Too many more words will spoil the soup. I will now let the compositional sketch speak for itself. Read on:
Saturday, June 9th, 2018
OFF-TOPIC….
GOING OFF MY USUAL, JOURNALING TOPICS OF MY PERSONAL LIFE, MY FAITH, OR MY MUSIC, I HAVE A FEW DEEP THOUGHTS ON LEBRON JAMES AND THE IMPACT OF HIS EMPLOYMENT DECISION ON MY CURRENT RELATIONSHIP WITH SPORTS.
First, a side note: prior to the Chicago Cubs’ world series championship in November 2016, and more specifically my reconciling this miracle with the pain and bitterness I had stored up over the years, sports-at-large had become an outlet for my original heart-pain and one of my constant obsessions. As a result, I had become consumed with every major transactional decision that the Cubs and Bulls (and to a lesser degree, the White Sox) had made, as well as any and every major trade and every major free-agent decision in both the MLB and the NBA. This especially included both of LeBron James’ career moves in 2010 and 2014, particularly the first, as the Bulls were in serious contention to benefit. I was obsessed, all right.
When the Cubs finally won the world series championship, and once I finally allowed myself to accept and take in this reality (a process which took about six months) I experienced a peace in my heart regarding sports-at-large and peace regarding its place in my life. I was ok to begin letting go, not only of the bitterness and pain but also the euphoria I so craved that would depend on an external circumstance completely beyond my control involving a sports franchise of my obsession going right. And as I did so, I realized that in my heart of hearts, I really did want to let go, to move on, to pursue a life of peace and contentment in my heart around anything and everything related to sports.
I began to see folks like LeBron James and Kris Bryant as fellow performers in the entertainment industry, like myself, albeit in a different industry. When a man like LaVar Ball came running along and began shooting off his mouth, I was able to look at it briefly, quietly chuckle away his folly, and also let go of the impact his foolishness had on a sport I no longer obsessed over. I began to appreciate Steph Curry both as a revolutionary 3-point specialist and a fellow Christian. I began to appreciate more James’ impact and legacy and as a man my age (he’s four months older than me), and for his voice on social justice issues. And ironically I began to see both Michael Jordan (he’s a bonafide jerk) and the Chicago Bulls franchise (they’re incompetent and don’t deserve to have a championship team for a long time) in a different light. I have also begun to see potential rivals and potential dynasties and admire them (Golden State Warriors, Houston Astros, New York Yankees).
Do I have perfect peace regarding sports-at-large in my life? Of course not. I still follow my preferred teams and my preferred story lines a lot. But as I begin to take in the news today that the Warriors dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals last night, my first reaction was: “thank goodness it’s over.” Because I now want to admire the Warriors as the dynasty they now are and for their stamp on not just the NBA but the game of basketball at large, and I want to be able to admire LeBron James in the amount of time he has left in the NBA, especially while he is still the best singular player in the game. (And no human being yet knows how much longer that will last!) As I transition back from my side note, I am rooting for James to get a fourth championship, for him to solve the Warriors one more time, and for him to top as many career statistical charts as possible. I am especially curious to see him possibly pass Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time regular season career points chart. And so on.
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Now that the NBA Finals have concluded — and James having once again lost — many eyes, many, many eyes, are on him as he (rightly) seriously contemplates changing employers once again. It’s amazing too, to me, how, thanks to the latest wave of social justice initiatives, my perspectives on who puts together a sports team, how they are put together, and how is really and rightfully in charge of that, have begun to shift. I may delve more into that in the future, but the short answer is that my long-held preference that the franchises themselves assemble the teams is beginning to appear to me as “the way the white man does business.” I now reflect on James’ two previous changes of employer and have moved from “he shouldn’t be allowed to do that!” to “no, it is his right as a player to choose how he wants to advance his career for the betterment of his resume and his family.” …Another level of kinship, professionally speaking.
My first thought process as I anticipate James’ career decision at this point is with tremendous respect. Basketball still matters supremely to him, but so does his career-at-large, which includes his basketball-playing days and his post-basketball career. My second thought, after the first, is “why should he even consider a prospective employer that won’t benefit his career-at-large?” Which leads to my third thought: “I don’t want him even considering the Bulls. They’re a terrible franchise. They won’t benefit him at all. They’re even more backward that the Cavaliers franchise.” And so on. Which then leads to really the first pertinent question: “would it benefit James at all if he stayed with the Cavaliers?” It certainly would benefit his wife and his children, as they are all native to Akron, Ohio, near Cleveland. As one journalist put it, they would definitely have a say. There is also a strong possibility that James would choose, like many other men who care about the stability and overall well-being of their families, to sacrifice this portion of his career for them. After all, he did make one career decision solely for his benefit by working in Miami for four years. And in many ways it clearly benefitted him and his career development. But his wife and children suffered a cost — and so did he — by this decision. (And I’m not even talking about the nationwide fan reaction to it!) So I could see James sacrificing, on one level, championship and legacy pursuit aspirations knowing that we would have a faithful employer — faithful enough, anyway — that would give him a job until it’s time to call it quits on playing basketball. His family certainly would benefit from that. Then there is the question of his relationship with the Cavaliers franchise’s owner, Dan Gilbert. Much has been made ado about the history of their relationship over the years, and more recently about the significance of the difference in their respective politics. That said, both men have made that relationship work, professionally. And for all the noise in that relationship, and even the silence, it is in a far different class than that of the relationship between Phil Jackson and Carmelo Anthony which was completely damaging for both parties on all levels.
I could go on and speculate about the fit between James and any other basketball franchise, as I certainly would have done prior to the Cubs’ championship. But truly this is moot at this point. Any team in the NBA’s Eastern Conference is an instant Finals contender, should James join them. This includes the Cavaliers, and yes it also includes the Bulls. That much is clear. If James joins the Houston Rockets or any other team in the Western Conference besides the Warriors, the championship picture gets murkier for him. I truly don’t see him joining the Warriors: he wants to beat them, and joining them eliminates that quest. And another journalist tossed on the table the idea of him taking a year off. He still has plenty in the tank. And he’s not stupid. At 33, taking a year off and coming back at 35 would all but guarantee that his title as the world’s best player — a key part of his professional legacy — would be gone forever.
Here is my conclusion to all this chatter and speculation: I do not know what route he will choose. And, outside of my rooting for him to do what is best for himself, alongside my remaining fan interest to go all-out in stamping himself as the very best in the game, ever, I do not care where he goes. And for all my thoughts and comments marveling at how he still is the best player in the game, as soon as next season he could very well not be that player anymore. Of course, none of us, least of all James himself, will know when that day comes until it comes. As much as I’d like to think and say that this fast-approaching reality will influence what team he chooses next season, it will not. I believe James will continue to pursue being the greatest of all time, until it is time, to the delight of my current interest as a fan. So it comes down to the following decision: does he sacrifice a portion of his legacy, the part yet to be written, for his family’s sake? Or does his family willingly sacrifice for a few more years, understanding the full gravity of their breadwinner’s basketball legacy? If it’s the former, he rides out the rest of his career in Cleveland. If it’s the latter… well… it very well could still be Cleveland, or Houston, or the Philadelphia 76ers. But at this point, as I wrote earlier, it is moot. If LeBron James’ family is on board with him completing his legacy in basketball, he will in the end choose a team that gives him the best option 1.) to win championships, and 2.) to help him get as high on the career stats leaderboards as possible. That I believe I can certainly count on, and is something I will also certainly root for. I am excited to see how his last chapter unfolds, and I intend to thoroughly appreciate what he has left.