I consider myself to be a sports fan, not just for one particular type of sport, but for many. I enjoy baseball and football, hockey and golf, NASCAR and soccer. You name the sport, I will probably watch it.
However, I have a growing disdain for professional basketball. I enjoy college basketball, because those guys, for the most part, know the fundamentals of the game. But professional basketball, in my opinion, has gone completely downhill in the last 10-15 years.
Growing up, I was a fan of the L.A. Lakers. With Magic Johnson leading the Showtime offense, they were just enjoyable to watch. They had great showdowns will Larry Bird and the Celtics, later with Isaiah Thomas and the Pistons. It was good basketball, played by people who were good at what they do.
My disdain of pro basketball began when the Charlotte Hornets drafted Kobe Bryant, who then refused to play for them. Coming out of high school, he thought he was entitled to play for one of the best teams in the history of the sport. It was at that point I stopped being a Lakers fan. I jumped on the Spurs bandwagon, because they had David Robinson, a fine player on the court, and fine person off of the court. But, as the years went on, my overall desire for pro basketball faded away.
I did not care for the players coming out of college and demanding the excessive contracts, even though they had never played a minute in the NBA. I did not like the style of basketball that was being played. The NBA turned into glorified street ball. It was no longer enjoyable to sit down and watch. And when you add to the fact that Bill Walton was an announcer, it became unwatchable.
The NBA became a 2nd tier sport in the late 90's and early 2000's. Television ratings diminished. There were not any marketable players to carry the NBA after the retirement of Michael Jordan.
Then along came LeBron James. He was going to save the NBA. And he came out of high school with a bang. He is tremendously blessed with size and skill that cannot be matched in today's game. He is an extraordinary player. The networks love him. Commentators will never have anything bad to say about him. Yet, I could care less. He has done nothing to bring me back to the NBA, even as a casual fan.
Now, Mr. James thinks he is so important and that everyone cares so much about where he is going to play that he has basically demanded that ESPN give him an hour of prime time television on Thursday night to announce to the world which city he will bless with his presence for the next several years. And ESPN did as he asked. They will dedicate an hour of prime time TV to LeBron and his announcement. This is an announcement that he could make in 2-3 minutes, but he is such an egomaniac that he thinks he deserves an entire hour.
Now, I am not convinced that he wants to sign with a team to win a championship, or multiple championships. It was not that long ago that players wanted to play for winners, teams that had a chance to win a championship. Some players would even take pay cuts in order to do that. There were also some players who chose to remain loyal to their teams for an entire career, but free agency has ended that. LeBron is motivated by money. He wants to go where he will get a big, fat paycheck and get endorsement deals. If he wins a championship, that can be a bonus, but I do not believe that the championship is his motivation.
I am not going to watch the spectacle on Thursday. There are other things that I could be doing at that time, and I am sure I will be able to find something to occupy my time. The sad thing, there will be many people who will fall into this trap that is LeBron James. ESPN will probably get good ratings for this 1-hour special. LeBron will get all the publicity that he desires. But the world will go on.
This is one of the main problems with our society today. People care so much about things that just do not matter. If you polled people on the street or in the mall or anywhere you go, you will find that many do not know the answers to basic questions about our government, about economics, about our nation's history, or about current events. Why is this? Because, as a society, we just don't care.
LeBron James will get more coverage in the news over the next several days than issues that are much more important. Our lives will not be affected by what team LeBron will play for next year, yet issues in the news that will affect us are cast aside for the LeBron circus. Issues such as nationalized health care, immigration, the oil spill, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are but a few of the issues that are much more important than the NBA, yet they will remain on the back burner.
While I was in college, I had a roommate who tried out for an intramural basketball team, but he did not make the team. After a day or so of pondering what happened, he came to the conclusion that "In the light of eternity, it just doesn't matter" that he did not make the team. This is a truth that we all need to come to terms with. Looking at the years to come, does it matter where LeBron plays basketball? Will it bring peace to the Middle East? Will it bring harmony between Democrats and Republicans? Will it end the oil spill in the Gulf? Of course, the answers to these questions is no, this decision will have no impact on these other things. Then why are we choosing to make such a big deal about it?
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