It’s hard to imagine how players like Derrick Coleman and Stephon Marbury would have reacted during their primes if given access to a little thing called Twitter.
In what many would categorize as a Twitter meltdown, respected veteran Jerry Stackhouse verbally battled with several Brooklyn Nets fans via the social media site.
Stackhouse made headlines when he not only signed with the Nets during the offseason but earned significant playing time under former head coach Avery Johnson. As his productivity has dipped, Nets fans have voiced their displeasure.
The barbs struck a nerve off the court with a cool customer on it.
Stackhouse went to his arsenal and pulled out all the stops in defending himself and criticizing Nets fans for their short-sighted nature. He even went to the timeless classics:
“(G)et your followers up.. You’re not even worthy of a response”
“(W)onder if I came to your cubicle and critiqued your work and put it up for public consumption, would your view change??”
Engaging in trash talk with fans is never a good idea, although Stackhouse raised some prudent points. Among his strong defenses, Stackhouse does not whisper in P.J. Carlesimo’s ear regarding playing time and even said in the locker room earlier this season that he served as a mentor to MarShon Brooks.
Unfortunately, Stackhouse did not stop following reasonable tweets like this one:
“(W)e’ll take pride in the fact your team is 11-1 this year! If I was 36-36 you’d still find something to complain about! Be Happy”
Stackhouse is right. The Nets are having a great season and enjoyed a resurgence following Johnson’s dismissal.
Sadly, he will not curry any favor by attacking fans on Twitter, justified or not.
Stackhouse boasts coaching aspirations and is seen as a strong and dependable leader. Spats with fans on social media sites, available to anyone with a computer, come off as childish and immature.
While Stackhouse emerged as an early-season fan favorite, his individual play has dipped since the hot start. Since the calendar flipped to January, Stackhouse has made just one field goal. He’s gone 1-of-12 in six appearances.
The fact that Stackhouse searched out these tweets comes off as curious. He was not defending himself following a direct attack, he sought out the general comments.
In what can only be described as an admission of guilt, Stackhouse later deleted his tweets.
A full transcription of his tweets can be found here at NetsDaily.
The fans tweets can be found here.
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