Has it really come to this? NBA Commissioner David Stern announced that the first two weeks of the season will be canceled. We, of course, look at this move in terms of public perception.. and it ain’t pretty. In a time when the economy remains in such tatters that an entire national movement is beginning to mobilize, it behooves the very wealthy — particularly those in professional sports — to be somewhat sensitive to the social and financial burdens many Americans face.
Apparently Denver Nugget Kenyon Martin doesn’t believe in showing such goodwill. Martin, clearly dismayed that he wouldn’t receive a contract extension from the team, issued a series of tweets (from his now defunct Twitter account) wishing a broad range of people a ton of misery. And in very, very mean and impolite terms.
This incident might remind you of WNBA player Cappie Poindexter’s highly insensitive tweets a while back, where she claimed that Japan’s tsunami was the result of divine retribution. At least she attempted an apology, as poorly managed as it was. But Martin? He’s employing the Shaggy defense — “it wasn’t me!”
What’s left at this point? Whether Martin can do any sort of sincere PR strategy to atone for these actions. If indeed his account was hacked, he should quickly explain what happened. Otherwise, a PR crisis like this will stick around, and never need a contract extension to keep itself in play.
