In case you're not one of the initiated:
OtB brings you a long-form joint re: NBA and its ontological extension unto all of sport. Epochrypha: writings or statements of questionable authorship or authenticity, but always impassioned and always with an eye on the times we're spectating in. Enjoy.
Hey. Howzit. What's up. It's been awhile since I was last here. A lot has changed in the blogosphere. Shoals is writing for Fanhouse again. Skeets is no longer at Ball Don't Lie. Forum Blue and Gold is no longer run by Kurt. Blogging is a business too, I guess. What else happened since I went ghost around October? Um, Tiger Woods slept with some women. Agent Zero did NOT save us, although Brandon Jennings might. (It all takes time, perhaps is the lesson to learn here) Arizona turned into a place where the Right and the Left collide. And, I don't know, somewhere along the way it stopped mattering. Who cares if the world is going to end in two years or if it actually ended ten back? It doesn't matter if we're living in a post-apocalyptic, post-mis-understanding-of-apocalypse world. We just keep going.
Oh, and what else is new? Right. Lebron's human. That one's just in. But you knew we were heading there all along. Before I build a full head of steam here (if you're new to this, yeah, I'm just getting started), I want to offer a bit of full disclosure. I've been hiding from basketball for 9 months like it had something growing in it for me to father. And, while basketball gets pregnant with...something, I've been cheating on her with professional wrestling or "sports entertainment." I won't belabor you with my observations in that arena, but I will say I think I overdid it leading up to this basketball season. I wrote all these previews, and I guess it got to a point where I had said too much and had devoted too much time and thought to something that was quick becoming something a little too vast and untenable for me. The regular season's a beast, I won't lie. I just learned that I'm not that shining armor guy who can lie it down and put it into words for y'all. Sorry. I'm human. Like Lebron. Whaaaaat?!?
Now, carefully good sirs (and madams, if any ye be), this is not another blog post dedicated to piling the hate or disappointment on Lebron James. Me? I got sympathy. For Lebron and Cleveland both. Full disclosure, I am a lifelong Lakers fan who lived in Ohio for four years and loved the idea of Lebron being there while I was. Those of you who are familiar with my writing here at OtB will also recall that I'm an unapologetic follower of the bigger voices out there in the basketball blogosphere. Some days all I get is Ball Don't Lie, Truehoop, Fanhouse, and the odd freedarko joint. So, yes. I feel
Dwyer's take is important (nut shell: people in Cleveland's organization are just trying to keep their jobs; Lebron's just trying to keep his head), and I certainly peeped
Abbott's run down of what Lebron's career arc will now look like (in a word: Garnett), but Shoals has always been the last word for me, whether at fd or Fanhouse. So Shoals goes, un-
verbatim, it's fear that Lebron showed, which differs from doubt because "in doubt, you have yourself to blame. Fear is the awful possibility that you can bring it like mad and still have life thrown back in your face. Fear is to be overcome, just like doubt, and is undoubtedly less humiliating. But LeBron James isn't supposed to feel fear. It's human, way too human."
Rewind a bit. In case you missed it. Lebron and the Cavs just got ousted in 6 by the Celtics. In Game 5, it seemed Lebron wasn't trying. There are questions about his elbow's health, but no concrete answers. He looked better in Game 6, but he's still being vilified by some as having one foot already out the door. We know the future is unwritten, but people are always trying to get ahead of themselves to write the present. Sometimes that act leads too quickly to judgment and vilification of someone however well or poorly we ourselves would've acted in a similar situation. Perhaps we're more
like Vince Carter? (More Shoals) The question is why is that bad? How and why do we hold certain perspectives between ourselves in the wild, nebulous world of fandom and the stars from whom we get our (writing) lights?
Me, I feel bad for both sides. James could've done better for Cleveland. He could've been less of a businessman, and I've always disliked that about him. At the same time, it doesn't mean he should be hated for making decisions that, in the long run (hopefully), work towards making him a happier individual. I would say some of those decisions
should make us hold him on less of a lofty platform, but that's not the point of this post. There's enough of that out there already. On the Cavs' side, they could've done better for James as well. Forget the mistakes in personnel. They did as well as most franchises do. It was the perspective. They were just trying to hold on to Lebron as long as they could. He didn't help when his actions baited them towards such decisions. As with a relationship, the blame lies on either side of the divide. The Cavs have
employed James since he was fresh out of high school. It was their responsibility to mold him into a stand up employee. In that sense, they failed him. They allowed him to grow into a diva, and it could have been prevented if only someone had told him no.
It was difficult, I understand. When you have a precocious child or lover, I guess, if we're to maintain this metaphorical scheme, it's difficult to do anything but be in awe at the outset. The problems only arise later, when the individual begins to struggle living up to the ridiculously high standards. You can't bring roses and chocolates to every date, and you wouldn't want someone to. But in sports, we do. We want athletes to go all out. And James did, for the most part. He tried to learn. When he heard you're supposed to save something for the playoffs, he tried that. When he heard you're supposed to share the ball, he tried that. He was accused of being less than superhuman for these things. Maybe it's time we just admit to ourselves that Lebron is human.
Sometimes, when you're single and you see the perfect couple acting like a perfect couple, it makes you sick to the skin (all the way to the stomach and back out again). For awhile, Lebron and the Cavs were that. Lebron went to his
hometown team - how often does that happen? - and somehow he lived up to the ridiculous hype. He even went ahead surpassed it. Now he's suffering the repercussions of assumed perfection. We're all asses. The Cavs were having too much fun, and we were having too much fun picking them apart for it. And now the Celts have had the last laugh. When you're single, sometimes it feels SO satisfying to watch the perfect couple fight and perhaps even fall apart. But if we're honest, really honest, and a little self-actualized, we'll get over our jealousy and be able to feel sorry to see a beautiful thing die. Then, if we're teachers and philanthropists (heh...), then we might actually hope to see the perfect couple grow and learn and become more serious and mature. That's my hope, at least, for Lebron and the Cavs.
Coming from a place where I was good and ready to kick Kobe to the curb as a Lakers fan, it has been highly fulfilling to see him and the team grown and mature together. My hope as a fan of basketball and someone who's seen firsthand the economic and social situation around Cleveland, I'm hoping he stays. Mike Brown's gone, and I think that's a step in the right direction. If Lebron was the perfect boyfriend who got a little carried away in being that, then I sincerely hope the Cavaliers organization can be(come) that girlfriend who steps up and puts him in his place. I sincerely hope Lebron doesn't run away to "greener pastures" where he'll find the same thing happening over and over again. Kind of like Shaq.
Part II:
Yes, I have been a Shaquille O'Neal apologist for awhile. I'm growing away from that. You can peep my
history on it. But here's why I'm segueing this way. The Abbot piece is all about Lebron now looking at the KG path as one he is potentially following. I'd argue that when it comes to excellence combined with repeated playoff frustration, Dirk's the biggest candidate to be found filling KG's old shoes (or T-Mac...). No one's the same. C'mon, I know we know that. But that doesn't mean we don't let ourselves fall into these patterns. So if your thinking on the matter is going to fall into any pattern, let it be that path that Shaq has blazed. In fact, it lines up quite nicely. Shaq left the Magic after 4 years. If you account for the two years Shaq spent at LSU, he and Lebron are practically step for step. Shaq got swept from the finals in his third season. Lebron got swept in his fifth. Again, account for the two years of college and this one's exactly the same. Shaq hit his peak of off-court silliness with 1996's
Kazaam and 1997's appearances in
Steel and
Good Burger. Oy. These were his first years in LA, after torching the Magic. It seems Lebron needs to get a little of that media star attention out of his system before he can get serious like Shaq did in 2000-2001. Let's hope Lebron can do it from Cleveland.
Part III or perhaps 2a:
I'm almost done ;-). When speaking about career arcs or, y'know, narratives, there is an interesting argument for Durant to be farther along in his than James now is. If a narrative is defined by what one overcomes internally and externally, Durant has navigated his first hurdle more gracefully than has King James. I recognize this is perhaps where I stretch it a bit and let my *$%! get contentious, but bear with me. In this age of instant critique, athletes are often at the mercy of their detractors fingertips. How an athlete negotiates this brand new world is quickly coming to define him. Over the past two seasons, Lebron has garnered somewhat of a reputation for sulking and, well, giving the media the Patrick Ewing treatment. Now, when perhaps circumstances are stacked against him, there are no lucid explanations, no exemplary actions to throw off his detractors. This started last season, and sure he had a great season this year, but in no way did he combat any of the things his detractors have said about him.
Durant, on the other hand, was held over the fire just this off-season. He was criticized because his plus/minus rating sucked, meaning the team was worse off with him on the floor than on the bench. Weird to hear that about a star player, right? He's now ranked as one of the best players in the league according to adjusted plus/minus.
The rating is a little confusing, and Durant himself expressed frustration at being criticized by a rating system that is not generally (as far as I can tell) understood by players. I still think it would be a more enlightened age if it was, but maybe enlightenment is no longer the point? Still, all advanced stats point to Durant improving defensively, and his team did manage a 27 more wins this year...although it's disputed whether or not wins count in advanced stats land. Still, Durant wins this round, and we all win in the end if James' can create the kind of relationship Durant seems to have going in OKC. Here's to growth, not gigantism.
After effects:
Oh, btw. If Lebron does move from Cleveland to Chicago or wherever, just dream that I wrote a thousand words about it as a metaphor for the movement of the American psyche/soul. Because you know how that one goes. We are a nation of consumers, so the midwest that used to produce things like cars will see a kind of drift that will not be seen in cities like OKC, for all its small market claims to free-agency bane.
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