Here’s something I bet you didn’t know before, say, right gotdamn now.
Michael Carter-Williams loves him some Ellen.
During a piece for the The Players’ Tribune, wherein he sounds off on allegations that the Sixers are tanking, MCW offers some insight into how he copes with losing:
Every guy in the league deals with losing in his own way. Some come home, turn on the Xbox and try to get revenge on NBA 2K. The vets might watch a movie with the kids or jump in the hyperbaric chamber. The more progressive guys are turning to meditation and yoga.
I’m too impatient for that stuff. For me, it’s all about Ellen. I just think she’s awesome. So every weekday at 4 p.m., my stepfather and I pause the basketball talk, grab some snacks and watch The Ellen Degeneres Show. It might sound funny, but this is one of the ways I’m able to get away from the frustration of losing. Last winter, when we went on a near-historic losing streak, I was not a fun guy to be around.
Hey, whatever gets it done for you man. Personally, I’m partial to some p90x3 followed by yoga. It helps me cope with the stress of a daily work grind that seems to include endless hours and absolutely no me-time.
People deal with stress in all different ways. One of my best friends definitely uses Tinder as his boredom bucket. Some of my friends seem to resort to video games. Another one of my best friends takes to running. Others—and this sometimes includes myself—don’t seem to feel right unless they’ve complained about the infinite amount of sorrow plaguing their unfairly fated lives. Everyone copes with shit in different ways. That’s the point. I find MCW’s outlet comical and awesome and genuine. The basketball gods know he has a lot of crap to deal with these days, after all.
To wit, he spoke on tanking as well:
In order to get to the NBA, you have to be crazy, over-the-top competitive. When I was riding the bench my freshman year at Syracuse, I used to stay in the gym so late doing dribbling drills that I had to superglue my fingers to stop them from bleeding.
You can question my shooting. You can question my ceiling. Just don’t question if I’m giving my all every single night. Don’t talk to me about tanking.
The media creates this narrative and repeats it over and over. That’s how Stephen A. Smith ends up in our locker room with a big smile on his face…
MCW touches on a sensitive subject here. Tanking has become a phenomena in the sense that everyone talks about it and the Sixers have become the quintessential model of it. Jokes are made. Snark is sold. Losses are stockpiled.
What certain players and members of the media fail to realize is tanking isn’t—nor should it be viewed as—a team deliberately playing poorly. Some, like myself, make those jokes. But everyone, including joke-makers, need to understand it’s fabricated fiction.
Tanking is something different. It’s a general manager or owner or someone else putting together an oft-cheap group of developing and below-average players who have no chance of winning, regardless of how well they play. Players will give it their all. So, too, will coaches. The mark of a good tank job isn’t one that includes lethargy and haplessness. It’s when none of that stuff—effort, will, drive—make a damn difference. But hey, to each their own.
Now if you’ll please excuse me, I have some p90x3-ing to do.
Dan Favale is a firm believer in the three-pointer as well as the notion that defense doesn’t always win championships. His musings can be found at Bleacherreport.com in addition to TheHoopDoctors.com.
