R.I.P. 1891-2010

I was watching the Miami celebration last night for the acquisition of LeBron James, Chris Bosh and the re-signing of Dwayne Wade. They haven’t even won a game together and they are acting like they broke the record for most consecutive NBA championships. I’m speaking as a fan of the game, not a fan of that league. I do have my favorite NBA team, the Boston Celtics, but I rarely sit down to watch, and I’m not a fan to the point of using terms like us, we or them. So, I think I’m writing this from a pretty level-headed perspective. I’m trying to be as objective as I can and as unbiased as possible. What I saw last night was really more of a sound that I heard. It was the last strand of credibility the NBA has breaking. For those of you that read my last blog about the NBA you know the set-up which has led to this fall. Sure, the NBA will still be popular, but after last night, it really shouldn’t be. It’s turned into a reality T.V. show, professional wrestling. Come autumn, they may as well just give the players foldable chairs to beat each other up with during games. I don’t want to go into any detail about the celebration, but go look it up, you will be appalled, if you have any sense in you at all. The NBA lost all credibility it had left with the shenanigans of the LeBron James signing. It has proven this is not a team sport at the NBA level, and is becoming more reminiscent of professional wrestling than it is of Michael Jordan’s NBA.
Kobe Bryant. There’s a man who can now sleep a little better at night. The debate has been settled. Who’s the best player in the NBA? Kobe Bryant. There’s not a debate anymore. He stuck it out when times got tough, he didn’t have the best front office either. He demanded a trade, but come on people, Los Angeles is a destination, like New York in baseball, or New England in Football. You don’t demand to be traded if you’re the best player in the league playing for the best team in the league. This demand was really just to get his front office people moving on getting some players around him. In other words, he worked with what he had. He loves Los Angeles, you can tell. When all is said and done he did not, nor did he ever want to, leave Los Angeles. The true ‘King’ builds his kingdom. He does not move in with another ‘King’ and hope that things will work out. King Bryant, to me, sounds much better than King James, cause after all, what did he give us, historically? A version of the bible written by Shakespeare. Yeah, a Hollywood adaptation, (I realize Hollywood was not around at the time, but if it were that’s where Shakespeare would have been) of the bible. Literally, taking it from its purest form and destroying it, corrupting it. King James wanted it to be more poetic, that’s why he commissioned Shakespeare. You have to take the good with the bad. The bible was written rough, because it was supposed to be. It takes a bit of piss to make victory taste as sweet as it does. The 2007 Boston Celtics and the current Miami Heat are the culmination of what our society has become. They don’t want to build for anything. They don’t think patience is important, they want it all, and they want it now.
This was the first time in the history of sports that a player has held, not only his league, but the entire sports world hostage. Sure, there was Brett Favre, but that wasn’t nearly as bad. There was Tiger Woods, but he really just held golf hostage. Golf isn’t a team sport anyway, it is all about one man (or woman, cool it bleeding hearts). So, it’s okay for one person to hold golf hostage. Has this ever happened in the NHL? Gretzky? I don’t think so, he traded teams, but no one really cared. Hockey is a team sport, it isn’t about one man. In the MLB you had Reggie Jackson moving from Oakland to New York, that was a big deal, but not nearly this big. Because these are team sports. These last few weeks have shown us that the NBA cares more about individuals rather than teams, making this not a team sport. So let’s all stop being hypocrites, shall we? My favorite team is the Boston Paul Pierces. Who’s your favorite team? Do you like the Los Angeles Kobe Bryants? Or how about the Oklahoma City Kevin Durants? Perhaps you’re a fan of the Orlando Dwight Howards? Or maybe even the Miami LeBron Jamesesesssss? Can’t do that in any other sport can you? The New York Derek Jeters? No, that’s a team, they’re the Yankees. The Pittsburgh Sidney Crosbys? No, they’re the Penguins. Okay, here’s one, the Indianapolis Peyton Mannings? NO! You see, even the most obvious one in the NFL, the one who has the biggest impact on his franchise is not above the game. They are the Colts. No one in any other sport is above the game, it happens all the time in the NBA. Basketball, your credibility is dwindling.
I don’t think I could have made a blog entry about the NBA without mentioning Michael Jordan. Fans of the game say his name with reverence. He is quite possibly the most famous athlete that has ever lived. Sure, he left Chicago, twice. I don’t feel this damages his legacy. Once was because his father died, and he wanted to honor him by trying his hand at his father’s favorite sport. When that didn’t work out he went right back to Chicago. He left again, and he came back again. This time for the Wizards. He didn’t go to a powerhouse, he came back because he loved the game of basketball. He wanted to play. In Chicago, he didn’t jump ship when things looked rough. They added small pieces every year. He got beat up by Detroit three years in a row. He wanted to be the guy everyone looked to. Everyone knew he was getting the last shot, and he still made it. He put a mediocre franchise on his back and carried it to six NBA championships. James couldn’t do that. Wade? Nope. Jordan was a winner, but he didn’t forsake teamwork to become it.
Sleep tight Mike. Rest easy Kobe. Though the league you both have in common is turning into a freak show, a 30 ring circus, you truly are kings of the court. Your legacies, for now, are intact and safe. Russell’s 11 will not be matched for some time. I’m calling for a boycott of the NBA. Please join me. I’m going to bridge the gap between the football and baseball seasons with hockey. It really is only the fans who can let the league know how we feel. Stop watching the games, stop attending them, don’t visit the websites. We need to let them know how we feel, cheated and treated like children. The only sad thing about this is the death in the family. He was young and so full of life, hope and optimism. He grew into a strong young adult and had his hay day in the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and most of the 90s. In the late 90s he began to slip, toward the end it was looking pretty bleak. We’ll always have the memories of him to keep us going. Let’s try to look back on the better days, and not remember these last few years where he was a bitter, forgetful old man. Do us a favor now, and rest in peace. Here lies the integrity of the game of basketball; 1891-2010.