Not since the glory days have I been this proud of coach Carlisle.  The dipshits at Deadspin are telling him to chill, but it’s been long overdue for a coach to step up and call out this garbage from ESPN.

NBA proponents say one of the great features of the league is social media headlines and manufactured off-court drama.  They think it’s fascinating when national broadcasts spend half the game cutting to reaction shots of a talentless father just because he spews out sensational quotes.  However, there are many people (me) who’ve stopped watching the NBA because of garbage like this.

Yes, ESPN is a business and they have metrics showing that Ball stories get them clicks.  They also had metrics showing that Tebow drew an audience back in the day, and force-feeding that bullshit to us was a big factor in the overall decline in that brand.  They should take some lessons from Facebook and Upworthy on the long-term damages that short-term clickbait strategies can do to a brand.

While there may be a niche market for imbecile’s who like the Ball stories, it is nowhere near the mainstream that ESPN is trying to manufacture it into.  The fact that they’re paying for Lithuanian beat writers to follow him after laying off half their staff is despicable.  If it’s the route they want to follow, then Carlisle is right – they can do it without getting the media credentials that provide net positive value for the health of the association.