OT: A Parade for King James (essay by Misopogon)
I wrote this essay today for friends but figured I would share here, since, uh, you guys like sports and stuff. Not M-related so not a Diary. Facebook chums, it's no different here than there.
A Parade for King James
Here's what we saw: A 25-year-old guy, successful at his career, choosing what he and those around him thought was the best opportunity for his career goals. This happens. A lot. James' entire generation is doing this at about the same age. Granted, nobody's burning our old business-casual button-downs on the way out, but they're not joyously cleaning out our old cubicles either.
Here's what we saw: That first job out of high school or college, who knew they were getting your services cheap because, having no experience, you had no other options, but spoiling you rotten because they knew you were always bigger than them, and they prayed you would one day stay and take over the business.
If you're good, and you're a Millennial, you have seen this all before. Your "interview" probably wasn't televised, but you did at one time sit in the uncomfortably high seat facing everybody, and explained to parents that this is where your career goes next. And they, in turn, stared back with blank eyes and dreams of nigh grandchildren shattered.
He can't come home now? Please. He'll be home again as soon as the laundry needs doing. And then for Christmas. And then maybe years later to start a family. Or maybe his family can move to Florida (Midwestern retirees moving to Florida: groundbreaking stuff).
Millenials move, people. The concept of a home-grown star athlete staying in his hometown and occasionally balling with the local kids is a notion that's was dying for the entirety of the 20th century. The rare guy with some hometown loyalty before the about-to-retire stage is lost among the parade of marketing that seeks to convince us every guy really is worth the investment. They can't all fall in love with the city who drafted them. Not every wunderkind to come out of Cleveland is going to stay in Cleveland.
Ah, but there we have it. Clevelanders, and Detroiters, and Chicagoans, and Ft. Worthicans, not all have split to the winds. Those that remain, the father who was content with his lot, the older brother who couldn't afford college, the sister who got pregnant earlier than she'd planned, and those of us (me included) with the skills to master the world, but too chickenshit to peddle them elsewhere. That's who lives up here. And when you leave, it seems a betrayal.
It's envy is what it is, i.e. the problem isn't with LeBron, but with us. It's we who allowed his handlers to portray him as something transcendent, rather than, as we saw in that gymnasium, just any other young guy, magnificent only in that he can ball. We who expect our celebrities to do what we would never expect of ourselves, to conform to senses of propriety that we know to be ludicrous.
Look, America, you didn't see a seminal moment in anything last night. You saw yourself, exactly what you would look like if placed on a pedestal that you knew to be simply corrugated wood and surrounded by human bunting. You saw in LeBron's face the same look as that Miss Teen America on the July 4 float, waving and smiling because she was told to wave and smile, but mostly just anxious for the crowds to be done ogling and shift their attention to the next float.
Said the dreamers: "Isn't he majestic." Said the cynics: "I hope nobody asks him his plan for world peace." Said the exploitive: "I can't believe people are so dumb they'll pay us for this shit!"
Live in that moment, put yourself on LeBron's chair. You're not thinking about betraying a city. You're thinking about when's the next time you get to play basketball, and maybe how cool your new apartment is gonna be, what your new co-workers will be like, will your friends come and visit?
And you're thinking one more thing: who are the idiots who put up all the bunting, or the bigger idiots who burned paraphernalia, or went whooping around the streets over this? Why in the world would millions of people tune in during Prime Time to watch me utter statements prepared specifically to avoid betraying my real feelings? Why do they care so much?
We care because it's us, LeBron. Because we can't resist a parade. Because we appreciate the absurd, and like to imagine ourselves the Kings of some faraway land but not with all the work that goes into actually being King, and because the closest thing to that in reality is a plain guy born with such spectacular skills as to be worthy of spoiling rotten.
And other than his talent for scoring basketball points, like a lot, you have to admire LeBron's Brittney-esque ability to blandly stare into the cameras, even as he knows better than anyone how ridiculous it all is, just so everyone can have their show. It's unselfish. I like that.
So last night wasn't a big deal, really. It wasn't the end of an icon, or a seminal moment in sport (except for how it will probably affect who wins the NBA seasons). The ballyhoo didn't reveal anything we didn't know about America's viewing habits or capacity for ballyhoo. Roger Stern and ESPN were no more ridiculous in their Jordan-izing of athletic competition that they slamma-jamma ever were. It was a parade, one little down-home spectacle too ooh at before Johnny gets on the train to the Big City, and seeks his fortune, like so many other Johnnies of the Transient Generation.
fin
It was anticlimactic to say the least.
This should probably be a diary.
This is so true.
LeBron is not responsible for this spectacle.
This first day he could have signed was yesterday, and he signed yesterday. He didn't drag it out. He made his decision quickly and efficiently.
The spectacle is our doing.
One liners sponsored courtesy of....
Mitch Album
signed anything yet?
He hasn't put pen to paper, but it's a done deal, otherwise the league would never allow the Heat to throw the "Welcome LBJ" party that is planned for tonight.
this was very well written and contained an intersting and unique point of view. I never thought about the lbj situation in these terms. Thanks for the write up.
I was thinking about Michael Jordan during his career, and some of the controversy that surrounded his leaving, his baseball career, his coming back, his gambling, etc... And the thing that struck me about Michael is that the media chased him. He lived his life, and it may not have been an exemplary life by some standards, but he was a player, not a poseur. In yesterday's spectacle, it was the media who got chased. And that made all the difference. If you're a superstar like Jordan or LeBron, you shouldn't have to seek out the attention. That, in my opinion, was an event that will forever prevent LeBron from reaching the legendary status of Jordan.
I agree completely.. When it came to hoops, Jordan always seemed singularly focused on winning.
Perhaps, but Jordan also played in a different era, before ESPN made this kind of crap routine (just look at college football recruiting nowadays). Jordan also had the luxury of being on a Chicago franchise that progressively improved and - aside from Jerry Krause's weird behavior - gave him no real reason to leave. The Cavs have been stuck on a good-but-not-great plateau for a few years now and their front office has never seemed to have any coherent plan for surrounding LeBron with the necessary talent. LeBron went to the franchise that probably offers him the best chance of winning. I can't fault him for that.
I also read an essay on this subject by some guy named D.Gilbert. He had a different point of view.
This was well written and I appreciate the analogy in your essay. I found it thought provoking and enlightening. Seriously. I do feel that, in a way, you found a way to condone the self-aggrandizement and lack of business ethics displayed yesterday by putting up a mirrior and telling us to look for the problem here. Telling me that, if I have a problem it's MY problem, doesn't really work for me in those areas.
a writer had this to say and it made me chuckle since i'm a huge Dexter fan:
"When LeBron arrives in Miami, will it be Dexter Morgan's responsibility to "put him down" since he murdered all of Cleveland?"
was hilarious/sad/all kinds of emotions
I wish I could take credit for being the "Ben from Chicago" who said this:
City: Chicago
Name: Ben
I know I'm a little late with this, but I just wanted you to know that when he announced his one hour special the pendulum here in Chicago swung firmly from 'we want LeBron' to 'I want that diva to go somewhere else so we can beat him.' Maybe it didn't swing all the way in that direction, but it was about 85% there. Two of my co-workers took advantage of his new Twitter account to send him a message that went something like 'Chicago doesn't want someone who's more invested in their image than winning. Jordan would never pull this crap.' I've never been more proud of this city.
Also, my favorite comment:
City: Southampton, Pa.
Name: Steve L
On ESPN last night, they were wondering what the new nickname for the new trio of free agents in Miami should be. I vote for ...
1. The Sisterhood of the Traveling That's Never Called
2. The Fly Girls
3. The Unholy Trinity
4. Florida's Second Best NBA Team
and my personal favorite ...
5. The Nazgul
The Nazgul were the characters in Lord of the Rings that were former kings who turned into demons that were constantly chasing the ring. It completely consumed them and robbed them of their humanity. I think this sums up the situation in Miami.
Whole mailbag here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100709
I couldn't care less about any ethics/employment issues of any kind. I have no problem with him doing what he did - absolutely understandable. My problem is with the ridiculous hourlong ESPN special. This guy doesn't need any more ego stroking, especially not to that degree.
While I have no problem with Lebron choosing to go to Miami and leave Cleveland, I do think that "The Decision" gave Cleveland ample reason to be upset. While Lebron James may not have directly asked Cavaliers fans to adore him, he certainly took advantage of this adoration via endorsement deals and the like. He also publicly cultivated a relationships with the fans of the Cavaliers and with the city itself, and the fans loved him for it. Now, while it is not necessarily wrong for Lebron to end this relationship with the fans of the Cavaliers, it does not reflect well on him to do so on a television special dedicated solely to himself without giving the team more than two minutes warning. He, who profited immensely from his relationship with Cleveland, could have at least had the decency not to spurn them in an overhyped public spectacle dedicated to his own greatness.
"The Decesion" and it's one hour of prime time self indulgence was beyond insensitive and an act of selfishness completely void of empathy. If Cleveland were anywhere but Ohio I would feel for the fan base.
This is the widest criticism this essay has gotten: "leaving was okay; the one-hour special was tasteless."
I agree the thing was tasteless. I also agree that he underappreciated what Cleveland gave him.
On the other hand, LeBron was always a national brand, from the first McDonalds Game. Any Cleveland fan who thought of LeBron as anything different than that were fooling themselves. He wore Yankees hats, remember?
Any show that empanels Stephen A. Smith is a sympton of TV rot. I don't think LeBron is at fault for that. I think David Stern, who markets his league as Olympia, and ESPN, who market sports like a soap opera, shoulder the blame. I think if you watched that thing, and you still respect the NBA and ESPN, then you're a more forgiving person than I am.
I think LeBron endures whatever they ask of him. Now he gets to be the bad guy for dicking over Cleveland, and stringing along some other teams. But who really made the game something one superstar can shift so much? This league is more about the name on the back of the jersey than the one on the front. "The Decision" was yet one more symptom of a rotten league.
Lebron James is certainly free to go to wherever he thinks is best for his career and he is to be admired to some extent for having the courage to do what he thinks is best, even if it means drastic change. What I object to is the spectacle he (and his handlers) created by agreeing to do the one hour show. It was disrespectful to the people of Cleveland, for whom I actually feel a little bad. It is like breaking up with your girlfriend, but not telling her directly, but rather letting her hear it from others to whom you annnounce it first. He had no legal or moral obligation to tell them first, but common decency suggests that he should have been low key about his decision, knowing that it would break hearts. Narcissism seems to play a role here in that he cared more about all the attention on his decision rather than whom it would harm.
You're right, of course. I kind of figured it wasn't LeBron who wanted the show -- but then he didn't think to stop it either. He's not a very strong personality. I don't think I would be friends with him. I also don't see him as an attention whore -- in fact he seems rather sick of it.
Or maybe I'm just desensitized because he was disrespecting Ohio.
Not a lot of reasonable takes on Lebron out there right now. What he did is completely understandable and justifiable. The decision to go to Miami...obviously.
If it was about vanity, selfishness, or ego-mania, Lebron would be in New York.
As for the one hour special...please. Everyone tuned in by their own choice. It was a huge event, so why not do something good to capitalize on it. 3 million to the boys and girls club is a good thing right?
just envious of USC? At least that is what their AD said...
I didn't care that he left Cleveland. I would have lost some respect for him if he had let his hometown allegiance get in the way of a championship. In no way do i begrudge him the opportunity to go win a championship, that's business, its not personal.
However, he lost me when he decided to string out the drama of will he/won't he. Feeding rumors and speculation, making fans in different cities think that he'll go there, that's just being manipulative for no reason. He may have made his decision on Thursday morning, but there was no need to string it out until his primetime special.
I mean, if we want to use your analogy, that would be something like if I were to get 6 different lateral-move job offers, tell everybody about the offers, create some drama, stew on it for awhile, and finally announce my decision at the lectern at a corporate conference. Then I firebomb the place.
There's a gracious way of leaving any job, usually something like 'Thank you for the opportunity to play. Through these last few years I really feel as though you have supported me and have helped me develop my skills. I appreciate your offer, but I believe that this next opportunity is what's best for myself and my family's future." and so on. He decided to go in the opposite direction.
3 Million to a charity is a pretty good reason to announce on TV instead of website or twitter or whatever
Lebron said pretty much exactly what you wanted him to. Read the quote below
I mean, those 20,000 plus fans that came out every night we played, and they seen me grow from an 18 year old kid to a 25 year old man. And I never wanted to leave Cleveland. And my heart will always be around that area. But I also felt like this is the greatest challenge for me is to move on.
I don't even see it it's not like leaving Cleveland is the whole logistic of it; it's about joining forces with the other two guys that I feel like I respect their game the most. And I feel like we have a great chance of winning and winning for multiple years.
Like I said before, this is a very emotional time for me. I know it's emotional for the fans and also for the area. And if it was a perfect world, I would have loved to stay, because I've done so many great things for that team, they've done so many great things for me. But I feel like it's time to change.
I don't trust his altruism. What he is selling is his brand. I am sure that his handlers advised him to proceed with the one hour show because it would raise the profile of his brand, and increase its value by millions. Don't get me wrong, the three million dollars is a good thing, but there is a bigger picture to all of this, but I think there was a better way to handle this, and a better way to raise three million dollars for charity.
My take was that LeBron wasn't the guy who thought of making it a 1-hour special. That was the people around him. For him, it was just another interview, on a topic that he was uniquely qualified to speak on.
Did anyone else have a returning vet on his own float at their July 4 parade? I was actually thinking of that guy from a Huntington Woods parade a few years ago. You could see the kid would much rather be sitting with his family enjoying the clowns and policemen and bands, but the people wanted him on a float because we celebrate our servicemen in this country, and thus he sat on the float, and pretended not to hear the snickers of those who thought he was too big for his boots.
but I hope Cleveland ends up winning a championship before Lebron in Miami does. I think that would end the story on a good note. And never seen such hoopla over a guy who hasn't won squat.
To my astonishment this morning I read that the Cavs did a sign and trade with Lebron. Despite the rant by owner Gilbert yesterday they still accommadated him with the most favorable contract he could get. Could they have blocked it be refusing? Or at least gotten a small amount of revenge?
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