On Rondo and Not Talking to the Media
Posted by Brendan Jackson on Feb 14, 2012
"Google-imaging "Chris Sheridan" has proven to be the highlight of my morning."
The other day I did some reporting. The ESPN Daily Dime editors asked me to write the lead for yesterday’s Dime and the subject matter was pretty obvious. Rajon Rondo had just notched a triple double after playing terribly on Friday night so with the right juxtaposition…some in-game context…and BAM! Lead written. It was just missing a little garnish. Specifically, it needed a fluff quote from Rondo about how cool it was to play better than he did against Toronto.
Unfortunately, Rondo did not speak to the media after the game. So I did what anyone would do. I used the quote I did get. “Rajon will not be speaking tonight.” This was spoken to the media in the locker room by Celtics’ VP of Media Relations Jeffrey Twiss after the game. There were 20 of us, give or take, that were left standing around for way too long waiting for the Celtics point guard.
On my way out of the locker room, I asked the Celtics Media Coordinator Brian Olive what the rules were regarding players talking to the media after the game. He responded that, “[the media relations staff] can ask players to speak, but they can’t demand it.” Plain and simple.
Which is totally cool, I guess. While we were standing there admidst the sweaty equipment, Rich Keefe and I were talking about how we’d make the media wait a long time too if we had just played a basketball game (note: we’re out of shape). We understand that a player who gets his fair share of guff from the media may not want to talk with us (even after games in which he kills it).
Now let’s move onto something that’s not so cool, I guess. Chris Sheridan, former ESPN NBA Writer, referenced the article I wrote for the Dime without so much as a link to it, let alone a proper attribution. His post, you can find HERE, talks about what a terrible thing Rondo did. Here are the money quotes:
There is nothing between those quote marks because Rondo refused to speak to the media after the game. That is why today’s lead quote in the reconfigured (where’d they get the roundup idea?) Daily Dime on ESPN.com is from Celtics media relations director Jeff Twiss: “Rajon will not be speaking tonight.” Back in the day, a quote like that would earn a team a $25,000 fine, with a similar fine being assessed to the player for breaking the rules. NBA players are supposed to be available to the media for 45 minutes before the game (although a majority of them make themselves unavailable by hiding in the players’ lounge) and also after the game…And when a player such as Rondo decides the rules do not apply to him, there are supposed to be consequences….But if there are no consequences, players do not comply with the rules. (And the NBA has grown lax in enforcing their media rules)….So we shall wait and see if the league office does what is right in this instance, or whether they turn a blind eye to Rondo’s disrespectful and unprofessional conduct…In the meantime, I’ll send my own message to Rondo: “Be a man. Do your job as well off the court as you (usually) do it on the court. Act like a professional. Don’t be a jerk.”
Sheridan has been covering the NBA for a lot longer than I have, so I wouldn’t usually question NBA-Media Relations rules. Except in this case, I was there. I asked what the rules were and unless Olive blatantly lied to me, then Rondo’s not contractually obligated to talk to the media after games.
Sheridan, keeping up with his non-linking theme, didn’t link to any NBA Media Relations guidelines. He’s just relying on his experiences covering teams. Which is fine, unless they are misinformed. What Sheridan should have done was link to some online handbook (if one even exists) that stipulates a player’s media obligations. Then he could say whatever he wanted, provided it was antithetical to what Olive told me and consistent with whatever was in the handbook.
Instead he went on a rant, didn’t link to my post, and gave incorrect information (as it would appear). I understand why he didn’t want to link to ESPN. I understand that better after I google-imaged him and found this. But if he were being responsible, he would have seen my byline and linked to CelticsHub (a great website I might add!). I’ll wait and see if anything comes of this, but in the meantime, I’ll send my own message to Sheridan: “Be a man. Do your job as well off the beat as you (usually) do it on the beat. Act like a professional. Don’t be a jerk.”
Rant over.
Editor’s Note: I wouldn’t normally write something like this, but I felt compelled to after I saw my quote from Jeff Twiss being used by one of our awesome commenters (hap tip LACelticFan) while he was quoting Chris Sheridan. I thought to myself, ‘hey Chris Sheridan read my article and talked about it’ only to go to his site and see how he used my article to go on a rant without ever linking to the ‘Hub.
This is not meant to start a media war because those are stupid. I just thought it was funny for Sheridan to rant about Rondo doing a jerky thing–specifically regarding unwritten rules of niche etiquette–only to violate some himself. Oh, and to set the record straight about Rondo not talking to the media after the game.
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