lebron james

i can't really understand how anyone doesn't get the antipathy directed at lebron james. how could one not see his quote after the heat's unexpected failure as at worst deplorable and at least in poor taste. i wouldn't rank him down there with milosevic or qadaffi. he's just an entertainer. but in his realm he is a villain for a reason. the root cause of his vilification is his poor judgment.

to be fair i recognize that i probably would have had every bit as poor of judgment as lebron had i been given so much at such a young and tender age. (see born rich for a poignant illustration of this phenomenon.) lebron was a celebrity in the 8th grade. consequently he never even felt the need to consider how to woo the public. he did not think he needed to do that. after all, when you have millions of dollars, are in the physical prime of your life and widely accepted as an athletic marvel, and have no idea what you don't know, what else is there? no one tells lebron know. he even has a posse around him as a constant reminder of how truly wonderful and omnipotent he is.

"he is," is a perfect phrase for describing lebron. he is an amazing talent, markedly more naturally gifted than those he is currently failing by comparison to, (i.e. michael jordan, magic johnson, et. al.) he is the embodiment of youth, even relative to his basketball career. he is a major celebrity with all the accoutrement of that fabled status. he is beloved and reviled, which is exactly the opposite of the worst humans are capable of feeling for one another, not feeling at all. to this point in his career lebron james has been the jehovah of the hardwood in as much as he has been expected to exceed everything heretofore known in the basketball world. however, something odd happened along the way.

in the year he should have won a championship, in the inaugural year of the new paradigm for winning, the age of not just two "superstars," per team, but three, an idea he can easily be credited with inventing, (for lack of a better word,) lebron james failed. this should be nothing new in the world of sports. failure is germane to sport. failure is the other 29 teams. failure is the best hitter 62% of the time. failure is the boston bruins or vancouver canucks tomorrow night. failure is michael jordan with the wizards. failure is the chicago cubs. lebron was not supposed to fail. he might have won a championship a couple of years ago with cleveland but this year, with dwayne wade and chris bosh, (and a complement of solid talent betting fractions of their salaries on lebron to take them to the glorified landscape of champions,) he was supposed to win it, all the more once the heat had traversed the rigors of the eastern conference to meet the third seeded dallas mavericks in the nba finals, (with home court advantage no less.)

why did lebron fail? the reasons are myriad. first and foremost, in a word, his game. lebron's game is made for the regular season. when that horse of a man barrels down court towards the basket on a tuesday night in philly or toronto, who wants to get their body in front of him and take the contact in hopes of getting the charge call or at least thwarting the two-point effort in favor of a possible miss or two at the foul line? no one. some will. occasionally. most won't unless they see a clear advantage or they are for some reason desperate. the playoffs and certainly the finals are different.

lebron is so physically gifted to date in his nba career he has not been challenged. he is an above average shooter and he is simply a monster when attacking the basket especially on the break or in transition. relative to his size his ball-handling skills and agility are freakish. so where is lebron deficient? he not only has no idea how to beat those teams in the playoffs who are utterly committed to stopping him, he has no idea he needs to have an idea or that such an idea even exists. he is fucking clueless.

other than kareem abdul jabar's sky hook, there is and has only been one weapon ever for overcoming that level of commitment the mavericks recently displayed. the mid-range, pull-up jumper. that shot in the hands of a master in unstoppable. when you think about jordan in his early career with doug collins scoring 63 on the celtics, the basketball prowess he displayed was more than remarkable. however, it failed. jordan, like lebron and so many others, was in love with his own athleticism. at about that point in his career jordan recognized he needed to get others involved to succeed, and he needed to score easier. he couldn't make a move on two defenders, slash to the basket and creatively score a basket every time down the floor. even kobe figured this out at some point. a gifted basketball player, by the very nature of the game, has a huge advantage on the pull-up jumper and from mid-range it is the easiest pickin's there is in the nba game. in fact dirk nowitzki's range of mid-range shots are just variations on the theme. karl malone was a great player because his mid-range shot was deadly, moreso as his career progressed. the same can be said of charles barkley. in his best year, when jordan's bulls defeated his suns in the finals, his ability to score from mid-range complemented his other, power game oriented skills, to such a point he nearly led his team to a championship against all odds. scoring without expending maximum energy is the hallmark of the greats. reggie miller was great because he succeeded at the long ball like it was a mid range jumper.kevin durant is great because of his shot. all the rest, all the stuff lebron has in spades is substantial and effective, but that uncanny shot, that ability to score using less energy, is the difference maker. lebron simply hasn't had to develop it and hasn't had any idea he has a need to develop it. in fact he likely acted from instinct and the sub conscience in choosing to partner with dwayne wade. wade is his perfect complement in as much as he possesses what lebron lacks to the hilt but does not have the body to endure his own style of play night after night over 82 games per regular season plus playoffs year in and year out.

as complementary as lebron and wade are and were to one another, in the finals their team did not have the game plan to beat dallas. their aggressive rotation became an achilles heel against a patient team willing to keep passing until they beat the rotation and take only open shots, (as much as possible.) had the heat been able to shift styles back and forth between what they did and living with a basic man defense, they could have kept the mavs off balance and likely lowered their shooting percentage. it's hard to blame the heat coaching staff however-who could have imagined them losing?

so back to why lebron's comments were so inane. they were angry. as a privileged millionaire, the point of his comment was to mock the average schmuck who pays his hard earned money to lebron's brand and the nba's brand. essentially he said eff you to all of the "haters," who do not live to his standard of living, (you know, the standard where you live in a castle, have everything you want, [except a championship, the true badge of greatness,] including a posse of employees at your bidding,) who had to wake up the next day and go to the office or the yard or the truck or wherever they earned their meager, sub par living. it is not offensive that lebron lives the lifestyle he lives. it is offensive that he is so offended by the regular guy's sensibilities. lebron feels entitled to his lifestyle. his greatness is, in his estimation and therefore, he sees himself as a gift to humankind and the basketball world. (he doesn't feel lucky or fortunate at all.) he thinks he earned all that he has. in fact he deserves a great deal of credit and a portion of his success can be attributed to luck, (in short.)

lebron reminds me of mary baker eddy who believed she could live forever if she purged negative thoughts from her consciousness and psyche. as her end approached she attributed her demise to the negativity of others being projected on her. in some ways eddy was a loon. in other ways, she was a revelation. she did live a remarkably healthy life after all.

this may sound like some sort of psychobabble but humankind is connected. you can see it in riot mentality just as you can see it in cases of extreme isolation. lebron's decision showed an utter disregard for the human sensibility that is loyalty. it would have been one thing to disdain cleveland in favor of miami. that would have been digestible to the masses even though it represented a change that was essentially an nba paradigm shift. the decision however, rubbed his sense entitlement in the faces of those who valued loyalty, or who believed in working class values, values in which it would be anathema to take the easy way out (of cleveland,) instead of persevering. so the masses turned on lebron, (excepting those in miami largely, who heralded his arrival as the beginning of a season of plenty.)

in the end it was a perfect storm. lebron's inability to score easy, (essentially his inability to take two hard dribbles in a direction, stop on a dime and hurl himself into the air while steadying himself for a mid range jumper, which is essentially in itself the inability to study and/or recognize, which again is a byproduct of having so much come so easily,) manifesting at the biggest moment in a system completely unprepared for the unfathomable failure that came about and was exploited by the little basketball engine that could, (aka rick carlisle's team oriented game, that is the dallas mavericks.)

i have rooted against lebron and the heat all season but lebron's comments did not bother me. i had to get up the next day and go work at a job i don't love. i did not feel bitter or jealous that lebron got to wake up in the opulence he has grown accustomed to. i do not begrudge the man his materials. i do find it disappointing he has not become a better lebron yet and he has not used hardship to improve. (once upon a time i could not stand mike tyson but then i came to favor him. to me tyson seemed to improve himself and he gained an air of humility i found refreshing and honest.) i am open to lebron becoming a better man and a better basketball player. his cause could be helped by having more of the masses on his side, too. he could woo the general public by gaining a measure of humility and becoming somehow genuine, (as opposed to writing checks to boys and girls clubs or some corporate charity.) if i were advising lebron i would start by having him apologize for being obtuse. (first, of course, i would try to get him to genuinely see how his behavior has been wrong-headed.) next i would tell him to focus on basketball and work particularly on his mid-range jumper. by improving that one aspect of his game i see no reason, (assuming dwayne wade's health,) why the heat should not win the championship next season. planning for that outcome i would advise lebron to be ready to accept that championship gracefully, by reacting honestly to it when it comes and by heaping praise on teammates and coaches and accepting laurels by pointing to his hard work and determination. over the top praise should be scoffed at. after all one team wins a championship every year. it really is not that big of a deal.

on selflessness

selflessness moves me in such a way i feel like a human heart muscle bleeding out all over everything i conceive. i read a news story today about a group of 200 senior citizens in japan who call themselves 'the skilled veterans corps.' they have volunteered to go into the fukushima nuclear power plant to work on repairs to the reactor that was damaged severely by tsunami and represents certain illness and death for those who approach it.

the selflessness of this act impresses me. it simultaneously makes me want to jump for joy and sob like a little baby. i felt connected when i read this story, connected to humanity.

these japanese seniors are aware of, concerned with and invested in, the bigger picture. they want to replace younger employees and work in a place few are willing to work due to the precipitous likelihood of harm. they have cited a couple reasons why they should do this work: slower cell division makes a slower cancer, and the time is right for the nuclear generation to take real responsibility for their decisions. they also make clear that none of the members of the skilled veterans corps has a death wish.

what's more is this group of 250 recognize their place in the scope of our species. they’re pragmatic. they care. this quality more than any other touches me.

thinking of them...imagining them as as retired bankers and auto workers, doctors and garbage collectors, conjuring their thought processes, seeing them reflecting on these 60-80 years they have had thus far, fat with all the joys and pain of being human, childhood and adolescence, familiarity with the amazing capabilities of their physical beings but also tasting the bitter reality of the body's frailty...

knowing they will have focused on the specifics of grown children, grandchildren embarking on their great adventure, and some even contemplating the planned obsolescence that is great grandparenthood...

knowing how their hearts must swell at the idea of being able to make such a sacrifice for their kind. i think of them so bravely signing up for the group then having a quiet moment of solitude later at home, alone. i know they are resolute and i know they are afraid though i think their fear is more like a sadness in knowing their fear of death has diminished with age which must feel like surrender. i know they also feel a peace, a humble gratitude and a full knowledge they have not ceased to rage against the dying of the light, rather they have chosen to help the species rage all the more vibrantly and effectively.

the skilled veterans corps embodies all that it should mean to be elderly. they are wise and generous. their selflessness is legendary. we do not see this much in our lives-it is what attracts me to men like bobby sands and che guevara, ghandi and martin luther king jr. these men of various causes displayed the similar trait of recognizing the greater good and being willing to act even at their own peril. that touches me perhaps because i live in a society that seems to pooh pooh that behavior valuing instead the culture of gordon gecko and celebrity investors and respect for winning even if you cheated.

the reward for selfless behavior is clear and undeniable. it ranges from being able to sleep at night to the inner sunshine of bestowing a gift on the brotherhood of man to immortality, (such as immortality is.) still, in my society perhaps a majority of people with a choice of a material windfall and more time on earth versus the opportunity to commit an ultimate act of love and goodness would choose the former and smirk, "suckah..." all the way to the bank.

i read the story in a sandwich shop on my iphone at lunch today and i barely composed myself. i sat alone in a room of populated lunch tables eating my sandwich and reading and suddenly i felt like choking. my face flushed and i felt tears well up in my eyes. real tears-tears such as i typically know only at funerals or the like. i grabbed a hold of myself fiercely and pushed the emotion from my consciousness. i soldiered on through the story but at the end when the group's leader announces his expectation the power company will accept the offer from the elderly group to work on site, because, "they need us," i felt it again. it was a sudden jerking of my emotions right to the brink of overflowing.

i checked them again and wondered to myself why such a strong reaction to a news story. this was when i thought of che guevara and how his life story affected me in such a similar fashion, (so much so his visage adorns my calf.) i am slightly chagrined by the idea of having a man's face tattooed on my body, men being so fallible and prone to err. but guevara, like king and ghandi and sands, for me is selflessness incarnate. selflessness, when i see it, the selflessness of those who would advance the envelope of human understanding and evolution, those who actively work to hammer away at the veil of our time, who are discontented by the plodding advance of our age, it moves me in every way. it restores my conviction that goodness is winning, understanding is conquering ignorance, life is meaningful.

and to mr. yasuteru yamada of the skilled veteran's corps i say, "yes sir. you are right. we do need you."