Jamal Hayes, the charismatic point guard for the Atlanta Hawks, is the king of the "side-hustle." He has a successful podcast, a clothing line that drops new merch every month, and he’s a constant presence on celebrity reality shows. On the surface, he’s a branding genius. But behind the scenes, his teammates are reportedly at their breaking point.
Sources inside the Hawks' organization claim that several veteran players held a "players-only" meeting last week to address what they see as Hayes' complete lack of focus on the game. This comes after Hayes missed a voluntary team practice to fly to Los Angeles to film a commercial—a move that did not go down well with the coaching staff or the team leaders.
"He's more focused on his brand than the ball," a source allegedly connected to a veteran player told us. "His head is somewhere else. During timeouts, he’s on his phone with his agent, and his pre-game prep is a joke. The guys are tired of it. They feel like he's not all in."
The frustration reportedly boiled over after last Friday's loss, where Hayes had a season-low 4 points but managed to post three times on Instagram about his upcoming podcast guest during the game.
While Hayes’ agent calls him a “modern athlete building an empire,” his teammates just want a point guard who is present. With the playoffs just around the corner, the question in Atlanta is no longer about their on-court strategy, but whether their star player’s empire is causing their team chemistry to crumble.
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