Sunny Suljic opened up about the real situation in skateboarding and he did not sugarcoat anything in the new Basement Talk podcast.
He explained that skating is nothing like motorsport where people assume every ride is life or death.
According to Mid90s actor, his friends are jumping fifteen stairs just to land a five second clip and yet they have no insurance and very little financial support.
The clip might get attention online but the people risking their bodies for it are not getting much in return.
Sunny pointed out that unless a skater is sponsored by a big shoe company or a major energy drink brand, there is almost no money coming in.
For most people in the scene, the love for skating and the culture around it is the only thing keeping them going. The effort is real and the reward is small.
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He compared this to professional basketball players who can spend five million dollars on taking care of their bodies because it is already included in their contracts.
Skaters cannot even dream of that kind of security. They deal with constant danger and still do not have access to the most basic protections.
Sunny also talked about how easy it is for people to understand basketball.
It is on television all the time and everyone knows the rules. Because of that, brands invest more money and fans can follow the action without any difficulty.
Skating is different because many people simply do not get it. Tricks are complicated, the culture is unique, and it does not translate to a wide audience as naturally as traditional competitive activities.
The hosts of Basement Talk brought up Dana White owning Street League Skateboarding and mentioned how the money situation is still weak even with someone that influential involved.
Sunny acknowledged that the scene is improving compared to the past but there is still a long way to go.
Unfortunately not all core skaters are excited about the idea of skating becoming more mainstream. Some feel that once money comes in, the culture loses what makes it special.
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During the conversation, they joked about how skaters have their own set of knowledge that regular people do not understand.
Sunny brought up the example of a gazelle flip.
The hosts laughed and asked what that even means. Sunny explained that it is like a 720 tre flip with an extra 360 added.
If you don't know what the gazelle flip is, watch it below.
Tricks like that show how complex skating can be and why it is harder for a general audience to relate to it.
In basketball, someone shoots the ball and everyone understands what is happening. With skating, the layers of technique make it less commercial friendly.
Sunny did not say all of this to complain. He simply laid out the reality that skaters live in.
They give their bodies to something they love, often without any safety net, and without the financial support seen in other widely recognized activities.
He basically said skating survives because people love it for real, even when the money does not follow.