NOTE: The views expressed in this EDITORIAL do not necessarily reflect the views of Detroit Sports Nation or a majority of its writers and should not be misconstrued as such. The views contained within are the views of the author and the author alone. 

Because someone had to say it.

It seems almost once a month, I find myself compelled to remind the world that if you bark at Detroit, their sports teams or its fans, we are going to bark right back.

First of all, Kevin, calm the hell down. You and so many other professional sports figures embarrass yourselves and franchises by digging too deep into the trenches of your immense ego.

You're good at basketball. We get it. Congratulations for being blessed beyond compare. Congrats on being able to use your skill to provide millions of dollars for your kid's kids - kids. Congrats on being a role model for so many young people that look up to you as an idol on the court.

And that last part is where we have a problem.

You should be humble enough to be the better man because so many young ones are staring in your direction. That goes for Russell Westbrook and our own Reggie Jackson all the same. I'm sick of all the childish drama in sports nowadays. Just go out and play. Drop the hardass-ness and be a professional adult.

However, since you already opened your mouth, it's time Detroit and its fans were spoken for.

Because you may have meant the Pistons team when you said "Who cares about Detroit?" but that team just so happens to represent us. And if you haven't heard yet we don't take kindly to that sort of brash jargon in the Motor City.

We care about Detroit. We care about the Pistons. The guy writing this. The guy on shift break at the car plant reading this. Detroiters. Michiganders. A franchise who has given us dozens of more moments to cheer and smile than you could even imagine giving to your fans in OKC. A team that is on the rise and isn't worried about a LeBron or KD leaving us to go feel better somewhere else. A team with three championship banners hanging in the rafters and a moniker known simply as "Detroit Basketball".

It's not a phrase, it's a culture.

Call us crybabies and say that it all simply doesn't matter. Except, in the grand scheme of it all, it truly does. Detroit vs. Everybody will never be played out. And every time a professional athlete or media member wants to throw dirt, we're not going to lay there and inhale it all in.

You got beef with Reggie. Cool. But don't bring the Pistons or the city that dons its name into it. Spend your time trying to figure out how to bring a title to your town and maybe build that fan base to something that could compare to what we have here.

The world is a sick and rough place today, man. And when pro athletes can't come to fathom how their attitudes and behavior can affect it all, well, that makes it that much sicker.

Be a man, Kevin. Grow up and realize it's not all about you. Because that Detroit city you speak of has already figured it out. We're just waiting on everybody else. #DetroitvsEverybody - got it?