Media members angry about Steph Curry bringing his daughter to press conference

Ding. Ding. Ding. We have a winner.

 

It's not a stain. It's unprofessional and annoying.

I suspect Steph curry even knew as much, since he'd never made it a practice. But some PR person on the first night inserted themselves into the moment, curry had the kid foisted upon him, he did the presser, it was unprofessional, and now it's celebrity nonsense. The kid is a prop now. Which is fine. A lot of kids are.

 

I wasn't there but I'm pretty sure this is not how it happened. Everything I've seen said his wife is pregnant and sitting in the hallway waiting, and she sees dad and demands to go with him. Mom has been dealing with the kid for hours, so the noble Steph steps up. The second time, one of three things: The same thing happened, he wanted to share the moment with his daughter, or he just wanted to show the world again how cute she is (a prop). It's a different situation, but like with Jameis Winston not attending the draft, I just don't get the indignation when athletes want to spend time with their families, "unprofessional" or not. And this is certainly not the first (or last) time this has happened.

 

These press conferences are held because they give the NBA/players good exposure, which turns into revenue. The league is not obligated to hold these.

Reporters go because it's their best chance to ask Stephen Curry post-game questions. That's still true with Riley there.

Riley has given the NBA, the Warriors and Curry great exposure. That's the end goal for those in charge of the pressers.

The media that dislike Riley's presence at these pressers will continue to show up, because hearing Curry talk with the intrusion is better than hearing him at all. Until that balance tips, reporters will continue to show up.

 

Press conferences are a far, far less convenient way for the media to get their quotes than just going to the guys' lockers.

I'm not sure what the exact lineup was yesterday, but I know for sure that Curry didn't go on until after Harrison Barnes talked for about 10 minutes. And I think Barnes didn't get up there until Kerr was done.

So reporters got Curry at least 20 minutes after they would have if they had just waited at his locker.

No, the press conferences are not for reporters.

 

Suppose Curry just blows off the news conference instead.
Problem solved. He had to bail so he could attend to his family.
And then the whiny types would bitch about him not being available.

Guess what? Curry handled it, on the fly, in a way that worked for him -- and his pregnant wife, who surely needed a break at that point. Child handled, media handled, answers given politely and sincerely. So Curry took care of everyone's needs around him, and for that he's getting trashed? You wanna hammer someone, go hammer Ray McDonald.

 

Well put, Riptide. The final decision on going to an interview room is always going to be the player's.

 

You can't be serious.

This wasn't a press conference for Curry to announce he's signing with another team. Or to announce his retirement. Judging by the questions asked, its entire reason for existing was for Curry to give some empty platitudes about how it "feels" and how "focused" he is on "making a statement" and "not getting ahead of ourselves."

Prosecutors/state legislators/business leaders usually have press conferences to give full details on a list of charges/legislative proposals/new initiatives/layoffs, etc. In other words, something newsworthy. It would be like a prosecutor announcing charges against Ray Rice, and then having a press conference solely so the media can ask him/her to "talk about what was going through your head when you filed those papers."

 

This is why the first time didn't bother me. It felt like one of those "life intervening" moments where Curry was doing his best to attend to the needs of his family while fulfilling his media obligations. I respect that.

The second time, it felt much more contrived. He didn't walk out to the desk with her. She made her way out after Curry was already answering questions, as if some PR lacky was behind the curtain saying "Ok, Riley, go see daddy now." It felt less like Curry being a good dad and more like a stunt. I just don't think a press conference is the place for that.

 

Our job is to produce the best story we can given whatever circumstances come our way.

If we get a 30-inch newshole and no deadline pressure, we write the best story we can within those constraints.

If we get 8 inches for print and multiple online updates with a 11 p.m. hard deadline, we write the best story we can within those constraints.

If the game ends on time and we've got a solid internet connection, we write the best story we can within those constraints.

If the game goes to triple-overtime and we're forced to write from the parking lot on a 3G cellphone connection, we write the best story we can within those constraints.

If the star player is effusive and quotable and/or drops a newsworthy bombshell, we write the best story we can within those constraints.

If the star player can't or won't speak to the media, we write the best story we can within those constraints.

If the star player does talk to the media but his small child makes her way onto the platform, we ...

 

They're definitely not for the good ones. But you'd be surprised at events like the NCAA Tournament, where most of the reporters probably aren't used to locker room access, how many of them don't take advantage of it. And if you have to choose between the locker room and the press conference, you should go to the locker room 99.9 percent of the time.

 

... write the best story we can within those constraints but then feel free to complain about it to fellow colleagues if it bothered us, the same way we would if a game goes to triple overtime, if we get a limited news hole or if the star player is a prick.