It's undeniable that TJ is already one of the best to ever do it. There's nothing to discuss about his talent because he's incredibly athletic and jumps higher than almost anyone else, save Antonio Durau or Tiago. This is an assessment of Tyshawn's character.
After Gifted Hater's vidpost today I thought this would be a relevant topic because I'm on a tirade in opposition of giving the 2022 SOTY to Tyshawn Jones.
Remember when Phelps flew to NYC to present TJ with his SOTY choice? It could just be me, but I thought Thyshawn was completely unenthused and even fairly disrespectful. Tyshawn is the last person to ever receive a SOTY from the man himself, and he acted like he was too cool to care. I can't find the full vid anymore, and it doesn't seem to be on Thrasher's youtube anymore. I'm not referring to his SOTY party btw, I'm talking about the video where Phelps shows up while TJ is hanging with Mark Gonzales and Strobeck at Houston St. Park. Tyshawn comes off as such a pompous turd in everything from his interviews to his instagram.
I was excited to see what he was going to do with his new board company... we waited a long time to see. Some speculated he'd expand Hardies and do a newer version of Shorty's. And then finally he comes out with KING... which, I don't need to explain how expected, egotistical and boring the name is... but additionally the roll-out of KING was so bad it forced them to immediately rebrand and take down their website logo within the first 24 hours of creating and running the page. Plus to me, the fact that he fucks with Nakel Smith so hard is a bummer all by itself.
Nakel has been a polarizing character, but now he is more than ever. He got his wannabe gangbanger friends to beat up and intimidate Lottie's Skateshop and essentially forced them to shut down. While this is in itself is a very shitty thing to do, I've also personally never been able to watch his footage because he's got such an ugly weasely mug. I can see Nakel's joker-ass becoming the next Jereme Rogers.
In interviews it has been apparent that Tyshawn is somewhat shallow or low-level thinking. Naming Hardies from a game where they punch each other "hard" is an accidental marketing genius idea, but pretty dumb in concept. I think a big part of Hardies' success is their iconic black power fist evoking logo combined with the bolt. We all gotta admit it is a sick ass logo. But what a boring ass origin story of the brand.
I think it's clear that Tyshawn wants to make money off of skateboarding and does't really care about the history. Otherwise he'd be more honored to have Phelps give him the SOTY in person, or he'd have more to say in interviews about getting the opportunity to hang out with Mark Gonzales. Gifted Hater's analysis of his switch ollie over the p table has only added to my theory that TJ is an egotripper and cares too much about clout over paying homage to any history or art or rules of skateboarding.
Because no matter how much we'd hate to admit it, there are a few rules to what flies in the skateboarding industry and what doesn't "pass the vibe-check". Never catch me saying that phrase again. But Tyshawn doesn't really feel like an authentic skateboarder to me. I think he just wants to win, win, win no matter what with money on his mind - he can't ever get enough. Which is rude IMO it's like... dude... money isn't the most important thing in the world... become humble or something maybe find Jesus like Kanye did.
In short - Tyshawn Jones is a certified asshole and a half.