Why do people feel the need to get players "exposed"?

[KGtabake]

Year in, year out the GB has threads in the playoffs just after a couple of games with people trying to "expose" stars.
KD, Giannis, CP, Steph, Jokic etc. Nobody escapes.

My question is why is this happening.
I can't help it but feel that people don't actually love basketball. They just love to hate.
And the question becomes more complicated.
Is this the social media culture that has taken over the internet in almost everything (including sports forums)?

What pleasure do you take in fighting for hours on the internet for something you're supposed to love?

I mean, i get it. You can't like all players. You will dislike some of them (for whatever reason).
But why do you feel the need to make threads about it with hate takes?
You don't like CP? Ok. Why are you making a thread about it, calling him a choker, a fraud, a career loser, an overrated prick or whatever?

I don't like Kyrie. I have commented on threads about him, i explained why i don't. But I won't make thread after thread every time i want to say something. Not to mention that I won't be exposed as a fan by saying that he's a scrub or whatever.

It's you who's getting exposed if you constantly have bad/hate takes about an established player's ability. Not the player.

[SUPERVILLAIN]

RealGM is the land of bad, over-the-top takes.

[Pachinko_]

Gotta find ways to annoy people, that's half the fun in sports

[Bolivar]

Is this the social media culture that has taken over the internet in almost everything (including sports forums)?

Probably. I don't seem to recall this kind of stuff even from the early 2000s. Not sure about basketball, I watched other sports more. I mean people have always hated some players for one reason or another and there's nothing new there. But nobody felt the need to make it into a "look at me, I have a hot take about this player who used to be great in 2017".

It isn't really anything basketball specific, all of this applies to other areas that you can discuss on the internet. Someone voicing an opinion on the internet isn't anything more relevant than someone voicing an opinion in a gas station café in Montana.
If someone felt the need to shout that Karl Malone got exposed in the playoffs in the 90s or Wilt in the 60s then was there any sort of circle jerk about it? Maybe in small circles, but not at wider scale.

[Stalwart]

The reason for this phenomenon is simple: Sports, for many, is actually a religion.

In this religion the teams and the players serve as proxies for super heroes, gods, and idols. When a particular player or team becomes popular they build a fanbase. The term 'fan' is short for fanatical. So a fanbase is in reality a fanatical base of followers. What do we call a fanatical base of followers? We call that a 'cult' or a cult of personality if you will. Once somebody buys into a cult of personality they immediately become protective and defense about that personality.

What you see in online message boards is a large concentration from various cult members all fighting each other in the hopes of elevating their particular god or idol within the pantheon of gods and idols. One effective way to do this is to 'expose' or tear down other gods and idols as much as possible.

Of course this doesn't represent the totality of fans and posters but it is prevalent. So to a degree the TS is correct. Some people don't love basketball as much as they love their particular basketball idols or heroes.

[Johnny Firpo]

Because they hate those players, and have to find a narrative.

[JoeyLightYears]

I don't seem to recall this kind of stuff even from the early 2000s.

circa 1996

[Bolivar]

I don't seem to recall this kind of stuff even from the early 2000s.

circa 1996

Now that's a nice find Loving the web design. It even has a "jordon's brick counter"

[floppymoose]

It is jealousy combined with insecurity of their fav player being overshadowed.

[JayMKE]

It is jealousy combined with insecurity of their fav player being overshadowed.

Pretty much, certain fanbases are really bad about this too. Always persecution/victim complex and narrative that the other guy was getting something they didn’t deserve before, its not fair!

[AleksandarN]

I don't seem to recall this kind of stuff even from the early 2000s.

circa 1996

Thank goodness there wasn’t any Kobe vs lebron hate on this board in the 2000s. So glad that didn’t happen.

[Mauro Pedrosa]

Negative emotion doesn’t affect humans the same way positive emotion does. I could go into the psychological reasons but I don’t want to depress everyone.

[makubesu]

RealGM is the land of bad, over-the-top takes.

Yeah and every time someone tries to argue against a bad take, all they do is bump up the stupid thread

[djw]

I don't seem to recall this kind of stuff even from the early 2000s.

circa 1996

Now that's a nice find Loving the web design. It even has a "jordon's brick counter"

In all fairness you gotta say that the website was sarcastic as an attempt mirror to Jordan stans. It's not that the author actually believes what he is saying. A+ for effort though.

And I got good laughs out of it when he came up with Super John Starks.

[LBJKB24MJ23]

Because they hate those players, and have to find a narrative.

definitely a little bit of this and a little bit of annoying fans of those players lol. jealousy is a huge factor too.

[KodiakBear]

People love to see others fail unless it is their guy or their team. In the same way to a point. It was a lot of fun seeing brooklyn get swept

[jameslayfa342]

It is jealousy combined with insecurity of their fav player being overshadowed.

Well said. Anytime you hear a rival player get complimented, there’s a crowd of people yelling why their favorite player isn’t bring mentioned as well.

You’ll see it from sports writers as well. John Hollinger wrote an article on why Kevin love should be 6MOTY over Tyler Herro (favorite).

[brutalitops]

Jealousy and casual fans who dont understand our beautiful game

[Lockdown504090]

I truly believe that if there were no and1s, a lot of the degenerate/attention seeking behaviour on this site would be reduced

[danvato]

sign of the times unfortunately.

if you can control yourself, don't take the bait and just ignore it. it'll spread anyway but at least you're not contributing.