Ayesha Curry, Sponsors & Social Media

Game 6 of the 2016 NBA Finals had all the makings of a soap opera. You had a great storyline with the city of Cleveland having not won a sports championship in 52 years. You had the Golden State Warriors attempting to do what very few have done; repeat back-to-back NBA championships. You had Steph Curry, the reigning two time MVP of the NBA getting ejected from the game. As if that was not enough, you had Curry’s wife venting on social media. This led to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith commenting on her tweets on ESPN’s First Take, which led to angry posts and blogs from women and men all over social media on Friday. As a crisis manager, the one thing I know that will keep me up at night, more than my phone ringing, will be social media. This relatively new piece of technology has a power that few people understand. Let’s start from the beginning:

Ayesha Curry, Steph’s Curry wife, started Thursday evening, game 6 of the NBA Finals, in frustration. She tweeted:

            10 mins til game time and the whole teams families are sitting here on the bus. They won’t let us in yet. Interesting tactic though. Again. Via Twitter @ayeshacurry

The game continues and Steph Curry gets ejected. Ayesha Curry returns to Twitter:

           

            I’ve lost all respect. Sorry this is absolutely rigged for money or ratings not sure which. I won’t be silent. Just saw it live sorry. Via Twitter @ayeshacurry

She deletes the tweet, but not before it’s retweeted over 1,000 times and screen captured. She returns to Twitter a third time and tweets:

           

            Police racial profiled my father and told him to remove credentials and tried to arrest him. It’s been a long night for me. I apologize Via Twitter @ayeshacurry

Immediately, I recognized that her tweets were going to pose a problem. My first thought was, she was posting from an emotional space. This is generally the root of all problems. Yes, it’s her account, yes she is her own individual and separate from her husband, but life in the public’s eye is not without consequences. My second thought went to his sponsors. How would they view the tweets? When players sign contracts to endorse products there is something called a “moral clause”, written into every agreement. Moral clauses are all written differently. In a 2015 podcast, Kelly Jones, senior counsel at Under Armour, defined moral clause:

           

            A contractual provision usually contained in the termination provision of a contract. It’s generally written that if the athlete commits an act that the company views as negatively impacting the brand, meaning, whatever the athlete did, the brand association with that athlete could be negatively perceived by consumers or the public. This clause allows the brand to terminate the contract Via SportsLawBiz

We do not know the contents of any of Steph Curry’s contracts therefore, we do not know the structure of his moral clauses. Moral clauses are purposely written with a vague and broad definition of what an athlete can do to cause a company to invoke the use of the moral clause. Companies purposely do that to maintain flexibility in termination. Knowing this, I was very against Ayesha Curry’s tweets. What if his clause includes postings from immediate family members? When your significant other holds a prominent position, that position becomes the “family business.” Everyone has to be mindful of his or her actions. I was then reminded of an email I had received from my niece’s high school requesting that the parents and guardians of students at her high school conduct themselves appropriately on social media. The email requested that we do not post negative comments about the teachers, other parents or other children of her high school. If a high school is making this request, what is an NBA organization or a major brand like Under Armour requesting?

The next day, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith commented on Ayesha Curry’s actions and his comments started a social media firestorm for the rest of the day with many women using the term “sexist” and “misogynistic” to describe Smith. You can watch the full video here. Here is the part I DO agree with:

            …she stepped out of line. You are the wife of Steph Curry. What you do is a reflection on him. What you do is a reflection on the organization he works for. You have to be mindful of that. You can’t get caught up in your own individual emotions. Via First Take.

Smith made a great point that I do agree with. He made the point within the first :30 seconds. Sadly, he didn’t stop there, and proceeded to go on for more than four minutes, where his comments then turned sexist. He attempted to compare Ayesha Curry to Savannah James, LeBron James’ wife, and how she is not on social media nor in the public eye. I had no problem with that comparison. My issue was his use of 8 adjectives to describe the women. He used “beautiful” 3 times, “adorable”, “lovely”, “gorgeous”, “sensational” and “special”, when speaking about them. Their looks have nothing to do with their character and how they carry themselves. As a crisis manager, I cringed on both sides of this. Here is how I would have handled it.

I would tell Ayesha Curry to take a break from social media until the series is over. I would also advise her on best practices for social media, the first one being never post from an emotional space. Stop and think about what you want to post and what is the message you want to convey. Deleting posts in the internet age is useless. If you write it, stand by it, but think it through first. If you know it can be misinterpreted in anyway, do not post it. As for Stephen A. Smith, I would have him apologize on his social media platforms as well as First Take, and his Sirius/XM show for everything he said in regards to their looks. It was not needed. His point was valid, the manner in which he went about it was not. People are calling for his firing or suspension, but what will that accomplish? He is not the first, nor will he be the last man to bring a woman’s looks into a conversation. He, like most of the world, needs to be educated about that and this could be a teachable moment. Lastly, everyone needs to understand, learn and respect the power of social media.