NBA needs more trash talkers like Cam Spencer

NBA needs more trash talkers like Cam Spencer

Not too long ago, we did a site-wide roundtable about why the NBA’s ratings are down.

While I don’t care as much about the league’s decreased ratings–I’m not a league partner who directly benefits from the increase or decrease; I’m a fan just like you, the reader–like most, a common theme was wanting the league to be more physical and “tough,” like the “good ol’ days.”

What I’m about to explain to you isn’t exactly that. I still think the NBA is pretty far from “soft,” contrary to popular belief. But one thing in today’s NBA that appears missing–at least relative to older generations of basketball–is the lack of pure trash talk.

There are a few examples from this season I could use as an example of trash talk. It’s not extinct, but there’s not as much as we were accustomed to seeing–or hearing–when watching games.

Specifically, one moment this week from Memphis Grizzlies second-round rookie Cam Spencer elicited a mixed reaction when he was talking trash to Kevin Durant after a made 3-pointer:

Part of the mixed reaction is that you don’t see a rookie going after one of the greatest players ever all that often. We’ve all heard the crazy trash talking stories from players when they met up with Michael Jordan.

Those are great for the game. So, I’m here to say that the NBA needs more players like Cam Spencer–no, not because he’s small or can shoot, but because he doesn’t care who you are, he’s going to talk trash. The NBA doesn’t have enough of those kinds of players.

We can’t ask the NBA not to be more physical and then get mad at Cam Spencer for doing this. Who cares what his points per game is or who he’s talking trash to? It’s not disrespectful by any means of the word.

Sure, Spencer may get embarrassed here or there, but he’s not going to back down. He’s a competitive psycho; I noted that in his draft profile. He may not have an ounce of athleticism, but he’s a younger version of Dan Hurley who happens to be a professional basketball player.

We should commend this kind of behavior around the league way more often than we actually do. Cam Spencer would talk trash to Michael Jordan and that should be a good thing no matter what other people tell you.

The more trash talk in the NBA, the better. Bring more fire, bring more competitiveness, bring more players playing on an edge or, in Spencer’s case, playing for his career. Players getting chippy is great for our basketball entertainment.

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