Former NBA Star Nate Robinson Says Social Media Hinders Players

Former NBA star Nate Robinson was asked a series of questions by Sam Yip of HoopsHype during a recent interview, and one of them pertained to why a number of NBA players aren’t as interested in social media.

“Do you think a lot of higher-caliber players not wanting to be involved has to do with not wanting to be embarrassed online?” asked Yip.

“Yeah, man, ‘cause that’s what the world is now. It’s a social media era where the Internet runs the world. It’s like the Internet is the bully now,” replied Robinson.

Per multiple NBA betting sites, the Boston Celtics are the odds-on favorite to win this season’s championship. Sportsbooks are still showing great odds for the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers.

Rain City ☔️ https://t.co/bK0VXMTcBe

— Nate Robinson (@nate_robinson) November 21, 2023

“You’ll find clips and clips and clips of stuff where you look silly or you do something, and it’s gonna be on the Internet and the cyber world forever, and people just don’t want that,” Robinson added.

“They rather do something because they don’t look silly, or they don’t want the Internet to make a fool out of them. And I don’t blame them. I really don’t blame them, but it just sucks that this is the world we live in.

“Social media world is taking over, back in the day we didn’t have social media. So things weren’t highlighted so much. And we didn’t see certain things and now the whole world is under a microscope. It just kinda sucks that it hinders guys from wanting to do some cool things and make history.”

Three-time NBA Slam Dunk Contest champion Nate Robinson believes social media is ruining players’ careers

LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, and Stephen Curry are among the active NBA players with at least one social media account. James has 52.8 million followers on X and 159 million Instagram followers.

James, Irving, and Durant are all guilty of finding their way into controversy on social media. In December 2018, James apologized after he posted song lyrics, which referenced “Jewish money.”

The Lakers star had been quoting the song “ASMR” by the performer 21 Savage, typing the lyrics “We been getting that Jewish money. Everything is Kosher.”

Instagram suspended Kyrie Irving’s account
(h/t @BrooklynNetcast ) pic.twitter.com/Ys1uorjbyJ

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) January 12, 2023

In November 2022, Irving received at least a five-game suspension from the Brooklyn Nets for posting a link to an anti-Semitic documentary on X.

In April 2021, Durant was fined $50,000 for using “offensive and derogatory” language on social media. It was also revealed in 2017 that he had created so-called burner accounts — alternate identities — to defend himself.

Quite a few NBA fans, players, and coaches would agree with Robinson’s take.

Furthermore, Robinson enjoyed a journeyman NBA career, playing for eight different teams across an 11-year span. He is remembered for winning the Slam Dunk Contest three times (2006, 2009, 2010) in his career.

The former 5-foot-9 point guard also lost to Gerald Green in the final round of the 2007 Slam Dunk Contest.