Isaiah Thomas has been releasing a docu-series over the last few weeks that has given fans the unique opportunity to see his life outside of the 94 feet of hardwood. “The Book of Isaiah,” intended to show his rehabilitation and give an inside look at his life, became something much different when he was unceremoniously traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers during filming.
It then became something with greater authenticity as you got to see Thomas’ reaction to the trade in real time. It’s devastating, it’s immensely watchable, and it’s real. Its honesty is its hook and so is the NBA’s.
This type of honesty is hard to come by yet easy to find in the technological world that exists today. People of power hide their lies and lives behind public personas that many don’t bother to look past unless something truly horrifying occurs. Even then, it could take years for people to find out the honest truth.
For athletes, sometimes this reveal, good or bad, never occurs. Most fans happily accept the player they see for two hours a day on their television screens as the human being that exists outside of those pixels. Most other sports even encourage beige personalities. The NFL’s biggest stars of the past decade, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, said less in more press conferences than Donald Trump tweets out on a Monday morning after Fox and Friends.
They gained popularity because they chose to strictly be the players they were on the field and nothing more. No opinions, no beliefs, just football, and just the next game. There has been speculation and indications of obvious politic leanings but nothing strong enough to be considered a statement, so they largely remain neutral. They are unquestionably more complex people than this facade displays, but they refused to show these complexities to the world. It is easy to do when you are able to hide your emotions behind a bulky mask and your ideas behind a league that encourages silence.
Despite how well this has worked for the NFL, not all league’s can operate the same, and America has ever-evolving desires. For decades they have wanted a soldier-esque athlete, one that treats his sport like a 9-to-5 job. Heck, maybe they still do as NFL ratings continue to stay sky high, but the NBA is growing in popularity and that’s largely because their athletes are honest.
Players are more active on social media. LeBron James posts video diary entries seemingly every week, and Isaiah Thomas allowed a documentary crew to follow him around.
NBA players are also some of the most outspoken athletes when it comes to social issues. Many are praised for the efforts to bring awareness to such causes and are not ostracized for their efforts.
In today’s world, people are constantly looking for something real. In television and cinema, the desired product is not a stand-alone film with little backstory, but entire worlds developed enough to feel like a living ecosystem.
People crave this kind of reality from their sports as well. They want their athletes to say something more than “we are focused on the next game.”
They want to see the passion, the anguish, and the jubilee, and this is what the NBA delivers every night. The NBA is a league that is more open and real than any other major sport, and that’s why it is thriving.
