Great read. That's amazing that these NBA superstars are so insecure that they're running to their phones immediately after the game to see how they're trending. Bizarre.
Why should NBA players, most of whom are in their early-mid-20s, not be the same as everyone else that's addicted to social media? How many people out there are constantly checking Facebook or Twitter or Instagram to see how many likes, shares/retweets, or comments their posts got? Heck, even on here: when someone posts a comment or starts a topic, I'm sure that person checks periodically to see if there's been a response.
Ultimately, it boils down to the culture surrounding the sport and sports in general. Rarely do analysts spend a lot of time talking about the merits of a good team win before pitching to nothing but highlights ("so-and-so with the ball, drives in the lane and POSTERIZES BIG NAME STAR" in a game that so-and-so's team lost by 20 points) or talking about the star players' stats on the night before a cursory look at the standings and then onto the next game. It's all driven by the fantasy sports obsession, where team success takes a backseat to individual success, all for bragging rights and maybe some money or a cheap little trophy. It's part of the reason younger sports fans are becoming fans of players and follow the players, rooting for whatever team their favorite player is on and eschewing rooting for their local team (where applicable) because there aren't any fantasy players of value on it.
It's the way sports as a whole are trending.
Case-in-point: everyone waxed ecstatic over Tatum's thunderous dunk on LeBron in Game 7 of the ECFs last year. Tatum has a picture of it on the wall of his house and everyone said it marked his official arrival. The Celtics lost that game in embarrassing fashion, literally giving the game away to a team that was ready to fold up shop and head home for the summer, and the two points from that dunk were ultimately meaningless. Why would you want to have a picture on your wall on a game where you not only lost but blew a chance to play for the NBA title? Because it was an individual moment and because it was LeBron. That is the only logical explanation and it's a trash one. Win the fucking game, then put up pictures of your personal highlights.
Sorry, still haven't gotten over that loss. Likely never will.
Editing to add that it was a great read and thank you for posting it! That Beckett comment made me laugh but didn't surprise me in the least.