The acrimonious divorce between New Jersey Nets star Jason Kidd and his spouse, Joumana, has become fairly mainstream news — mostly because of the reaction to Jason accusing Joumana of domestic violence.
- Marcel Mutoni looks back at the good days in Jason and Joumana’s relationship.
- The Big Lead goes over Kidd’s night, where he filed for divorce before helping the Nets beat the Raptors (a less sickening version of Kobe’s in court/on the court antics of ’04)…
- …then, looks back at his own personal memories of the then-happy couple.
- Prior to this new spat, people were already wondering why Joumana Kidd was no longer showing up at games.
- KABOBfest has the Arab-American take on the divorce. Apparently, Joumana is Arabic because “my friend who worked with her Mom at a department store in the Bay Area can verify it. Seriously. Plus, as we all know, Joumana is an Arabic name meaning ‘pearl.'”
- Can’t Stop the Bleeding goes over the allegations against Joumana Kidd, and makes a very apt analogy to Albert Belle.
- ABC News examines the rarity of men filing domestic violence claims against women.
“Although most divorce lawyers say that domestic-violence claims against women are far from common, they agree that in the last decade such claims have seemed to spring up in the legal system. … [Divorce lawyer Bernard] Rinella fears some men might be trying to take advantage of an increasingly gender-unbiased legal system by filing restraining orders.”
This image, which I lifted from Sam Rubenstein’s column on SlamOnline, is notable for two reasons. One, Mike Lupica apparently thinks its his place to discuss the War in Iraq. Secondly, the battle between Jason and Joumana has made front page news — ahead of the war.
The best statement about this situation, and the coverage of it, is by Henry Abbott of True Hoop. Abbott makes the argument that the NBA’s marketing machine has taken away the expectation of privacy.
As a business approach, the modern marketing of the NBA was never really about basketball, per se. It’s about those timeless plotlines–which are really what “celebrity” is all about–jocked up in a basketball setting and ready for delivery to our living rooms. If NBA basketball was sold on the shelf in grocery stores, it would say “Human Drama, Thrills, and Heartache!” on the label. …
Of course, the way the NBA markets itself is only the tip of the iceberg. You’d also have to consider every sports endorsement ever done, including by Jason Kidd himself. … they almost all beg you to focus on the universal thoughts, ideas, and character of the human more than the hoop skills.
Abbott makes an interesting point, though the amount of coverage of the divorce seems voyeuristic. But then again, so is all celebrity coverage.
