Young NBA players tend to trash talk less, and the Washington Wizards' Paul Pierce says it's because of NBA 2K.
Pierce's theory, according to L.A. Daily News writer Mark Medina, is that the new generation of players take their frustrations to a computer instead of to each other. Where he and players like Kobe Bryant make their feelings widely known, the younger generation keeps its trash talking to the virtual realm.
For our review of NBA 2K15, which did little to diminish inner-office trash talk, head here.
[Source: @MarkG_Medina, via probasketballtalk.nbcsports.com]
Our Take
Pierce's theory is a little shallow, but not entirely without merit. There is plenty of trash talk in gaming, but maybe that's just where it stays instead of spilling out onto soical media, or near people with microphones and cameras.