I liked what I wrote in an email a short while ago to two college friends I still keep in touch with, over NBA/MLB sports news, so I present it below in today's post:
It has been forever since I've checked in with you all regarding the latest in sports. I have been following all the action, including trades at the NBA trade deadline. It will be a very interesting stretch to the playoffs. A couple things that have been catching my attention:
1. LeBron James passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and getting the all-time scoring record. This is something that doesn't happen very often, and may possibly not ever happen again in our lifetimes. I'm not entirely clear how much fanfare Abdul-Jabbar passing then-recordholder Wilt Chamberlain got, but I'm personally happy to see LeBron get the record. It's a testament, among other things, to how hard Kareem's record really was to attain. I'm also amazed at how many folks passed Chamberlain but not Abdul-Jabbar: Karl Malone, Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, and Dirk Nowitzki. That fact alone tells me how difficult it is, because I remember seeing all those players play and, in their own rights, how great each player was. That's also not counting folks like Shaquille O'neal, who I saw play, as well as Moses Malone and Julius Erving, who I didn't (two players that I understood were all-time greats in the 70s and 80s).
It's also a testament to longevity, which is not necessarily a bad thing. It brings me back to the conversation that I believe re-started our group communication some years back, which was stating a case for who was the best player all-time (I forget what we each said, but I seem to remember that it focused between Kareem, LeBron, and Jordan). I'm not necessarily seeking to return to that conversation and ask for updates, but this milestone is certainly one for the ages in regards to NBA history, more so than even which teams won the championship in which years (my opinion, anyway). For the record, I will state that Jordan got his 32,292 over approximately 15 years of basketball, whereas the top three, LeBron, Kareem, and Malone needed 20 years (in fact, I think Malone got his in 19 years). If Jordan had played 20, I suggest that he certainly would have not only cracked 40,000 but also possibly even 45,000, and that's still accounting for considerable slowdown in his scoring pace at the end of his career. That all said, I think it is a boon for LeBron's career that he was able to break the scoring record - a great talking point for arguing the greatness of his game.
2. The second item I have been reflecting on is in a sense, the redemption of Derrick Rose's career. As a Bulls fan, I most definitely remember how elite he was already in his first 4 years in the league, and excited anticipating how great his career would become. As we all probably know, he tore his ACL in the playoffs of his 4th year, and his career was forever changed. Over the next subsequent years, for him it became a huge test of not just physical endurance but also mental/emotional endurance. If I'm not mistaken, by the time he was with the Cleveland Cavaliers (around 2017), he was just about done with playing basketball.
But here in Year 15 of his career, he's still on a team. I haven't really thought about him much over the last several years. I did celebrate joyfully for his sake when he had that 50-point game with the Timberwolves back in October 2018, because I knew about the hard road he had been on. But what got my attention recently about him: I was scrolling through YouTube and I saw a random video of him on the bench in New York (he plays for the Knicks now) where Knicks fans were chanting his name. Apparently, he hadn't played in a game for at least a month, and the Knicks were en route to a blowout win with 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter. The announcer expressed surprise that Head Coach Tom Thibodeau acquiesced to the crowd and put him in. (They were together as player and coach on the Bulls and the Timberwolves as well.) It was cool to see the joy on Rose's face, not necessarily because he was about to be put in a game where he hadn't played in a month, but moreso that the fans really wanted him to play, and that they thought that highly of him.
Here is why I think this is so amazing: who else would get the massive outpouring of love and appreciation from fans across rival cities? (And go through the road that he has had to go on?) Bulls fans, who would cheer Michael Jordan and boo Patrick Ewing, cheer this man and call him "MVP" every time even now, even when he comes back as an opposing player. Knicks fans, who would cheer Patrick Ewing and boo Michael Jordan, evidently shower the same kind of love, even for a player on their team who basically is the last man off the bench at this point in his career. Even Minnesota fans (traditionally a rival of Chicago, maybe not so much in basketball but certainly in football and baseball) cheered this guy on and showered love when he scored the 50 points, and even when he didn't.
Rose may not have had the career that he or anyone else of us would have wanted. He got the 1 MVP but hasn't gotten any more nor won any championships, and he certainly will not be making much of a dent on the stat leaderboards in any statistic. He could have quit when he kept getting injured over and over again as he was trying to return to form after the big ACL injury at the end of Year 4. But he didn't. Even folks like Kobe Bryant and LeBron James have commented on his dedication, passion, hard work, and love for the game. Because he persevered, he's been able to at least maintain a spot on an NBA roster for 15 years, make rather decent money (and excellent money compared with many other careers!), and earn the universal love of probably most NBA fanbases, but certainly that of Chicago, New York, and Minnesota. That's hard to do!
Here is also what I feel is an apropos Bible verse: To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes, The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” Isaiah 61:3, NKJV
I mention this, because, according to Wikipedia: Rose is a Christian and has spoken about his faith, saying "God does everything for a reason". He wears a wristband that says "In Jesus' Name I Play" and has several tattoos about his faith. What I love about this is that it does seem that while seriously unfortunate circumstances happened, Rose had the option either to quit or to persevere and see what happens. He chose the latter, and I can see how he's being blessed by it. It may not be the glamorous and decorated career that he hoped for, but his choice to persevere has allowed not only him but also others to see how God can make beauty from ashes and still bless him in it. I, for one, find that hopeful.
Ben Simmons, however, is another story. I hope he is willing to learn from a guy like Rose. We will see what happens.
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