In a recent meeting between the Sacramento Kings and Los Angeles Lakers, the intra-state rivalry escalated. Lakers star Luka Doncic is known to be one of the premier trash-talkers in today’s game. He brought that smoke to the doorstep of Kings guard Dennis Schröder. It’s being reported that this event is an amalgamation of smaller instances that finally came to a head.

From international play between the two to their games in the NBA, they’ve become bitter rivals. So, in their latest match-up, Doncic was seen telling Schröder that he “should’ve signed the contract.” What he’s referring to is a 2021 contract extension that Schröder could’ve signed with the Lakers worth $84 million. Believing he was worth more in the free agent market via counsel with his agent, Schröder turned it down. He ended up having to settle for signing a contract with the Boston Celtics for just $5.9 million.

When trash talk goes too far

Needless to say, this remains a sore spot for Schröder, so he had enough. Shots at his masculinity and intellect proved to be too much, and he felt the need to assert himself. I certainly don’t blame him in this instance. As a matter of fact, this incident is a breath of fresh air to me.

You see, today’s NBA culture is much cleaner. The league’s playing style is much more based on finesse than physicality. The players who make up so much of today’s league were a little bit better off than some other league veterans. So, the ways that they typically handle misunderstandings tend to be less confrontational. Schröder is currently playing in his 13th season. The league at the beginning of his career still had remnants of players who really had to get it out of the mud.

A more rugged era

For instance, the last time I can remember a player going to confront another player in the back was ironically in 2013 when Carmelo Anthony did it. The rumor then was that Kevin Garnett, who was then a player for the Celtics, told Anthony that his wife at the time (Lala Anthony) tasted like Honey Nut Cheerios. Yes, you read that right. Anthony has since refuted the rumor of what was said, but as they say, no one cares about the truth when the lie is more entertaining.

On that occasion, Anthony approached Garnett in the loading dock of Madison Square Garden after the game as Garnett was headed to his team bus. Words were exchanged, but no physicality. Garnett’s reaction was him allegedly yelling, “Over a game?!” And that was the end of that.

Standing on business

Confrontations of this sort were a bit more prevalent during that time. I don’t believe that the NBA’s culture will ever return to it. There’s just too much money and branding involved between the league and its players. But I do feel that Schröder was warranted to assert himself how he did, even though it resulted in a three-game suspension.

Some things are bigger than the game, and he believed that his character didn’t deserve that disrespect. At least for a day or two, I enjoyed news coverage of a confrontation like this. It was truly a trip back to the good ole days.