What's your opinion of players casually swearing on live tv interviews?

[Blame Rasho]

It is a travishamockery.

[jbsays]

I don't really care, but a person should be able to have a 30 second conversation without using profanity. I can see both sides though. These guys aren't getting paid for their vocabulary.

[og15]

I don't really care, but a person should be able to have a 30 second conversation without using profanity. I can see both sides though. These guys aren't getting paid for their vocabulary.

If it was being vocabulary police and they are saying you can't use slang, or you have to speak a certain way, or asking you to code switch to "proper English", whatever that would mean, then that would be crazy.

On the other hand, telling them not to use like 5 or 6 specific words when they are on camera is basically the minimum requirement that can be asked. You don't have to be making millions to be able to pull that off.

Cashier's at grocery stores can, store clerks at the mall, assistants in medical facilities, etc, etc, they can for the vast majority of the time figure out how to do this when interacting with customers or patients, it's just not a big ask.

If someone can't pull off this non incredible task that you know your company is asking you to, then get your fine lol

[Wallace_Wallace]

I don't really care, but a person should be able to have a 30 second conversation without using profanity. I can see both sides though. These guys aren't getting paid for their vocabulary.

If it was being vocabulary police and they are saying you can't use slang, or you have to speak a certain way, or asking you to code switch to "proper English", whatever that would mean, then that would be crazy.

On the other hand, telling them not to use like 5 or 6 specific words when they are on camera is basically the minimum requirement that can be asked. You don't have to be making millions to be able to pull that off.

Cashier's at grocery stores can, store clerks at the mall, assistants in medical facilities, etc, etc, they can for the vast majority of the time figure out how to do this when interacting with customers or patients, it's just not a big ask.

If someone can't pull off this non incredible task that you know your company is asking you to, then get your fine lol

You can say whatever it is you want during practices, games and within the locker rooms (turns out, you could actually punch somebody in practice without getting in legal trouble). However, the TV ratings (G, PG-13, TV-14, R, X, etc.) are there for a reason.

Even in TV-14 shows, you don't hear Detective Benson in SVU say "you f-ing a-hole" even though we hear those phrases in our everyday lives. In How I Met Your Mother, also TV-14, so there were plenty of sexual innuendos that may not be suitable for children. If the NBA allows swearing on live TV interview, then change the TV rating so audience have an expectation of what is going to happen. TV-rating set a guide to what is appropriate and what is not therefore we don't have to debate over anything.

However, if the NBA does change the rating so it caters to a more matured audience, it will enable the reporters to talk with more profanities & color commentators also are allow to be way more colorful......which will definitely hurt the image of the NBA in the long run

[D.Brasco]

I don't really care, but a person should be able to have a 30 second conversation without using profanity. I can see both sides though. These guys aren't getting paid for their vocabulary.

If it was being vocabulary police and they are saying you can't use slang, or you have to speak a certain way, or asking you to code switch to "proper English", whatever that would mean, then that would be crazy.

On the other hand, telling them not to use like 5 or 6 specific words when they are on camera is basically the minimum requirement that can be asked. You don't have to be making millions to be able to pull that off.

Cashier's at grocery stores can, store clerks at the mall, assistants in medical facilities, etc, etc, they can for the vast majority of the time figure out how to do this when interacting with customers or patients, it's just not a big ask.

If someone can't pull off this non incredible task that you know your company is asking you to, then get your fine lol

Great examples. From the perspective of the NBA the TV viewers are the customers and they don't want their employees, the players, swearing at them. It's a very straight forward concept.

[dautjazz]

I find 100k to be quite excessive. We can watch a violent movie where someone gets got on TV, no big deal, but an F bomb is a 100k fine? Seems a little damn excessive.

[JayMKE]

I don’t care, $100k is probably excessive. Media does live interviews with these guys so they’re taking on the risk. I don’t think they can even get in trouble on cable tv, just from advertisers but I doubt draftkings and Hennessy give a ****.

[therealbig3]

i drop f bombs to clients and my boss and we all laugh about it. It creates canaries. This is real life.

If you were being interviewed by the media as a representative of your company would you be dropping f bombs? Be honest now.

not me per se but my boss would say "poop" and "darn" in outward facing interviews (he's published in magazines, does youtube interviews, etc.)

This is 2025. You can show some personality. I'd be shocked if someone didn't cuss a little bit.

Yeah so he doesn’t curse. And there’s clearly context behind those interviews for why he’s using those words.

Showing personality doesn’t mean you have to cuss. Idk, I think understanding that you’re in a more formal environment and need to at least not use certain words when you talk is just being an adult with a functioning vocabulary. You can avoid the f word and still show personality and sarcasm and a good sense of humor. IMO, that’s just being an adult.

I say that as someone that does curse at times. But I generally don’t in front of my bosses or people at work, because I don’t have to in order to be funny and personable. And if I was being formally interviewed? I’d be extra cautious with what I was saying, as should everyone.

It’s not just the NBA’s rules, it’s the FCC, not sure if people here have heard of them? They’re the ones fining the NBA for curse words during live broadcasts, which is why they’re being hard on Ant. We can have a debate over how bad these words actually are and what not, but the FCC doesn’t care what you may think, the NBA doesn’t care what you may think, and neither do most corporations. And when you choose to work with them or for them, you follow their rules. Pretty simple.

[wadenation305]

I do not care in the least bit, and find it to be quite useless. People don't curse because they saw it on tv or heard it in music. They curse as a habit picked up from home and friends they hang out with, school, etc. If anything censorship just devalues product in the specific case of music. Why would I listen to DNA on the radio and have half the song bleeped out or have an edited weird version. For that I simply load up Youtube or Spotify and listen to it the way it was meant to be heard. Anyone else is just wanting to force their "Higher Moral code" on others.

[Ol Roy]

Casual cursing is indicative of low intelligence, low standards, or both. It's used as a substitute for proper words and as a substitute for personality. I think professional athletes should have the discipline to control their mouths, and society is better off with maintaining standards instead of constantly lowering the bar to the lowest common denominator.

[MalonesElbows]

The only question is what is lower on Ant: his IQ or class?

[AbeVigodaLive]

I find 100k to be quite excessive. We can watch a violent movie where someone gets got on TV, no big deal, but an F bomb is a 100k fine? Seems a little damn excessive.

At first blush, $100k is a lot of money.

For everyday normal people. But it's not much for multi-millionaire athletes. Consider...

- A $100k fine for Anthony Edwards is like a $237 fine for a guy making $100k annually.

[Quattro]

The rest of society is swirling the drain, may as well let them swirl it too.

[og15]

I don't really care, but a person should be able to have a 30 second conversation without using profanity. I can see both sides though. These guys aren't getting paid for their vocabulary.

If it was being vocabulary police and they are saying you can't use slang, or you have to speak a certain way, or asking you to code switch to "proper English", whatever that would mean, then that would be crazy.

On the other hand, telling them not to use like 5 or 6 specific words when they are on camera is basically the minimum requirement that can be asked. You don't have to be making millions to be able to pull that off.

Cashier's at grocery stores can, store clerks at the mall, assistants in medical facilities, etc, etc, they can for the vast majority of the time figure out how to do this when interacting with customers or patients, it's just not a big ask.

If someone can't pull off this non incredible task that you know your company is asking you to, then get your fine lol

You can say whatever it is you want during practices, games and within the locker rooms (turns out, you could actually punch somebody in practice without getting in legal trouble). However, the TV ratings (G, PG-13, TV-14, R, X, etc.) are there for a reason.

Even in TV-14 shows, you don't hear Detective Benson in SVU say "you f-ing a-hole" even though we hear those phrases in our everyday lives. In How I Met Your Mother, also TV-14, so there were plenty of sexual innuendos that may not be suitable for children. If the NBA allows swearing on live TV interview, then change the TV rating so audience have an expectation of what is going to happen. TV-rating set a guide to what is appropriate and what is not therefore we don't have to debate over anything.

However, if the NBA does change the rating so it caters to a more matured audience, it will enable the reporters to talk with more profanities & color commentators also are allow to be way more colorful......which will definitely hurt the image of the NBA in the long run

Yup, agreed, it's just specific situations of live interviews, it's definitely not anything oppressive.

We have these same expectations for many front facing employees. I've had employees who swear every other sentence in conversation with other people, but they can get with patients on the phone or in the office and can not swear at them, even when they are annoying or frustrating them.