I know y'all have been waiting with bated breath, so I figured it was time for another NBA player website review (I might branch out to other athletes as the offseason stretches on, but it's best to start with what we know, ne?). I figured I'd do someone who's been in the news lately, so I looked for the Stephon Marbury official website. If you missed it, he was on ustream live for 24 hours on Saturday. Turns out, though, that the ego head doesn't even have his own website. Well, at least not one dedicated to anything but shoes. In a way, it's admirable. It kind of goes to show he doesn't need it, his rep is so (in)famous. Starbury.com would get a B for its general swagginess, including Starbury fragrances and custom Starbury cursor. The only negative is the stiff posturing of Steph on the site.
Next I thought of Monday Night Raw's host Shaquille O'Neal, who also tried to get into the White House today without an appointment (secret service says, "no."), but it seems the Big Twitter(er) sticks to his preferred media outlet. The closest thing he has to an official website is twitter.com/THE_REAL_SHAQ, and if you try to go to ShaquilleONeal.com you actually get re-directed to NBA.com (although the address stays shaquilleoneal.com and for some reason you can't access player info but can get all the official team websites as in www.shaquilleoneal.com/cavaliers...the interweb, what a wacky place!). Anyway, those two players being sans official websites had me turning to another pg role player on great teams of this decade (you'll remember, obviously, that the inaugural Website Review was former Sacto King Mike Bibby): Derek Fisher, who recently lost to David Arquette in a from-the-roof shooting competition.
DerekFisher2.com is fairly new, and really I can't see enough about Fish the man. By all accounts (we reserve the right to disregard Luis Scola's opinions), he's a stand up guy. NBA players prez, etc. The website, though? That still stands to be evaluated!
- Accessibility/layout: The site is pretty fresh, with well integrated video, links/features, and a "coming up" spot that is pretty cool in theory but at the moment only flashes today's date. There's also a link to "Derek's schedule," but it only takes you to the Lakers' game schedule. The focus right now is the Lakers having won the Larry O'Brien, and the pics of Fish celebrating that alternate on the home page look quite good. Every page has links to outside sites that are "related," though for the most part they are just to D-Fish's facebook or things like that. Still, the website looks pretty professional. No broken links and lots of info to connect to. Media available for viewing from every page. You could really spend days here, which IMHO is a great thing for a player's website. It's a little unfortunate that the video plays automatically, as you keep hearing the same first line as you cycle through the home page, but really that's really an inconsequential quibble. You can sign up for an RSS feed, for crying out loud! Apparently Fish used Athlete Interactive to help get the website flowing, and it worked beautifully. I'll have to look into this new AI. Grade: A+
- Video:
The videos on site are not any old things you could find on Youtube. Rather, they show interviews and occurences of personal importance to the D-Fish narrative. They show highlights like the 0.4 second shot, examples of Fish at his basketball camp, training, and even footage of Fish campaigning for President Obama. You would love a little more selection (there are just under a dozen) and there should certainly be more playing highlights--the 0.4 second shot is actually the only one. Also, with the exception of the miracle shot, none of the content is older than a year. You have to attribute that to Athlete Interactive, as they probably suggested the videos be only originals. You can make playlists with the videos, which is a fun idea but really why would you want to? I'd much prefer to be able to embed the videos, which you cannot do. Grade: B- - Photos: There are three wallpapers available to download and the scrolling pics on the homepage, but other than that nada. Grade: D
- Up-to-date-ness: Love, love, love the way the News section is set up, but it kind of lacks any body behind the lovely face. Of course, there's not much to report right now, so...it's great the site has its own original writing and links larger site articles for certain features on Fish, but it strikes me as a bit insular not to link to more outside content. Love that there's an article on Fish trying to get Lamar Odom to stay in LA. Grade: B-
- Marketing: None to speak of, though you can sign up for his summer camp (registration now closed) or the Fisher Fan Club, and there are links to the UALR scholarship Fisher Fellows Program and an article on retinoblastoma. Let's just give him the slight nod for using the site to promote honorable ventures. Grade: B
- Original content: Let's put it this way: Community service! Fan club! Skills camp! Wallpaper! Articles! Videos! Podcast!?! The podcast is pending. I've sent in a question, we'll see if it gets answered. I never got an e-mail back from Mike Bibby regarding his return to the Hawks. Let's hope Fish comes through a little more reliably. All the original writing, including on the Bio (printable version available) is really great. I also love the 'Features' section, which shows recent material added to the site, including a piece on helping with education in Darfur. What can I say, Fish acts like royalty ought to. In the end, there's a lot of original content promised here, though some of it is yet to be delivered. Grade: B+
- Trivia: The site's too glossy to dip here, I guess. There might be some trivia sprinkled throughout the bio, but as much as I love Fish I didn't read it. Maybe one winter day when I need something honorable and inspiring on which to warm myself. Grade: D
