I used to work with a guy who ghostwrote for the Player's Tribune so I never take anything I read there as saying anything at all about the player himself.
Everything in the post applies to the ghostwriter though.
I've said it before, I'll say it again: Wesley Snipes deserved better from the world.
1: Thanks for this! I've wondered about that for a while.
I assumed that professional writers were involved in crafting the Player's Tribune pieces. Part of what's impressive about the linked essay is how solid it is on a sentence-by-sentence basis. It's a long essay, and almost every sentence is careful and precise.
I also assume the player's have some input. It seems unlikely they would attach their name and photo to it if they didn't care about the topic.
But 1 is interesting to know.
Yeah, the players get interviewed for the pieces and have veto power over the final product so they're not like total fantasies or anything.
I was pretty jealous of this guy for some of the interviews he got to do straight out of college. Like Derek Jeter [yeah Jeets].
7.2: Did he get interviewed by Derek Jeter first? Or was someone else doing the hiring?
Goddamnit, I just erased my comment.
I disagree with this: Everything in the post applies to the ghostwriter though.
In hindsight, it totally reads as ghostwritten, and yes, it does detract from the emotional intelligence of the speaker. First, the writer didn't have to do any uncomfortable reflection, just assign it to Korver.
Clearly the writer interviewed Korver and used a lot of his manner of speaking in the piece. But the way you talk when you're having a conversation is different from the way you talk when you're piecing together events for an article. In a conversation, you just toss out a few highlights. But when those highlights become the narrative, it makes it seem artificially straightforward. That's what gives the impression of innocence and self-reflection, propelling forward his growth.
I still think Korver had the growth and insight, and deserves kudos for coming to understand his role in a racist world. I'm just saying he's not an emotional genius, like he came across initially.
My impression from reading the Athlete's Tribune (which I really enjoy) is that either a) all professional athletes have roughly the same manner of speaking, regardless of whether they're from Moscow, Moose Jaw, or Memphis, or b) the ghost-writers share a a similar manner of writing what they intend to be an athlete's manner of speaking.
My money is on b).
In a conversation, you just toss out a few highlights. But when those highlights become the narrative, it makes it seem artificially straightforward. That's what gives the impression of innocence and self-reflection, propelling forward his growth.
It's also a common rhetorical strategy to present a narrative beginning with a faux naivete -- "look how silly I was just a couple of years ago. If I can advance in understanding from that point so can anyone reading this article." Sometimes it feels disingenuous, and other times I'm willing to go along with it even when I suspect the person was not actually as naive as the present themselves.
I still think Korver had the growth and insight, and deserves kudos for coming to understand his role in a racist world. I'm just saying he's not an emotional genius, like he came across initially.
That seems fair, by the way. I think Korver deserves credit for putting his name (and audience) to a very good piece, and whatever role he had in generating this particular essay. But I would assume that whatever wisdom it represents in a shared effort.
I almost said something along those lines when I sent in the link, but didn't because (until I read 1) I didn't have any firm idea of what the process is for creating those articles. But, just from reading it, I assumed that at the very least it had extensive editing (and torque makes it sounds like more than that).
Does it matter if he had growth and insight? Like it would be horrible if he were always woke.
I think society is moving towards greater acceptance of ghostwriting. It's common knowledge that Drake doesn't write his own lyrics, but hardly anyone cares. Whereas I think it would have been a bigger rap world scandal if that had been revealed of Andre 3000.
Obviously, a Canadian can only write a power ballad.
Speaking of ghostwriting:
Seeing the news that Dirk Nowitzki is retiring, I went back and watched this video tribute to him and Tim Duncan, which is simultaneously one of strangest things I've seen, and a really lovely tribute to two (now) retired stars. The way the highlights are cut conveys a sense of how the game can be joyous (along with being competitive).
I wonder, now, who wrote those lyrics, and who was responsible for creating the video? (presumably Jason Gallagher, Andrew Tobolowsky and Kirk Henderson, but I don't know anything about any of them).