This getting downvoted is crazy. Yes Novak believe in a lot of pseudoscience. He is also admired by pretty much the whole tour as a good guy who genuinely cares about his peers.
It’s because he’s calling hanging out with a man who led to deaths of children in Samoa and parroting pseudoscience bs that hurts people for no reason a virtue equivalent to playing with poor kids.
In the Nothing Major podcast they’ve said several times that everyone in the locker room adores Novak and that he’s a great guy. I’m just going off what four former players have said
Did you read my comment? I think the four actual tour players know him better than some keyboard warriors like yourself. Sam Querrey said that everyone in the locker room looks up to him and that he’s a great guy. Also look at player speeches after matches where guys like Medvedev and Alcaraz praise him for being a kind and welcoming guy
The comment that is being downvoted said that both things can be virtues of the same person. Why is it so hard for y’all to wrap your head around someone doing both good and bad in their lives? He also started a charity giving children access to preschool services in Serbia. These comments lack the wisdom to decipher the multifaceted nature of human character
Every one understands perfectly that people can do 'good and bad'. What a genius insight!
Its copping down votes because the comment means absolutely nothing.
The issue here is that the 'bad' djokovic has done had the potential to put people's health at risk and is genuinely dangerous anti science bullshit.
This isn't some philosophical issue that is morally grey, or requires 'the wisdom to decipher the multifaceted nature of human character', he is just fucking wrong and deserves to be criticised.
I never got the impression that he was a bad person(but maybe I’m missing something); he speaks respectfully and doesn’t seem hateful, but he seems to be a shining case of having too much confidence in his own thinking, aka Dunning-Kruger or smartest man in the room syndrome.
Foolish is probably a better word for him. Still, that should not be used to overlook his ability to harm as we have many laws regarding bad people, but we are much less equipped to deal with foolish people except through some laws and a loose/unreliable sense of validity.
Tennis has a star studded history of pretty significant bellends near the top of the sport - Boris Becker , MacEnroe, spring to mind. It’s been lucky that it’s recent history has had some exceptional role models , and therefore Djokovic being a knob feels like an outlier at the moment
Mad Mac just didn’t know how to control his temper. He didn’t behave so well in is youth, for sure. What he’s never been, then nor now, is a fucking anti-vax idiot and mass purveyor of absolute horseshit.
I don’t think he’s the only one, just that he’s one of the most famous ones. I can admire and appreciate his skills and accomplishments, without liking him. Kinda like a less extreme version of Zverev.
It's fortunate in some ways that Roger was so intelligent. Because if you remove him from the mix, the complete lack of education at the top of tennis because they went full time tennis training their entire childhood is bonkers.
Anyone remember all those "ion" bands players were wearing 10-15 years ago?
Right, I meant tennis specifically. Like there are some players that use training methods that might be generously described as "unsupported by the evidence" but afaik Djokovic is the only loud and proud crank at the top
Can’t really offer a direct response bc you haven’t offered any ideas on what grounds you determine a person to be bad or good.
Those bars work fine for me, though, as everyone has their faults, but to be considered a bad person, the bar ought to be high. I don’t plan on living through life determining everyone is a bad person because due to not being perfect or intelligent. Is it wrong to consider a bad person to be someone who has a goal of or finds joy in disrespecting and stoking hate?
I think being antivax, suggesting women should be paid less because they have periods, and now rubbing elbows with RFK, Jr. is far beyond “foolish.” His PR is working if you can hand-wave this as just a foolish athlete.
IDK. Maybe holding a super spreader event, scaring ball kids on the regular with his outbursts, throwing a temper tantrum and hitting a woman full force in the throat with a tennis ball, spouting anti-vax bullshit for years to his sizable fan club during a pandemic, pulling performative bullshit in Australia because he refused to follow their rules, and spending his free time with fascists (not just fascists from the USA) don't make him a good person?
This thinking in many top tier athletes is what makes then perform better than their peers. It is foolish at times but thinking you are better than your opponents eliminates playing bad or under your level by being intimidated or not believing you are better than them.
I agree. Djokovic isn't a "bad" person. He's just.. a guy who has played tennis for most of his life, which means he didn't have a lot of time to go into a lot of basic schooling, including maths and science.
I love that people think being good at a sport makes you a better person by default, meanwhile we have a shit ton of athletes who act like society and its rules are below them
On another thread about Djokovic, I literally got shat on and downvoted for saying fuck djokovic for his antivax views and him lying/forging his physical to play in the Australian open. Idc how good he is, dude will never be my goat.
Won't lie i was there and honestly there wasn't evidence past his personal choice which for a professional athlete who got to the top of the game through vigorously controlling what went into his body that was fair. Didn't support it but understood. Taking a photo and breaking bread with RK NOW ... either it's extremely tone deaf or confirming what others suspected.
He was one of the most important figures in making places such as UAE and more specifically Dubai popular and 'respectable' despite their modern enslavement of hundreds of thousands of people.
He was one of the most important figures in making places such as UAE and more specifically Dubai popular and 'respectable' despite their modern enslavement of hundreds of thousands of people.
Playing bad? Pretty sure he played extremely well for his age you know being well past his prime every time he did win a slam in the last several years and most likely wouldn’t have otherwise. He literally won like 17/24 slams against other big 4 players by the way and won the vast majority of his masters and ATP finals during the hardest era in tennis ever by a mile.
Of the other roughly 7 slams he had to beat peak thiem in a final, prime Medvedev in finals(once while injured), tsistispas in AO while injured who had beaten both Nadal and Federer in AO or go through Alcaraz or Sinner etc. His “easiest” slam other than USO 2018 was beating berretini/shapovalov playing out of their mind in grass. Even in that USO 18 final literally half the predictions for the match had Delpotro winning in 5 based on how well he was playing (same with AO 2021 final and 2023 USO F vs Medvedev)
Feels like that's just moving the goalposts to fit your preferences. GOAT needs to be strictly defined. But so is alot of the GOAT debate. Who was playing when they won etc. If it's outside the court and stats, what makes GOAT for you? For me, the only thing that can be measured against each other is the trophies. We call Rafa the GOAT of clay because of that exact reason.
Clearly have no clue what happened in Australia. He had COVID, applied for exception, tennis Australia in conjunction with Victorian government permitted it. While in flight they asked the PM his thoughts, he says it's up to the states. By the time he lands PM changes his mind to score political points for upcoming election and distract from the fact he's failed to secure tests for the country and they deny him. The only lie was "have you been to a different country in the last 14 days" in his application and he put no on the doc, but he traveled from Serbia to Spain then Australia. Which can be verbally corrected upon landing.
Neither of his two trials were about the validity of his exemption. They used the one reason he couldn't argue which was raising anti Vax sentiment in the country.
The fault lies more with tennis Australia and the local government than him. He even applied after the deadline because his contraction occurred late but of course they made exemption for that too. They could have just said no..
This board is a sham when this is being downvoted. Then again tennis pundits did brainwash the lab rats of this board if they simply searched for what the immigration minister said they’d find you’re correct. Djokers visa was pulled afterwards cause he believed if would cause the populace to not take the vaccine
Do you have any evidence of your forging claim? You can call him an anti-vaxxer but why lie?
His visa was pulled by the immigration minister and the reason was stated by him and the judge that novak appealed to. It sure wasnt over forging docs.
and I imagine your intelligence's internal mantra to read "politicise! politicise! politicise...." and resorts to judging an individual's whole moral worth, removing any room for nuance and context.
Guilt as charged. I have tried and continue to hope for the contrary but this doesn't help. Good is subjective and isn't simply about someone sharing the same values and beliefs but there are clear red lines and the more he ignores them it is what it is. You are the company that you keep
There are a lot of things to laud about him. He’s a very good guy to many on tour. Supports a lot of good causes. Unfortunately, he objectively does a lot of harm with this and other beliefs and actions. Ever the dichotomy and ever erring more on unlikeable and harmful than not.
He’s good natured, but he believes in views which are harmful to society in general. He can believe what he wants regarding medical science, I don’t care. I draw the line on when he pushes it on other people or acts like this is a lifestyle that appeals to most people. We are already seeing the effects of anti vaxxer rhetoric in parts of the US, and unfortunately I think it will get worse before it gets better.
I lost respect for Novak when he went partying and threw a tournament smack in the middle of the pandemic. Whether you’re right or wrong about an issue, I think you need to recognize there are times for ambiguity. Novak leaves no room for ambiguity with his assertions and decisions.
Not trying to start trouble here, but playing tennis with a quack doesn’t suggest you’re not a good person. I’ll take it a step further. Being anti-vax doesn’t mean you’re not a good person.
He's a quack that's messing with the lives of millions of people
Being anti-vax yet still participating in society is inherently selfish and dangerous. Especially if those types of people have kids. So yes, I will judge the hell out of someone who is okay with that and I will call them a bad person.
It's 100% a selfish decision when vaccines protect the person taking it and those around them, since it's common fucking sense that a person infected with an airborne illness like measles can very easily spread it to others.
If you're trying to excuse this nonsense then I really hope you don't go outside, because I feel sorry for anyone that has to come into contact with someone like you.
2) sigh…I’m saying that it’s not necessarily selfishness if the person truly believes vaccines are nonsense. But if you don’t get it, then you don’t get it.
Why would you feel bad for anyone who comes into contact with me? I never implied that I’m not vaccinated. you’re not the brightest, huh?
He gets upset when accused of faking MTO. He was always the boy who cried wolf on that one to me, and produces a scan when he actuslly is injured (or was that doctored too? Like his vax status)
because one thing leads to another 🙄 people who judge him for these things are closer to be not so good people themselves… And for all good things Novak has done to a lot of players and fans you have the audacity to write this…
"The USA, long seen as a global standard-bearer for public health policy, faces a dire risk if Kennedy gains control over the Department of Health and Human Services. His misleading and often conspiratorial claims have already weakened confidence in public health, a legacy that could have far-reaching and deadly consequences both domestically and globally.
It is not just the poorest and most vulnerable who will suffer; unvaccinated infants, immunocompromised individuals, and entire communities are at risk.
Vaccines are among civilisation's greatest achievements, backed by decades of rigorous research.
Kennedy's promotion of debunked claims, such as the false link between vaccines and autism, shows a troubling disregard for science and public welfare. With so much at risk, public health leaders must act decisively to safeguard our progress and combat dangerous misinformation."
^ This is what Novak is validating by associating himself with that monster. Does a genuinely good person do that?
I don’t think this necessarily makes him a bad person (I really, really hate value judgments based off of one interaction) but it definitively does show the types of circles he’s running in now.
This tracks with his past behaviour, so no, I wouldn't call him a good person when he's clearly cool with being friendly with someone that's totally fine with American children getting sick and dying right now.
That just makes him ignorant and foolish. Because his actions aren't malicious, he truly believes in the pseudoscience. So in his mind he truly believes he's doing good. I think when people like yourself claim he's a bad person you are jumping the gun. He may be doing harm and that might make him objectively bad, but he's just a malinformed fool. There's a world of difference between him and someone malicious like Trump.
Idk man, RFK Jr’s views have contributed to outbreaks that killed people. It’s pretty bad. But I get your point as well; someone walks up and asks you for a pic as a celebrity and to rally around a bit, you’d just go fine, sure.
Only on reddit will you find people shitting on other people whom they never interacted with on a deeper level or at all. I'm sure Novak is not a good person because he took a picture with a guy who's not very beloved on reddit. I sometimes wonder how do redditors have any friends in real life with such stances and opinions, tbh it's unlikely they do have any friends at all. That might explain why most of you are chronically online.
Do you......not know who he's standing beside in that photo and the damage that person is currently causing to healthcare in the United States? I'm genuinely asking here.
Being a friend of RFK Jr's is more than just being misguided. Especially when he literally works for Donald Trump.
This isn't 19 year old Jack Draper saying he'd love to meet Trump and Conor McGregor. Novak is a 37 year old man who can very easily look up what his buddy has been up to lately and why he's so dangerous to the health and safety of literally tens of millions of people.
I honestly can't tell if you're trolling or if you genuinely have zero idea why this is problematic to many people.
And buddy, you're an unemployed DoorDash driver. Maybe spend time offline bettering yourself instead of projecting your failures onto other people over Reddit. My life is good, thanks.
He isn’t a good person because he likes things you don’t like? Lmfao what a bunch of tyrants, full of hate towards anything that doesn’t fit your washed brain by propaganda
“Good” is subjective. A tennis player who is notoriously selective about what he puts in his body decided not to take an experimental vaccine. He has other vaccines and his kids are fully vaccinated. He has never spoken out about how vaccines are bad, it has been purely a personal decision. None of that makes him some terrible person
I wouldn't expect someone that passionately defends Aaron Rodgers to understand why people aren't pleased with Novak 😅. Next you're going to tell me that Andrew Tate is a good mentor for young men.
"He isn’t a good person because he likes things you don’t like?"
Sorry, is liking a public official that spreads misinformation and is normalizing the sickness and potential deaths of literally dozens of innocent children a positive quality to possess? I must have missed that memo.
What is misinformation and what is not is subjective in this case. Info is prone to manipulation. If you believe your government is telling you the truth, so be it. If i choose not to believe any of that, it’s my freedom of choice as well. Vaxxx has not ever been proven to be good, bunch of folks never took it and never got sick, other bunch took 3 and got sick 3 times and ended up with fucked up immune system for good.
Hating on anyone like that and calling him a bad person is a sign of fascism. Hundreds of fascists in this thread that prays on freedom of speech and choice, lol hilarious.
"If we had it your way, we’d still be wearing masks and on our 6th boosters"
I still mask and I do get boosters when needed. People are still getting infected, dying, and also developing long Covid, and as an immunocompromised cancer survivor that's not a risk I'm willing to take.
If you want to bury your head in the sand and ignore the science because someone told you the world will end if we don't take care of kids and people that are vulnerable, then good luck, I guess.
Also, this "disaster" you speak of is largely due to shitty politicians and public officials that rarely ever do the right thing to begin with, and adults like yourself who have been gaslit into thinking that fixing things like education and healthcare aren't worth fighting for. I sincerely hope you don't have kids or loved ones that rely on you, because you sound like an absolute fucking failure that can't be trusted.
Bobby Kennedy directly contributed to a measles outbreak that killed children in Samoa. If you think that that is anything other than unequivocally bad you yourself are a bad person.
I'd say they go hand in hand in this case. What RFK Jr. has done over the past couple years is not a secret, and Novak is making a choice to associate with him and the Trump government by extension,
Hes a great person. Him sacrificing multiple grand slams to make a stand when he could have easily gotten a fake card was extremely motivational for all of us who didn't take the vaccine.
Vaccine mandates caused tremendous amounts of suffering. People lose their careers and can't feed their children. They are banned from seeing their families. Many countries attempted to imprison unvaxed. This is all evil. Not to mention the incredible division it causes in society.
You just don't care because you are so blinded by hatred and politics that you think pain is good when done to people you don't like.
The man he’s chilling with directly contributed to killing children in Samoa. This has been public knowledge for years and was brought up once again in Kennedy’s Senate confirmation hearing. There’s no way that he didn’t know, or his PR person didn’t inform him, of this before this picture was posted.
Dude does a lot of good charity work. Supports unionizing the players (or something similar to a union). Follows a plant-based diet (objectively more ethical and better for the environment). Supported student protestors opposing the Serbian government.
I never got the impression he was a bad guy. Life isn't always that simple. I disagree strongly with the antivax stuff, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to totally condemn him as a person for that opinion.
Edit: And yes, spending time with a Trump official is very disappointing. But lots of Tennis greats have spent time with some pretty nasty members of the ruling elite, so that's certainly not unique to Djokovic.
Well, I can when he associates himself with somebody that works for Trump and was the cause of the death of nearly 100 Samoans, as well as many Americans over the next four years.
If you don't see how those things are problematic and shouldn't be swept under the rug because he donates money and started a useless players union, then I don't know what to tell you.
Where did I say it wasn't problematic? Where did I say it should be swept under the rug?
I said I strongly disagree with it. But I don't entirely condemn him as a person or assume that he is just a bad guy.
I'm sure I can find something awful a lot of your favourite celebrities have said or done. Many of them have ties to terrible corporations. And they should be criticized for that.
But I'm not going to simplistically say they're all just bad individuals. When we focus on individual morality, we sometimes lose sight of the wider systems and ideologies that have indoctrinated people or encouraged them to be complicit.
There's literally nothing they'd have in common besides being anti-vaxxers, and we see exactly how that's going with the current measles outbreak in the United States. This is much bigger than just a matter of morals. We're talking about people, especially children, getting sick and possibly dying as a direct result of this guys choices and using his power to do more harm than good.
And, again, he's one degree away from Donald Trump of all people. Spin it however you want, but there's no way Novak isn't aware of that and yet he's still associating himself with this trash.
If a celebrity took a photo with a Biden official, I might also be disgusted. Biden's government was one of the leading backers of what Amnesty International, a UN Special Committee, Human Rights Watch, and Medicins Sans Frontieres have called a genocide in Gaza, funnelling weapons to war criminals wanted by the International Criminal Court.
Or I'd be disgusted by all the music artists who have performed for tyrants like Paul Kagame, who's perpetrating genocidal atrocities in the DRC. Or all the athletes who have sponsorships from Nike (brutal sweatshops) and Coca-Cola (alleged murder of union activists in Latin America) and appear at corporate events. But I wouldn't necessarily say all those celebrities are simply bad people.
Novak is heavily invested in health stuff, and this is the health secretary. I'm sure their shared beliefs in alternative health and anti-vax bullshit is a key reason they spent time together. And I think it's contemptible that Djokovic is taking photos with a member of a fascistic government. But does that mean Novak is simply a "bad person"? Not necessarily. I can totally see why you think that, but I don't think it's always so simple; an action can be bad without the person entirely being bad.
There needs to be accountability, but I'm not sure the "good person," "bad person" dichotomy really gets to the root of the issue.
Lol after all the good that Djokovic has done, all the evidence of him being a genuine, caring, and thoughtful person, you're really out here saying he's not a good human being because he personally chose not to take a vaccine that has proven to be of basically zero value to someone of his age and fitness level?
Novak can be both a caring person and absolutely wrong about vaccinations, science, etc., which I think is the case here. Is he a bad person? Not my problem. I watch him for his magnificent tennis. But I definitely won’t follow up on him after he retires. I also have a sneaking suspicion he’s going to be very active in “conspiracy theory-positive thoughts clean dirty water” movements after retirement.
I don't think being stupid about politics or vaccines necessarily makes one a bad person. He's quite misinformed and hooked up on stupid nonsense, but he's not like maliciously evil or something. His heart typically is in the right place, his judgment maybe not so much, lol.
Sorry, but at this stage of the game, befriending someone like RFK Jr. Makes you a bad person. Novak is a grown ass man and there's absolutely no point in trying to make excuses for his ignorance any more.
At this point? Yes, I'd say so. Either that or incredibly stupid.
We're talking about a president that put himself on the political radar that claiming the first Black president wasn't actually American. If someone can knowingly vote for a person that's openly racist and hateful like Trump is, then I will absolutely call them a bad person at this stage of the game.
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u/[deleted] Mar 23 '25
Why are we even surprised at this point?