As Weary-Hearted As That Hollow Moon

I just really thought you might appreciate the beginning of what’s sure to be an amazing conversation.

These two ladies are amazing. They’re two people that I really wish I knew in real life, just like the rest of the awesome people I’ve met through Tumblr, and I will be keeping on eye on this conversation over on the Facebook because I know it’s going to be a good one.

Also, while the getting is good and the iron is hot (because unfortunately I think Miami is halfway to a title and I’m going to start getting even more interesting, albeit largely illiterate, hate messages for hating the Heat), I’m going to interject and state my case for how LeBron, Wade, Bostrich (I’m sorry, I can’t even type his real name anymore, because while I know I’m not a good looking man, at least I don’t look like a fucking ostrich), and Pat Riley are the worst thing to ever happen to the NBA.

The NBA, as it supposedly loses money in droves and heads toward yet another lockout, has become a wasteland that used to be home to the only sport I loved growing up. I was born in an era when the Bad Boy Pistons were a truly badass team, hated for physical defense and Bill Laimbeer’s headlocks and clotheslines, the Lakers and Celtics were continuing the 2nd best rivalry in the history of professional sports, and the Bulls, Trail Blazers, and Rockets were emerging as dominant teams. A few years later Shaq had entered the league when I was living in Orlando, and together with David Robinson, Hakeem Olajuwon, and Dikembe Mutombo I had role models that this awkwardly tall white kid could emulate while he blocked every shot within a five foot radius on the playground. You didn’t have “superstars” complaining about being on 50 win teams or being heroes to small children all over the country.

But somewhere along the line, everything went horribly wrong. Kids from my generation (James and Bostrich are only three years older than me, so I’m including them in this) began to develop this air of entitlement, this idea that “I don’t have to work hard to get what I want.” And frankly, it has ruined the NBA that I once knew and loved.

Rather than doing what the true legends of the sport have done for decades, the so-called “Big Three” took the easy way out, conspired to play together THREE YEARS before the infamous summer of 2010, held a half-dozen NBA franchises hostage in the process, and have given a new generation of young people this false idea that you don’t need to work hard to get what you want out of life. You simply need to be greedy, selfish, dishonorable, and find someone who will enable your cowardly ways. In this case, that man was Pat Riley.

Riley has almost single-handedly caused the destruction of the “old” NBA. He has shown the players that they can do anything they want, demand to play anywhere they choose to, and that they will receive nothing more than public backlash. Look at Carmelo Anthony, whom I personally watched hijack my Denver Nuggets for almost a calendar year. He got tired of winning 50-55 games a season and busting out in the first round, when in reality his inability to lead the team on his abysmal volume shooting caused numerous first-round exits. Chris Paul, Deron Williams, and Dwight Howard are next in line, already following the footsteps of their immediate predecessors. Don’t be shocked if Blake Griffin, John Wall, and Kevin Love do the same thing.

Athletes, whether they like it or not, are role models for our world’s youth. I used to imitate Dikembe’s wagging finger on the playground all the way through high school ball, and on occasion still unleash it at the gym if I get a particularly good block on somebody. The things athletes do stick with us for a long time, and unfortunately more kids look up to LeBron now than those who have ever looked up to people Mutombo. We fail to see that the actions on the court are but a fraction of what makes the man. Where are LeBron’s charity appearances? When has he ever helped build a school, or a hospital, or volunteered to read to children in underprivileged areas of Cleveland or Miami? As Orlando Magic GM Otis Smith said when he heard Lebron took his talents to South Beach, “I thought he was more of a competitor.” He’s absolutely right. Statements like the one Alex caught after the game last night prove that he isn’t a competitor; he only cares about the end result, not the legacy he is building in the meantime. 

When a reporter pointed out to LeBron that he hasn’t played all that well in the series (like the true legends of the sport would have), he told the reporter “watch the tape, pay attention to what he did on the defensive end, and come back with a better question next time.” That’s the sign a man who cares about anything beyond his own individual accomplishments and threw a guy just trying to do his job under the bus on live television.

LeBron, from quitting on Cleveland in the playoffs last year to The Decision and the subsequent aftermath, has shown that he has the spine and brains of a jellyfish. He doesn’t get it, so I’ll lay it out here even further just in case one of you knows him and wants to pass it along:

Lebron,

You don’t get it. We don’t hate you because you’re obscenely talented, or because you cry to the nearest ref when DeShawn Stevenson looks at you the wrong way, or because you take three steps on every dunk. (Ok, I’ll admit, I hate you for that.)

We hate you because you’re stupid. You’ll never be MJ, because there won’t ever be another MJ. His killer instinct (the reporter was questioning yours last night, in case you missed that one while you were busy insulting him) and his unwillingness to let his team lose are nothing short of legendary. You’ve already proven that you have neither.

We hate you because you’re short-sighted. Even if you win, let’s be generous and say three rings, you won’t ever be considered one of the NBA’s great winners because you quit on the franchise that you should have fought for, and with, and proven that you can win a title with complementary players. Jordan did it his whole career in Chicago, and minus the Shaq years, Kobe has done it in Los Angeles.

Your sojourn to Miami has just cemented what we already know: You care only about large diamond rings and not about the game you supposedly “love”. Your legacy, what you mean to the game, the stats you rack up by the merciful end of your career will mean nothing, because you are nothing but a sidekick to Wade. Your legacy as a “winner” will be the same as Mark Madsen’s legacy as a “winner”. You’re not a leader, simply an extremely talented role player.

But mostly, we hate you because you’re disrespecting the legacies of so many legends who came before you and won titles through hard work and determination, not thoughtless and carelessly planned parties at the expense of your hometown. Why do you think that Magic, Bird, Barkley, and Jordan all took shots at you when you left Cleveland? Hint: It’s not because they’re jealous. It’s because they understand what you mean to the sport, and how little you seem to understand about what you’ve helped turn the NBA into.

Good luck on winning six rings. You’re going to need it. And even if hell freezes over and you do win six rings, you still won’t be in the same class as people like Jordan to the people who actually know anything about the history of basketball.

- James