Stan Culture is everywhere these days. You really cannot avoid it. You know what I’m talking about. Those Twitter accounts that are unreasonably – ahem – enthusiastic about a player.
Not a state. Not a city. Not a team. A. Player.
Now, I won’t even try to get into the psychology of what compels a human being to create a Twitter account for the sole purpose of hiding behind a glorified Twitter egg profile picture and trying to suckle at the teat of an NBA player for whom they have what, in the very least, is a “concerning” level of interest. And the Stan does not exist for the mere purpose of supporting the object of the Stan’s affection, but instead, the Stan is willing to throw anyone and everyone under the bus to defend any perceived failure of said NBA player.
The net result? A collective headache for those of us out there who are sane.
That said, I assure you that I am not quite at the “old man yelling at a cloud” stage of my life, so I’m not here to complain about the existence of Stans in general. Are they weird? Sure. But aren’t we all a little weird?
However, there is a point where it goes beyond weird. It goes beyond a Stan just being a whiny, petulant brat. There’s a point where it just gets vicious.
Which brings me to the impetus behind all of this. Phoenix Suns fans watched [Jalen Green leave the game last night](/suns-injury-report/97268/jalen-green-injury-setback-hamstring-return-questions-trade-impact), again, because of a hamstring. Then, as you scroll through Twitter, you see garbage like this:
It goes beyond “weird“ when faceless Stans expressly take joy in the literal pain of another human being. There is nowhere within the bounds of human decency where that is acceptable. There just is not.
Certainly, the target of the Stans’ affection – in this case, Kevin Durant – would not support someone openly mocking an apparent injury to another NBA player, right?
Presumably not. But when someone calls out one of those Stans for mocking Green’s injury, and KD responds like this…
…that certainly does not help dissuade the increasingly vicious nature of Stan Culture. One may even say that, perhaps, KD should do better.
But who am I to judge? At the end of the day, perhaps we can all rest easy just remembering that Stans are a bunch of weirdos.
Now, give me some prayer circle.