An anonymous NBA executive criticized the Lakers in the offseason

In 2020, with the general sports media industry complex constantly distributing anonymity like its Halloween treats to agents and team executives looking to push the narrative chosen at the end of a scoop tweet, the constant veil of secrecy without responsibility has created an environment where some content consumers have been conditioned to view a person who will not put their name on something as more credible than someone who says the same thing in broad daylight.

This is true of all media, but especially sports, something I’ve been thinking about a lot since my friend Basquiatball pointed it out anonymously on Twitter this morning:

But kidding aside, this is a reality that also caught my attention when reading a story from Sam Amick from The Athletic this morning, in which anonymous staff from across the league were given a great platform to share their views on the Lakers and Clippers. . ‘out of season without having their names attached. And since we do not know who the opinion comes from, we cannot judge the validity of the source beyond the importance taken from the credibility given by the level of its anonymous title. There is a name for this in philosophical terms: The Appeal to the Fallacy of Authority.

In situations like that, we’re left to let the basketball merits of these people’s comments speak for themselves, and as this piece shows, that doesn’t always lend a lot of credibility to their opinion.

For example, let’s take the “No. 1 Front Office Executive” thoughts on the Lakers’ offseason, the emphasis is mine:

“The Lakers apparently improved. I’m worried they would lose JaVale McGee, because I thought he was pretty good for them. Yes, he practically did not play during the bubble. I don’t think they’re going to miss Dwight as much as people think. So putting Gasol into the playoffs, that’s where he should really help them just because he’ll be able to excel on the perimeter, make room for LeBron and AD to attack the rim. And it can reach those 3. The defenses must respect it. You can shoot. You can pass. So they improved a lot there. But I still think they’re going to miss the living body that was JaVale McGee, just a kind of energy. “

To paraphrase the philosopher and presidential candidate Kanye West:

But okay, let’s take this piece by piece. For starters, I think most of us would agree that “the Lakers apparently got better.” Fewer people in this community are likely to be concerned about the loss of McGee, but let’s play devil’s advocate for a second. In fact, I think McGee could have helped this team. He started almost every game during the regular season and was a great valuable body to absorb minutes so Anthony Davis didn’t have to play as much center. That has value, even if many fans got frustrated with it.

What you can’t seriously believe, at least if you watched the playoffs, is that the Lakers both of them miss mcgee and I didn’t miss Howard much. Howard showed a lot more utility in the postseason and, honestly, he was also the best player in the regular season, even if he came off the bench. It’s also cheaper, considering the minimum one-year, $ 2.5 million veteran contract he agreed to with the Philadelphia 76ers is less than what McGee will make this year ($ 4.2 million). But either you agree that a large body like an oversized body to spell Marc Gasol and Anthony Davis as Howard and McGee would be something the Lakers would miss, or you don’t. It cannot be both.

However, that’s not the only instance of these executives essentially admitting that they have no idea what they are talking about. They are even more explicit by recognizing it just two paragraphs down.

Once again the emphasis is mine:

“Montrezl doesn’t fit (with the Lakers). I don’t know how he fits in with that team, but he sure will help them in the regular season. But I do not know. That remains to be seen. I think the most important thing about getting Montrezl is that they got him out of the Clippers, where he was productive. And he did not go to another place. But I’m not sure how exactly it fits in with them. Needs someone to spoon-feed, because he is going to run on the court and he is going to be active in the crystal. He’s going to do all of those things: execute the pick-and-roll high, jump in the basket, and finish and get spoon-fed, so space isn’t great. The Lakers don’t have a lot of room. So I don’t know where it fits, but it will give AD and LeBron a chance to rest during the regular season. During the playoffs, it probably won’t be that big of a factor. “

Again, this is not all bad. Most of us would probably agree that if your name isn’t LeBron James or Anthony Davis, you’ll probably be less of a factor during the playoffs when those guys take on a bigger role. What’s funny though, beyond this person saying a) Harrell doesn’t fit and then in the very next sentence saying that they second) I don’t know how it fits and that he too help them in the regular season (???) despite not fitting, then end by saying that everything remains to be seen: is this person’s opinion that Harrell “needs someone to spoon-feed him” on the offensive?

To be absolutely fair, Harrell had more assisted baskets (61.8%) than unassisted (38.2%) during his Sixth Man of the Year season last year, according to NBA.com. The only problem with using that as a criticism? Well, let’s let our old friend Coach Pete take that one:

In the end, I understand why these people are not named, and this is not an attack on Amick’s work. These individuals were granted anonymity to speak frankly about other players and teams, something they could not officially do without incurring (worst case) manipulation fines and (best case) incapacity to work with the teams / players who criticized again. It is journalism that allows us to see how the Lakers are perceived within the league, something that we would not otherwise realize. And the rest of the Lakers’ opinions from insiders in his article are pretty reasonable!

However, while these people all work for the league, it’s funny that we on the outside tend to give their opinions more credibility because they said it anonymously. Suppose for a second that, say, Detroit Pistons general manager Troy Weaver talked about what the Lakers did this offseason. If he didn’t destroy the team, would you mind? Probably not. But when the “No. 1 Front Office Executive” does it, are we suddenly supposed to treat them like experts? As if there are no bad opinions within the league either, or bad executives who build teams that continually fail?

In the end, that last part may be the most valuable journalistic conclusion to all of this. Not opinions themselves as a way to influence how we view the Lakers, but a reminder that authority doesn’t mean infallibility. As someone who’s had incredibly dumb basketball takes over the years, it makes me feel so much better about myself that there are people who get paid seven figures to have it too.

NBA Executives: They’re Like Us! Even the anonymous ones.

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