a longtime French assistant before taking over Belgium in 2022, and led the country to a Eurobasket title in 2023 and fourth place at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
It’s an interesting and daring choice considering Meziane has never coached an American team or in the United States, but he’s thrilled with the chance.
“This is one opportunity I couldn’t pass up,’’ he said. “And as an international, so foreign coaches like me, this is more than a dream to be part of this league. My philosophy is built on three key pillars — hard work, because I don’t believe in only relying on talent; discipline, in understanding what we are doing and how we carry ourselves; and communications, how we talk to each other and how we learn from others. Using these pillars, I am [going] to build a culture of respect, hard work, and unity.
“My experience has taught me that the success doesn’t come just from the on-court strategy, but also, I’m caring about people and trusting the players to execute.’’
The Sun have a load of salary cap space, but play in one of the league’s smallest arenas and do not have a practice facility. They must not only decide whether to pursue Bonner, Thomas, and Jones, but also see whether they are willing to return to Connecticut.
Meziane has been thrown into the middle of a potential rebuild.
“I believe that for our team to succeed, every player has to feel valued and aligned with our shared goal,’’ he said. “If everyone feels involved in the project, we can be better, we can be more committed, and we can give the best of ourselves.
“The Connecticut Sun has a strong history and a lot of potential. We share the same values of hard work, ambitions, and humility. I am eager to contribute to the success of the organization and to bring my skills and my passion to this world. I will give my heart to this franchise, to this city, to all the fans here.’’
The Sun reached the WNBA semifinals last year, losing to the Lynx. The roster is aging, with a core that may have one final run left, but the Sun are without a first-round pick this year after they traded it to Chicago for Mabrey.
“I think we have to work on what worked last year,’’ Meziane said. “Connecticut Sun was, I think, one of the best defensive teams last season. So we want to be on this. And yeah, we have to try to improve on some stuff.
“I’m thinking about your player development process. For example, take care of the ball and make our offense more efficient to help them advance further next season. I think that I am here for bringing my skills. And I think that the European style demands more IQ basketball and maybe better ball movements.’’
Seven of the WNBA’s 12 teams changed coaches from last year — with a 13th, the Golden State Valkyries, joining the league — but plucking Meziane from the French professional league will give the Sun an intriguing look.
“I think I am in the right place today,“ he said. “I receive a lot of messages from WNBA coaches first, and from a lot of French or European coaches for sure. You can say that I open a door and maybe now, the door can still open for international coaches.’’
Layups
The Heat have difficult decisions ahead regarding former All-Star Jimmy Butler, who reportedly reiterated his trade demand during the week in a meeting with team president Pat Riley. Miami suspended Butler for seven games for “conduct detrimental to the team,’’ but he was back in the starting lineup Friday and played 33 minutes in a 20-point loss to the Nuggets. Butler has a $52 million option on his contract next season and has maintained he will not sign an extension with the Heat. Miami has played moderately well without him, with Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo telling reporters there is better chemistry because there is more clarity with his situation. Butler wants to play for the Suns, but the Heat had no interest in the contract of Bradley Beal, a player in decline still owed nearly $110 million the next two years. Miami would have to find a third team to facilitate something before the Feb. 6 trade deadline; there is tepid interest in Beal around the league, and a deal is not close . . . The Suns did make a minor move, acquiring center Nick Richards and a second-round pick for Josh Okogie and three second-round picks . . . As we approach the season’s halfway point, the playoff races are beginning to take form. There are 12 Western Conference teams competing for 10 spots, with the Suns and Warriors on the outside of the play-in race, but just one-half game behind the Spurs. The Trail Blazers, still in total rebuild mode, are six games behind the Warriors and Suns. In the East, there appears to be 11 teams vying, trailed by the struggling 76ers, who are two games behind the Bulls. The Nets are two games behind the 76ers, but plan to move players before the deadline . . . The Hornets are putting together draft picks and trade assets for the deadline and this summer. There were early hopes for a play-in run under new coach Charles Lee, but those were squashed with injuries to LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller.
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn @globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.