Pacers’ Myles Turner explains social media hiatus: 'I did it for myself'

Nathan Brown | IndyStar

Show Caption Hide Caption Myles Turner explains reasoning behind social media silence Shortly after one of the worst games of his career, Myles Turner went dark on social media. He explains the reasoning behind ridding himself of the distraction.

INDIANAPOLIS – After an up-and-down start to his first season in his four-year, $72 million contract, Pacers big-man Myles Turner has decided to let his game do the talking – breaking away from the distraction and frustrations that being a high-paid professional athlete on social media can bring.

Not long after he finished with a season-low three points, three rebounds, zero blocks and five fouls in a narrow loss on the road to the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday, Turner all-but erased his social media presence – deactivating his verified Twitter account, @Original_Turner, and deleting all the photos he had previously posted on Instagram page (turner_myles). The stories he had archived on the latter medium remain visible.

In his first interview with local media since the weekend, after Monday’s 117-104 road win over Memphis, Turner provided little context for the move beyond his own personal well-being.

“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “It’s just something I just didn’t want to … well, I did it for myself. And I’ll keep it at that.”

During Monday’s victory, Turner left little for even his staunchest detractors to criticize, scoring 17 points – tied for the most he’s had since the season-opener (25). He also pulled down six boards and blocked one shot, while shooting nearly half the team’s foul shots (6-for-7), all without any turnovers.

It was the type of performance Pacers fans had hoped for consistently this year, alongside a much deeper crew of scorers and shot creators. But between missing eight games with a right ankle injury and struggling to find his niche as the only returning starter, Turner’s performances lately have been a rollercoaster. And a small, but loud and persistent faction of Pacers fans quickly grew impatient, givenTurner’s five-fold salary jump with the expiration of his rookie deal.

In recent years, social media has grown into a brand-building machine for celebrities, pop stars, professional athletes and even high school-aged wunderkinds like Zion Williamson. The internet’s growing interconnectivity has allowed people with fanatical interests – whether it be fashion, music, politics, sports or more – to attempt to create the illusion of a relationship with those they revere or hate.

With the mute and block buttons, disabling comments on photos or staying out of your own mentions entirely, public figures such as Turner can shield themselves from some of the negativity having a public persona on social media is bound to breed. Some embrace the hate – Kevin Durant and his famed burner Twitter accounts, along with his unabashed replies on his verified account to unfounded criticism, comes to mind.

But it’s no secret college athletes are sometimes forced to go dark on social media in-season, a trend that some professionals, such as LeBron James, latch onto when their seasons reach crunch time. Others simply avoid it, eliminate the distraction and negativity from their already hectic lives. Though Turner didn’t provide a specific reasoning for his move on social media, the unabashed public hate for his up-and-down games in recent weeks would appear to be the trigger following one of the worst games of his career.

It comes at the start of a season where some fans appeared to expect Turner to step into an All-Star caliber role instantly, despite the addition of scoring the franchise so sorely needed. Adding fellow big man Domantas Sabonis and his strength on the boards to the starting lineup has pushed Turner out toward the perimeter, where he’s having the best shooting performance of his career (42.2% on 4.2 3s per game). His rebounds have dipped from 7.2 to 6.0, similar to his offensive production (13.3 to 11.7) while players like T.J. Warren, Malcolm Brogdon and Sabonis are growing into larger roles than they held at their previous stops.

But on a roster with four players averaging at least 17.0 points per game and without All-Star Victor Oladipo back from rehab, a balanced approached fits this team’s makeup. Altogether, it’s boosted the Pacers to a 13-7 start – on track for more than 50 wins for the first time in six years.

And for the current team’s core, that’s all that matters. Those who disagree will have their disdain fall on deaf ears.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that can do a lot of things on this team,” Turner said. “And it’s just a matter of the fact it’s still early – we’ve barely played together – and we’re finally healthy. We’ve just got to keep grinding.”