By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Olympiacos boss David Blatt has been coaching for 25 years and has done it all over Europe as well as in the USA. He’s had a lot of contact with media on both sides of the Atlantic and is certainly one of the most eligible persons to gauge media’s place and influence in basketball.
That’s exactly what he’s done for the EuroLeague.net coaches corner:
I have long said – and anyone that knows me knows it, that media is a big part of what we do as professional sportsmen. The importance of us being open and communicative and fair with one another is something that serves our sport well because it is what drives fan interest and what helps to engage the masses and glorify our sport. It is something that has to be respected, recognized and appreciated, and I try to do that whenever I can.
I never looked at it as pressure. I think there are different kinds of journalists and different kinds of journalism. You have to recognize that, but for me, pressure has never been external. I have always put more pressure on myself than I allowed to have or to feel from external sources such as the media. People have the right to say and write whatever they want to. You just hope that it comes with the sense of credibility and respect and professionalism and you recognize that sometimes it doesn’t and that is just how it is. It is unfortunate, but that is a reality. I go with that – I have been in the business too many years to allow that to influence me.
I suppose it is possible to reach out to our fans through the media. I don’t suppose it is possible… it is very possible! Just like the different times that coaches will talk to their players through the media. Neither of those cases I think are the best possible situations, but I guess there is a place for it, if necessary. The important thing is to try to be open, to try to be respectful, to try to be professional, to recognize that everybody has a job to do, that everybody has a point of view, that everyone has their own motivation to be successful and to live together, harmoniously, as much as that’s possible.