Special investigation: NBL players reveal scourge of online abuse on the rise
Amid the rise of Australian basketball, a special News Corp probe has uncovered the darkside of vile online abuse aimed at NBL players has soared.
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NBL players are copping online abuse after every game, not only from frustrated gamblers and trolls, but teenage fans spitting disgusting vitriol.
The online world has brought fans closer to our sports stars than ever before – but not always in a positive way.
A News Corp special investigation has uncovered an alarming trend of vile social media abuse and death threats aimed at NBL players from all 10 teams.
The online abuse has been so intense and frequent it has prompted some players to seek professional help.
The NBL, in conjunction with the Players’ Association, Basketball Australia’s Integrity Unit and the police force, are working overtime to tackle the issue.
“Every f--king shot is a brick u f--king ugly moron,” reads a typical message.
“Who the f--k tries to score with 10 secs to go and your (sic) up by 14,” was another.
“U are not able to hit a sea from the ship u ugly f----t,” adds a homophobic slur to the trolling.
Players regularly send the screen shots of derogatory, homophobic and racist comments to the league’s Integrity Unit, which attempts to ascertain if the threats against them — and their families — are real.
This support system has provided some comfort, yet the abuse continues.
South East Melbourne Phoenix import Gary Browne was the latest target.
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Browne, who has only just made his Phoenix debut after dealing with a knee injury, received these shocking messages: “Tear your ACL and never play again you weak piece of s---. Complete dog s---, hope you die.”
Browne said he’s never fazed by the messages, but he wants to shed light on the issue to help fellow players.
“I will never be able to understand why people criticise when you’re doing good,” the Puerto Rican dynamo said.
“I’m posting it so people can be aware of it and to see that I’m blessed and God has put me in a situation where there’s no harm, no matter what they say or do.”
A host of players rallied to support Browne via social media when they noticed he had posted the abuse on his personal social media.
Sydney Kings guard Shaun Bruce knows how the Phoenix import feels because he has copped online abuse from trolls dating back years.
Bruce told News Corp the attacks have gone to another level this season.
“It (the abuse) happens weekly,” Bruce said.
“I can’t remember one-off moments anymore – it’s something that is that regular and it happens so much.
“You become pretty accustomed to it, but it affects guys differently.”
Sydney Kings owner and chairman Paul Smith has been so repulsed by the vile abuse, he has vowed the Kings will never sign a gambling company as a sponsor of the club. Instead the Kings are supported by GambleAware, a state government program to show how gambling can ruin your life.
Both South East Melbourne Phoenix and Melbourne United are signed on with the Love The Game program, which aims to reduce the exposure of young people to gambling promotion by saying no to sports betting sponsorship.
But nothing is holding back the tidal wave of abuse.
Bruce says there is an increasing number of abusive messages from teenagers.
“Kids have access to social media, and they are starting to learn that they can access an athlete pretty easily by sending them a message,” he said.
“That is the sad part. You can understand the gamblers, and in some way feel sorry for them because they are at a point in their lives where they are doing that kind of stuff.
“But seeing kids not know how to deal with what social media is and this is their learnt behaviours, is the saddest part.
“The kids say things like, you should never play again, and you suck – all that surface level stuff.
“For kids it’s their new way of prank calling, but now they’ve got access to athletes through social media.”
ROCK BOTTOM — AND SPECIAL SUPPORT
Bruce’s lowest point came after losing a semi-final game against Melbourne United in the 2018-19 season.
As he attempted to wind down with teammates after their was season ended, he was bombarded with constant abusive messages.
“I was getting these messages in real time, and they weren’t good,” Bruce recalled.
“The messages were about family members and stuff like that.”
Bruce was sitting next to Smith who was a huge support for the hurt guard.
“To have Paul’s support was special,” he said.
“We might not agree with everything he says, but he cares about us and the club.
“This is an important subject. We see the brave faces of guys, but the reality is you just never know how it affects someone.
“You’d hate for something like this to really affect someone badly.
“I haven’t had a teammate show that they are visibly affected by the abuse, but at the end of the day you never really know.
“Hurtful things are hurtful things.”
Like Bruce, Browne has been pleasantly surprised by how his teammates have embraced him, having played all over the world.
“People who know me, know I’m not bothered by it, but there was still an outpouring of support,” he said.
“I got everybody sending messages and I’m most appreciative and grateful for those. I realised something about Australia, especially in our team, they actually care about more than basketball, they care about how we living, how we feeling.
“It amazed us, the imports. When you’re overseas, we’re only there to play, they could care less if something like this is happening.”
DON’T CARRY THE WEIGHT
It took encouragement from his partner Rachelle Farhart for Melbourne United import Xavier Rathan-Mayes to ask for help.
Dealing with the expectation of being an import, of coaches, of family is tough enough without faceless keyboard warriors sliding into players’ DMs.
“We go out there, we work our arses off, we give everything that we have, just for people who have never played the sport professionally to send us things that you would never say in person,” Rathan-Mayes said.
“You’re betting your own money — we don’t care! Don’t bet, bro, it doesn’t matter to us.
“We’re not here to tend to your needs of betting.”
The United star has worked on his mental health with a sports psychologist for two years and, at 28, says he is in a great space — he keeps an album of screenshots of the nasty messages people send him and uses it as motivation.
But he’s concerned at how younger players cope when they are victims of similar abuse.
“Deep down it hurts — you go out there as a player and you played bad, you know you didn’t perform the way you wanted to perform,” he said.
“People then compound that and say these things and it makes it worse. They have no clue what we deal with, they just sit behind a computer or phone.”
Rathan-Mayes doesn’t believe there’s an easy solution to stopping the online abuse — “people can just go and make burner accounts” — but he wants to bring it to light as a way of encouraging his fellow athletes to help themselves.
“As men, it’s so tough. We feel this sense of ego and masculinity and it’s like ‘I can deal with anything and get through this’. We tell ourselves ‘I’m fine’ but we’re really not,” he said.
“Let’s be real with each other, let’s take those steps forward as men and brothers, even if it’s going to tell your teammate ‘bro, this is what’s getting me down, this is what I’m feeling’, just having that first conversation.
“Being able to ask for help shows a sense of courage, a sense of strength and a sense of empowerment.”
A UNIQUE SITUATION
In the City of Churches, Adelaide is in a unique situation where passionate Filipino fans continuously overstep the mark – often in their native language – over home-grown centre Kai Sotto.
Sotto is a prodigious, but very raw, talent, who is taking time to develop the necessary basketball IQ to be a regular feature for the 36ers.
When the Sixers win, there is no blowback. If they lose, but Sotto gets on the court and produces a decent line on the box score, ditto.
But, if the Sixers get beaten and Sotto is used sparingly, the level of vitriol hits fever pitch.
In one recent game against the Sydney Kings, Sotto played just three minutes and, with the 36ers down at three-quarter-time, the knives were out. But Adelaide came out with the win, silencing the trolls.
Sydney Kings guard Dejan Vasiljevic received death threats after hitting a match-winning three against Tasmania in Game 2 of last year’s grand final series.
Five months on, Vasiljevic has revealed his major motivation to report the online abuse he copped.
“The only reason I called it – I couldn’t care less what they say to me, but when they say things about my mum and dad, that’s not it man,” he said.
“I play the game of basketball, my parents don’t, so don’t bring any personal stuff to me.
“That is why I brought it to the attention of the NBL and the Kings.”
WHAT’S NEXT?
The NBL strongly condemning online abuse and standing united with players and staff.
“Online abuse can severely impact the mental wellbeing and health of those targeted, as well as their families and communities,” a league statement read.
“The league works closely with various social media platforms to manage the risk of online abuse and keep the online space a safe environment for everyone.
“We stand united with our athletes and staff to protect their safety at all times.”
Browne is keen to raise awareness of the online abuse, but he fears it is “damn near impossible” to stop it.
“There’s just so many ways to hide. That account that wrote that (to me) doesn’t have no pictures, doesn’t have nothing, you can never find out who did it,” he said.
Bullets guard Jason Cadee would like to see social media platforms force users to show their identities.
“Surely, we are at a stage where if you want to use social media you have to use I.D to verify yourself,” Cadee said.
“Would change a lot of this rubbish when real names are attached.”
Either way, Bruce says the constant wave of online abuse that NBL players cop is proof that more work still needs to be done.
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