This basketball coach just proved why Apple loves green bubble stigma

Anecdotal evidence that Apple won’t easily give up its societal dominance.

What you need to know

• According to an upcoming book, NBA coach Jason Kidd was a “hard-nosed coach” who punished the whole team for a single player’s mistakes.
• One “mistake” included a lone Android user among his team, causing green bubbles to appear in the team’s iMessage group chat.
• Most of the unique features in Apple’s iMessage app require all users in a group chat to use an iPhone.

It’s a story as old as time — or, as old as modern smartphones, anyway; A group of friends with iPhones start a group chat, only to find that one of their friends’ chat bubbles don’t show up in the right color. What was originally designed as a way to easily identify when all chat features would be available in iMessage quickly became a societal stigma. According to a report by Insider, the Android-shaming stigma made it all the way to the NBA, where the at-the-time Milwaukee Bucks coach Jason Kidd punished the whole team because one player owned an Android phone.

Insider says that an excerpt from Mirin Fader’s upcoming book “Giannis: The Improbable Rise of an NBA MVP” lays out the scenario as an example of what a “hard-nosed coach” Kidd was. Kidd reportedly would punish the entire team over the mistakes of a single player in an attempt to bring unity to the group. In this particular case in 2014, one player’s Android phone caused green bubbles to appear in the team’s group chat whenever he typed something.

Those green bubbles were apparently such an affront on Kidd’s psyche that he made the team run laps over the error in that player’s judgment, citing that the team wasn’t united because they all didn’t use an iPhone. The assumption here is that the player probably went out and bought an iPhone to appease his team. Apparently, Kidd either didn’t realize that there were several iMessage alternatives that could have easily kept the team from squabbling over trivial matters — or he just didn’t care. Either way, he’s not alone in his thoughts.

There’s been plenty of confusion over the years as to which messaging platform is best. Whether it’s the RCS vs. SMS vs. iMessage debate for built-in messaging apps, or which 3rd-party app to choose, messaging has been an overly convoluted conversation among Android users for years.

Meanwhile, Apple created iMessage back in 2011 and has continued to build a dedicated following to the platform, leaving carriers like AT&T and Verizon to pick up the pieces and try to work together — a quality none of the carriers are well known for — on a compelling alternative for Android users. Good luck to any Android users on the Dallas Mavericks, where Kidd currently holds the Head Coach seat!

Specs you need and a price you’ll like

Google Pixel 4a

The Pixel 4a is Google’s most compelling, affordable phone yet, with a class-leading camera and a battery that lasts all day.

• $349 at Amazon
• $300 at Best Buy
• $349 at B&H