Manufacturing Realities: How King LeBron James Became a Cowardly Traitor
On July 9, 2010, the entire world bared witness. We were witnesses to something as minuscule as a drop of rain on a window pane, yet somehow built-up to be as grand as a mother giving birth.
Never the less, we took the bait casted upon our entertainment units with a blind religious faith, as if somehow, our own individual lives would be changed based on the decision.
How silly are we?
We sat patiently for what seemed like an eternity. For what exactly? To hear a basketball player announce who his employer would be for the next half decade?
That can’t be the answer, not with all this unwarranted hate being directed at a 25-year-old man with no history of criminal activity. How can a young man go from basketball idol to public enemy number one without doing something illegal? Are we that pathetic a people that this is what we value as important and meaningful; bashing of others for choosing what to do with their life?
I’m a parent; I can’t subject myself to believe this is the world that my children will one day inherit. There has to be more to this, it has to be about LeBron James and not some mysterious factor that remains hidden to us.
There has too be?
Who the heck are we kidding? This latest spin of pin the tail on the donkey isn’t anything about LeBron James or how poor his decision was. Logically there are no pillars to support any notions that he made a bad or poor decision. How is it not a benefit to his aspirations of winning to not partner with a Finals MVP and a top 5 big man, please explain if you have that answer!
The truth is this was never about LeBron James and whatever decision he would make. It’s about everyone that didn’t serve to benefit from it. Essentially, he was in a damned if I do, damned if I don’t situation.
Before I get to the heart of this passage of mine, I’d like to address the need for the hour long special. Seemingly, everyone has so much hate for something that benefited so many others not named LeBron James.
The Decision had nothing to do with the ego of LeBron James and everything to do with a nation that doesn’t take care of its youth to the best of its capabilities.
Maverick Carter, CEO of LRMR, said: "LeBron has a longstanding commitment to giving back to the community and has worked with Boys & Girls Clubs in cities across the country. With the unprecedented attention and interest surrounding LeBron’s decision, we decided to make this announcement on national television and donate the proceeds to Boys & Girls Clubs. We very much appreciate the cooperation and generosity of our sponsors.”
The decision to go through with the hour long special on ESPN was to generate money for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America. It had nothing to do with James being on an ego trip or because he wanted to rip the hearts out of his Ohio natives. Just looking at his expression and the anguish in them, it was easy to see that this had nothing to do with hurting anyone.
So if we want to be mad at "the decision," how about all of us step our game up and donate a lot more to causes that benefit our youth. Until you do as much as he has, you have no right to place judgment on his reason for doing. Unless you enjoy being labeled a hypocrite!
All this hate is more about the Media and less about LeBron. His decision affected them more than anything or anyone else outside the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers organizations.
The Media influences the beliefs we have of players whether we want to admit it or not. They might not control who you rout for but they do control who you view and how you view them.
As a fan of NBA basketball, I am very aware of the fact that if you don’t watch a particular team religiously, your view of a player can be mislead very easily.
They are in the business of ratings. Ratings are built upon the backs of excitement and hype. They don’t care about reporting all the facts, only the ones that best serve the goal at hand, and that’s getting you to buy whatever they are selling.
For example, you always here that Kobe Bryant is the best player because he has X-amount of titles. However, this is a game of twelve, and not one.
You cannot attribute the success of a team sport to one player. If you could, so much emphasis would not be put into the supporting cast. If it was true, Kobe would have won with the supporting players he played with from 2003 to 2008. If Kobe was indeed the best player, there would be some factual premises to base those sentiments.
Never the less, this isn’t about Bryant and how ordinary he is. It’s about the Media and why the James decision didn’t serve their purpose, why it didn’t benefit them.
After the smoke clears and people will grow tired of hearing how James is a coward and traitor for going to Miami, that’s one less story for them to run on.
Then the Heat will start winning—and winning big, that will end the ego and chemistry doubt that is also a current hot topic. That’s two less stories for them to make money from.
So that leaves the who can defeat the Heat topic, currently being run exclusively in LA. They are the current NBA Champs and everyone’s favorite to play the Goliath killer. Apparently, a team with Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, and Pau Gasol can check their egos at the door but a trio of close friends cannot, that’s really illogical and bias thinking.
So that’s all the headliners for next season and they’re all because Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh decided to join the same franchise. So it’s easy to see why the Media would be ticked. The list for more "what if’s" got a whole lot smaller due to the Miami trio being formed.
Had James stayed in Cleveland, the possibilities of more teams having a reasonable chance at a title were greater. It’s easier to beat a great player if he stands alone, it’s darn near impossible to beat one with an equal or greater counter-part at his side.
So you can see how this would change the landscape for the Media, no one wants to read articles that don’t serve a relevance to the future prospects of something. Well I shouldn’t say no one; some fans are actual die-hards of a particular franchise and show a strong support regardless of the situation.
The Chicago media is upset because they don’t get the easy articles of how great James is and how better he would have made the Bulls.
Same with New York, New Jersey and Cleveland as they all must struggle to create realities of relevance.
Los Angeles media is ticked off because they wont get the headline reads—that honor shifts over to the East coast and South Beach Miami.
Perception does not shape reality, reality shapes perception. Fans need to take it upon themselves to seek knowledge of the game they claim to love and not just rely on what someone else deems they should know.
If you hear a certain player doesn’t do this or that, don’t take it at face value. Sit your behind down and watch that player for yourself, then make your own conclusion.
Perfect example was this past season. Oklahoma City won 50 games in which their top 6 players all played 76 games or more. The Miami Heat, with a lesser squad managed to win 47 games even though Dwyane Wade missed five games. The Heat had wins over every playoff team accept the Spurs, Cavs, Mavs, Celtics and Thunder. They had leads over the Cavs and Celtics with less than a minute remaining only to have bad decisions cost them.
Yet somehow, Durant was the runner up in the MVP race because his TEAMMATES got better and Wade wasn’t even mentioned even though his team improved their win total by 5 games with basically the same roster and Wade missing more games than he had the previous season.
In any manner, it’s ultimately on you the person to decide what kind of fan you’ll be.
You can either be mature and insightful or you can remain blind and ignorant, either way, the game won’t change because of it and neither will the players you cheer and hate.
The Media is banking that you chose the ladder of the two, their pockets depend on it.
