Fellow church planter, baseball fan, and all around cool cat, Tim Spivey, wrote an article about the NBA championship that ended last night. He asked about why so many people seemed to dislike, or disrespect, Lebron James.
I had an opinion, and so naturally I did the patriotic thing and spoke up. Here’s what I wrote…
For me, it’s his character… here’s a quote form him last night:
“At the end of the day, all of the people that want to see me fail will wake up tomorrow and have the same life, the same problems.” – LBJ
He’s still an adolescent in a man’s body. He’s self-promoting, condescending, and arrogant.
On the other hand, here’s a quote by Adrian Wojnarowski (Yahoo Sports), on Dirk:
“Dirk doesn’t do endorsements and doesn’t do self-promotion. He doesn’t care. He never wanted to be a brand. He wanted to be an NBA champion.” – AW
Both are successful – one does it the right way. You know you else has done it the right way? Kevin Durant, Steve Nash, Tim Duncan, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler*… there are plenty of guys in the NBA universe who are immensely great talents, killer competitors, and genuine guys.
I’m sure none are perfect, and each has as much baggage as you or me, but there is a stark difference between the way they forged their legacy, and the way Lebron James is choosing to proclaim himself king and conqueror before he has won anything.
Lebron, therefore = villain.
And that, my friend, is science.
So, this one, in my book, is a win for the good guys.
*….Come to think of it, Kevin Love seems like a really good guy.
A Consummate Confessional 