Kendall Marshall attended the NBA's rookie transition program last week, and one of the central topics is how to protect yourself from getting into bad situations with women. It's a delicate line to walk with the league, trying to deal with the reality that there are women who are motivated by trying to exploit young stars with money, while also instilling an attitude of respect.
There's also the hilarity when candid players like Marshall share their feelings on what they learned from "the female species."
The program offers help in furthering education for life after basketball. In the meantime, it tries to prepare players for the newfound scrutiny they will receive in every facet of life. That includes showing them photos related to sexually transmitted diseases and candid discussions about relationships with women.
"The female species are a lot smarter than us so we have to realize maybe it's not always that we're the best-looking guy they've ever seen," Marshall said. "Maybe there is some incentive behind it. At the same time, there are great cases where guys have happy marriages. They've shown us both cases. We just have to be smart (and realize) that people don't always have our best interests in mind."
via Phoenix Suns' Kendall Marshall partakes in NBA's Rookie Transition Program.
"The female species" definitely makes it sound like they are insectoid creatures that repel in darkness and grab players out of the club.
He is right that they're smarter, though. That point only becomes reinforced when/if he gets married.
It would be really interesting to know excactly what the tone of the conversations in these are, if only to try and understand the balance of promoting gender equality and mutual respect, while also trying to avoid exploitation.
