There are just some things we're smarter about these days. Nineteen-foot jumpers? Rarely a good play. If your goal is to score, it's the least efficient way to do it. Partying is the midrange jumper of nightlife. And it can get you in the headlines for all the wrong reasons.
Nets GM Sean Marks, an 11-year NBA veteran, says there's a stigma now that players can't risk.
"You don't get away with things anymore," he says. "Guys are too into their brand to risk it. Corporate sponsors won't tolerate that."
One current NBA coach notes: "[Players are] not going out to clubs anymore, acting like imbeciles. They get crushed in the media when pictures come out, then they get clowned on for 24 hours."
Says one executive who tells players to find clubs that take phones at the door: "You cannot get framed if you're not in the frame."
All of which might help explain the off-court behavior and on-court performance of an MVP front-runner this season.
In years past, the analytically-minded Rockets have made it a point to show James Harden the career trajectories of similar statistical comps at the end of every season. Names like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant have appeared on the list. But so have two other NBA stars -- Steve Francis and Gilbert Arenas -- who, it has been widely reported, didn't take their games as seriously. Both playmaking guards were three-time All-Stars by age 25, like Harden. Both playmaking guards finished their last NBA game at age 30.
Type
Harden's name into TMZ.com's archives, and you'll find him mentioned in at least 25 posts last season, while he dated tabloid magnet Khloe Kardashian. The distractions amounted to what Harden has called his worst year ever (even if he did post career-best numbers).
"If you do anything ... everything is on social media, it's on Instagram. People make it bigger than what it really is," Harden says. "I guess it comes with it, man. It's a new day."
This season, though, we're seeing a different Harden, and it's not lost on NBA folks that his name has appeared just once on TMZ since the season began. And that lone post? It's a video of Drake making a toast during a New Year's Eve performance at Hakkasan, a nightclub in Las Vegas.
"Make some noise for my brother James Harden in here tonight," Drake urged a crowd of screaming fans. "My brother scored 53 with 16 [rebounds] and 17 [assists]. ... It's just that type of night."
Except it wasn't, of course, not for Harden. He was offstage and out of the limelight. He didn't step forward. In fact, he might very well have gone home early. The next game, Harden produced another triple-double, helping the surging Rockets notch another win.
A day later, across the country, Purple grabbed his phone and posted another photo to his Instagram. It was a picture of him walking a celebrity couple into the LIV nightclub for the New Year's Eve party.
The couple?
Khloe Kardashian and, finishing off a road trip, Cavs center
Tristan Thompson.
