Kendall Marshall Twitter Account @KButter5 Still Missing

He isn’t seeing much time on the basketball court, but with the new year, Philadelphia 76er Kendall Marshall’s twitter account has gone missing as well

Social media. It’s a boon and a bane. When you are celebrity status, it’s even more charged with peril. You want to avail yourself to the fans and to media. But say the wrong thing, or do the wrong thing, and it’s suddenly an avenue into your life that cannot be halted.  It’s a window into your life that invades and taints.   So it’s a tool, that can both help and hurt, an NBA player’s career.

When the social media tirade of Kendall Marshall‘s father, Dennis Marshall, hit the world of twitter in early December 2015, it was a forgettable moment for both father and son.  But it was news, and as such we had the responsibility at the Sixer Sense to bring you the happenings as they transpired. That coverage included an excellently written article by Josh Wilson, which was shared with Dennis Marshall upon it’s publication:

In the aftermath, apologies were given, and a team, a player and his father have since moved on. Dennis Marshall has deleted the tweets, and privatized his twitter account. But his son Kendall? Well, he’s slid to the bottom of the point guard rotation since the arrival of point guard Ish Smith. But even in the basement, his minutes would have some regularity to them. In 29 games since the arrival of Smith, Marshall has failed to see any playing time in 18 games. In games he has appeared, he’s had over ten minutes of playing time on just five occasions.

In short, he’s gone missing in action.  But as his time on the court faded away, his twitter account made an even more abrupt ending.  It’s saddening that it seems he has also taken the steps to delete his twitter account.

I feel for the guy. He’s been working hard to earn a spot on an NBA team roster. However, his opportunities appear to be limited, which makes it even a far more damning matter when his family has private moments which are suddenly thrust into the public spotlight.  He’s putting in the time to improve his game and make plays on the court.  His work ethic had shown up when the team gave him the minutes against a very tough match-up with the Detroit Pistons.  But one game and four games benched do not an NBA career make.

And so, we wait for a sign of his rare appearance on the basketball court. We root for him to get his chance, but more than that. Fans want access to him again. Not to vilify nor ridicule, but to reach out to a player they can identify with, cheer for, encourage, and hopefully, see as a player who emerges as a solid NBA player. We had hoped to see his share of playing time increase after the trade deadline, and with the minutes restricted on so many players recently, it would be the perfect time to do so.  But much like the twitter account that was once @KButter5 , the playing time of point guard Kendall Marshall has vanished.

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I hope he shakes off whatever caused him to close his twitter account and comes back to his fans. Much like a bad game, a bad experience on social media does not define them all. Step away, shake it off, and then come back better than ever. Some fans have started a #comebackKendallMarshall on twitter to encourage Marshall to reactivate his twitter account. To date, his account remains silenced.

So far on the court this season, he isn’t heard from much either.