Pacers’ Myles Turner expresses how difficult it is to interact with fans: ‘People don’t view us as people’

Myles Turner just ended his 8th season in Indiana and is ready for a new challenge this upcoming campaign. In a recent interview in the “Run Your Race Podcast”, he referred to the struggles of being a celebrity in the sport world.

Last week, the Pacers center opened up about how hard it is to interact with NBA fans due to the way they treat athletes. On “Tidal League”, Turner said that they approach players almost as if they were their property, rather than normal people.

“People don’t view us as people, we’re property… You get paid millions of dollars, shut up. That’s kind of how the casual fan views us,” he said.

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Of course not all fans treat basketball athletes this way, but there is no doubt that most are disconnected from the player’s reality, which happens in general with public figures from all spheres. According to the 27-year-old, social media is also to blame for creating spaces where people can criticize others from behind a screen.

“Social media has done wonders for the game but it has also f****d the game too… That trade stuff will really f*** with you,” Myles assured.

He then gave took a young NBA player as an example, to show just what kind of struggles a sport celebrity must endure when they achieve fame.

“The one kid who I will say who had a lot of that hype, and I’m actually really impressed with how he’s handling it, is Jalen Green,” he shared. “Jalen Green came (into the league) with a LOT of that hype, bro, even before he got to the Ignite with that social media stuff. Watching him develop into the player he is right now… I have to give him a shout out. It’s actually really impressive. That sh*t is hard.”

Turner also made a bold prediction of placing himself as an All-Star this 2023/24 season

The Pacers big man is hyped for this upcoming campaign, as he recently said on Theo Pinson’s podcast that he’s working to be an All-Star for the first time in his NBA career. Next year’s All-Star Game just happens to be in Indianapolis.

“I’m excited for the All-Star Game obviously,” Turner said. “That’s gonna be in Indiana this year. Y’all gonna see me there by the way. You heard it here first. But having that come to the city and having the league itself all come to show love to Indy, that’s gonna be dope. I think it’s a city that really deserves it. We were about to have the All-Star Game in 2020, then COVID happened. That’s the reason why it got bumped up to this year.”

Six months ago, Myles had one of the best performances of his career. Check out his 40-point performance against Boston in the video above.

The 27-year-old has proven to be an incredible rebounder and defender, leading the league in blocks per match twice already. Last season he put up 18.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per contest while shooting 54.8% from field goal attempts, 37.3% from threes, and 78.3% from the free-throw line.