Smart was clearly provoked by the fan--who we now know is super fan Jeff Orr--and he clearly said something to him while he was on the ground. Orr claims he called Smart a "piece of crap," and a video released by Texas Tech lends itself to that (even though it seems extremely suspect and Smart appears to mouth that Orr called him a racial slur. Given Smart's reaction, that seems far more likely). Now, Smart's reaction was over the line, especially for someone who has a lot at stake in future NBA money. But aside from all the hoopla and Twitter outrage that came from the incident, an interesting thought entered my mind:
What happened between Smart and Orr was essentially the underbelly of social media acting out in real life. An unassuming fan, who paid good money to sit close to the court, shot his mouth off to a star player as his team was about to win because he had the protection of being a fan in the stands. Much like a vile tweeter has the protection/anonymity of an avatar.
But guess what? The moment Smart got up and reacted to the Orr's words, whatever they were, it got real. And he got scared. He got very scared. He uttered, by my amateur lip-reading skills, "I'm sorry about that." Smart tossed him anyway. And probably rightfully so.
This is social media in the 21st century personified. And honestly, I kind of wish an offended user could have the same opportunity Smart did. You see, we've become a society filled with people who love to speak their minds in hateful fashion. People who think they are tough, most who have never been in a fight. People who think they can shoot off at the mouth with no consequences, because they paid good money to do so or took five minutes to create an account. And the way things are set up, for the most part, those people are correct in those assumptions. So they keep saying vile, awful things knowing there will be no repercussions.
And frankly, it's so great to see that come to life and to see "Internet tough guy" cower while he's pushed like the loudmouth, all-hat-and-no-cattle buffoon that he is. People are allowed to say ignorant, hateful things to complete strangers in today's society due to the infinite outlets provided for them to do so. There's no accountability. Just hate.
If those social media spats were to get real just like the Smart/Orr incident did, less of it would happen.
And now we're left with this. Smart, who has been suspended three games, now has his character called into question. And I'm not sure whether or not it should be. But I know that's what will be talked about more than what should be talked about.
Smart isn't the first star athlete to have a douchebag fan taunt him or insult him to his face. But he's one of the few to physically respond to it. And that's why he'll be heavily scrutinized. But it doesn't change the dynamic between players and opposing fans or even home fans for that matter. And it certainly doesn't change the dynamic between modern-day Internet tough guys and us regular folk.
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