Royce White, DeMar DeRozan and Media Framing of Mental Health in the NBA

Abstract

This study analyzed media framing of two players from the National Basketball Association (NBA), Royce White and DeMar DeRozan, who both publicly addressed their mental health concerns within the last decade. Due to societal stigmas, such a public conversation was once a rarity in the NBA, making their discussion of mental health a worthy area of examination. A media framing analysis of 58 press articles for White and 42 articles for DeRozan revealed six frames for each athlete used to discuss their situation. Despite both being African American athletes playing the same sport, they were covered differently. Analysis discovered that frames for White, a first-year player who wanted changes in the system of how the NBA handled mental health, most commonly focused on him and his specific situation, while frames for DeRozan, an NBA All-Star who positioned himself solely as an advocate, most frequently discussed shedding the stigma of mental health and the increased awareness surrounding the topic. Additionally, while there were frames critical of White, there were no such frames for DeRozan. Still, for both players, this type of coverage humanizes the experience of mental health and leads to important insights about changes in masculinity among athletes.

Mental Health, College Athletics, and the Media Framing of D. J. Carton’s Announcement to Step Away From his Team

“…For instance, Carton never declared himself a mental health advocate, yet he is described an advocate through media coverage. This is consistent to what was seen for DeMar DeRozan as well (Cassilo, 2020; Parrott et al, 2021). In this way, media determines what behavior constitutes being an advocate.…”

“…Still, of the five frames found in this research, four were largely positive, thus suggesting that even in a different athletic setting that progress and support for mental health remains a common trend and experience. These four frames-humanizing the athlete, Carton as mental health advocate, changing athletics culture, and support for Carton-mirror some of those found in recent research of media coverage of professional athlete mental health disclosure (Cassilo, 2020;Parrott et al, 2021). This is likely no coincidence, as prior research has found that mass media can shape discourse on health issues (Hayes et al, 2007).…”

“…This may be partly influenced by masculinity notions within sport, where fighting through pain and returning to action is expected with physical ailments (Young et al, 1994). As seen with Royce White, an athlete with mental health issues may not ever return to action at the highest level (Cassilo, 2020).…”

Role Model or Quitter? Social Media’s Response to Simone Biles at Tokyo 2020

“…• Focus on media framing and athlete mental health is an emerging field (Cassilo, 2020;Cassilo & Kluch, 2021;Parrott et al, 2019), whereas research into athlete mental health through bottom-up framing is extremely limited -perceptions of eating disorders on (Mitchell et al, 2018).…”

Approach to Spanish TV Broadcasting Dealing with Mental Health Issues Related to Pandemic Lockdown

“…Framing analyses how media presents topics of public interest and their interpretation (Binderkrantz, 2019;Crow and Lawlor, 2016), making it relevant to the present research. In this way, several authors studied the framing of mental health illness in the news and its possible social effects on stigma reduction (Cassilo, 2022;Vyncke and Gorp, 2018;Paterson, 2006).…”