Getty Golden State Warriors forward Kelly Oubre.
There’s a new trend in sports: finding out you’ve been traded on Twitter.
We live in quite a different era where breaking news can reach its audiences in a matter of seconds through social media or just a push notification. This provokes some sticky situations when it comes to sensitive matters, like players being traded, and former Phoenix Suns’ Kelly Oubre Jr. was last week’s latest installment of that.
In what is almost becoming a normal thing during this era of Twitter reporting, Oubre discovered that he was a component of the Suns’ latest trade when the rest of the world did — on social media that is.
Kelly Oubre Jr. on How He Got Traded
What a shocker, Kelly Oubre found out he was traded like the rest of the world. Oubre said that he felt a different vibe in the Suns’ facility after a workout and inquired to a teammate about it as The Athletic’s David Aldridge detailed:
“And I just see people looking at me with, like, a glare in their eyes. I was like, hmm. And then Cheick Diallo, he came up to me and was like, ‘hey, my boy, check Twitter.’ I don’t really get on social media like that. So I just went around and I asked Frank (Kaminsky), ‘hey, man, where am I going?’ ‘Cause I already knew I had got traded. So I was like, ‘where am I going, bro?’ And he was like, ‘OKC.’ And I said, all right. I just kind of gave everybody a final goodbye, made my way around the room, and I left.”
Usually, players who have been traded first hear the news from their respective agent or team. The difference between the two is an illustration of what happens after a trade is finalized: Teams most likely have every intention of telling their agents or the players first-hand before reporters receive the information, but the fast pace of the news cycle implemented through social media can sometimes make that process challenging.
The young guard might have deserved better than that considering the production he gave the Suns in his previous two seasons in Phoenix. Oubre was quickly turned around by OKC in a trade to the Golden State Warriors on Sunday.
This recent addition to the Dubs lineup came just in time as their All-Star Klay Thompson has been ruled out for the upcoming season due to a torn ACL. (Yikes).
The New Sports Tradition
What aids in the uniqueness of modern social media platforms and push notifications is the fact that everything basically moves 10x quicker than previous news outlets. Regardless of how everything played out, learning about a trade on social media first has to burn even more than hearing from the team or your agent directly. However, it’s becoming so common it probably doesn’t phase some players.
The bottom line is: It’s a reality that NBA players, and all professional athletes for that matter, get traded from franchise to franchise, without