Basketball Players Caught Cursing

Editor’s note: This article contains explicit language. Sports Illustrated typically censors profanity, but we made an exception in this case because of the subject matter.

The NBA doesn’t want players cursing on TV or in their own IG videos, not during press conferences and certainly not while they are training for the season. So the league is policing their words, privately warning or even fining players who say too much.

It’s quaint, in a way, that the league still has an official process for protesting a ruling. Given the technology and tools it has available, it would seem unnecessary. But the system exists to provide a final court of appeal for teams that are particularly aggrieved. And it’s one of the few relics from the days when the NBA was an amateur league, when the league had to be careful about tampering with the rules.

LeBron James’ victory arc is a testament to his ability to overcome a mountain of impossible expectations forecast of him since he was 12. It connects him with the likes of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Michael Jordan, who were also scorers but more than just point totals.

The way that Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker moves on a basketball court, with a fluidity and a series of movements that would make Diaghilev proud, illustrates the level of detail and coordination that sets great players apart from mediocre ones. Great players know that the smallest of details can be what makes them better, so they are constantly working to improve their game. And they love the game so much that it shows in everything they do, from practicing hard to talking on the sidelines to their team’s fans.