Rob Parker isn’t a fan of new media because it isn’t about athletes telling the truth, it’s about athletes protecting other athletes.
In a piece for Deadspin, Parker says he saw the most recent example of new media doing just that on Wednesday courtesy of JJ Redick. Redick appeared on First Take on ESPN and offered a different way to approach the Los Angeles Lakers loss to the Golden State Warriors.
“We should treat (the Lakers) season as a celebration of LeBron’s individual greatness… Spending all day, every day talking about their deficiencies, that’s not great. We know who this team is.”
Parker said that comment is “Exhibit A why you can’t trust most former athletes to tell you the truth.” He also recommended Redick “should have quit his job on the spot and walked off the set.”
“In other words, Redick said he doesn’t want to do his job — analyze games,” Parker wrote. “He’s supposed to tell fans at home what happened, and what can be done to correct things moving forward. It was mind-boggling.”
Parker also said that the new media does offer insight only procured by their experience, but if one is looking for objective truth and analysis, people shouldn’t look to them.
“For sure, they have insight into their games that trained sportswriters don’t have. They’ve been out there; reporters haven’t. There’s simply no argument. Still, most of the time, you will always get a more honest take or opinion about what’s going on from a reporter or writer.”
Parker wrote that he isn’t talking about Redick bashing his sport or its participants.
“It’s not about ripping people just to rip people. It’s about an honest take on the game.”
