After watching another international star win NBA MVP, ESPN’s Jay Williams wonders if cancel culture is canceling American-born basketball players.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, born in Canada, became the seventh straight international recipient of the league MVP award this week. James Harden was the last American-born player to win the award. The drought sparked a First Take debate on whether this says more about American or international players. According to Williams, it says more about coaches’ inability to coach.
“How much of this do you think is cancel culture…I hear a lot of coaches talk about they don’t feel like they can coach young kids anymore. Cause anything they say could get used against them.” – Jay Williams on developing American NBA players pic.twitter.com/XE6PQbHh0Z
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 23, 2025
“The level of sensitivity has gotten out of control,” Williams said of current players. “‘Oh, he said something bad to me, I can’t play for him!’ When a coach yells at you, and I know there are certain things coaches can’t say anymore, but please, keep coaching those young kids hard! Let them face some damn adversity. Give them some accountability. And just because a coach is yelling at you, that actually means that he cares.
“… People aren’t gonna like it, but I really don’t care. How much of this do you think this is cancel culture in the political aspects of where we were compared to where we’re going?” Williams asked. “I hear a lot of coaches talk about they don’t feel like they can coach young kids anymore. Cause anything they say could get used against them or get twisted if caught the wrong way.”
Just this week, Dwyane Wade told Pardon My Take how Tom Crean coached him to tears at times when they were at Marquette. And Wade was very appreciative for that. But the rate at which players transfer schools today undoubtedly makes it harder to develop the type of relationship and trust that allows for that type of coaching.
Coaches were able to coach players harder decades ago. Part of it might be player sensitivity. Part of it is also player empowerment. And it’s probably fair to say more players should want to be coached the way Wade was. But it seems like a stretch to blame a lack of those relationships on cancel culture.
Are we saying coaches are struggling to develop MVP talent because they can’t go full Bob Knight on a player? If we’re going to blame the players for being too sensitive, maybe we should also blame the coaches if they can’t learn to coach hard while still treating players like humans.
